HMS Convert
Frigate · Great Britain · Lost 1794 · Cuba & the Greater Antilles
The Royal Navy frigate that led nine merchant ships onto Grand Cayman's reef in one night, becoming the island's most famous maritime disaster.
The Vessel and Her Loss
HMS Convert, a French frigate captured and taken into Royal Navy service, was escorting a large merchant convoy from Jamaica to Britain in February 1794. Overnight several merchantmen sailed off course, and in the confusion Convert herself was struck and driven onto the East End reef of Grand Cayman. Nine merchant ships wrecked alongside her. Caymanian residents braved the reef to rescue nearly everyone aboard, and the event became known locally as the Wreck of the Ten Sail.
Vessel
- Not established
- Not established
- France
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail
- Royal Navy (formerly French Navy)
Loss
- February 8, 1794
- Grounding
- East End reef, Grand Cayman
- Caribbean Sea
- Jamaica → Britain
- Not established
- Not established
- Eight people are reported to have died across the convoy as a whole; Convert's own casualties are not separately established in the sources reviewed.
- John Lawford
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Scattered wreckage across the East End reef system; remains have been surveyed archaeologically.
- Not established
- 1980s
- Protected under Cayman Islands law as part of national maritime heritage; commemorated by a monument at East End.
Position
- Not established
- Approximate position
- East End, Grand Cayman
Wreck sites are spread across the East End reef; no single coordinate applies to the event.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Exact casualty numbers specific to Convert and a precise wreck position are not established in the sources reviewed.
Cayman Islands National Museum
Narrative of the wreck event, ships involved, and rescue.
