Auguste
Full-Rigged Ship · Great Britain · Lost 1761 · Nova Scotia & Sable Island
Carrying French-Canadian families repatriated after the fall of New France, Auguste wrecked in a gale at Aspy Bay with only seven of 121 aboard surviving.
Keith Patrick Steinhurst
The Vessel and Her Loss
Auguste was a former French privateer, captured by the British and converted for merchant service, hired in 1761 to carry French exiles and prisoners of war from Montreal to France following the British conquest of New France. Departing Quebec in late October with 121 passengers and crew, she was battered by a week of gales and, lacking charts of the Nova Scotia coast, ran aground at Aspy Bay, Cape Breton, on 15 November 1761. Only seven people survived, including the merchant Luc de la Corne, whose written account later guided divers to the wreck site in 1977.
Vessel
- 1758
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- 70 ft
- Not established
- 245
- Sail, full-rigged ship
- British government charter, under Captain Joseph Knowles
Loss
- November 15, 1761
- Storm
- Aspy Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
- Aspy Bay, Atlantic Ocean
- Quebec → France
- Personal wealth and possessions of returning French-Canadian families
- 121
- 114
- Joseph Knowles
The Wreck Today
- 12 ft
- Scattered wreckage located near shore
- Not established
- 1977
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Approximate position
- Dingwall, Aspy Bay, Cape Breton
Reported at roughly 1,000 yards from shore near Dingwall in about 12 feet of water; a precise charted position was not found in sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Parks Canada, National Historic Sites, 'The Wreck of the Auguste'
Full narrative, passenger list, survivor accounts, and rediscovery.
Wikipedia: Auguste (1758 ship)
Summary of build, voyage, and loss.
