HMS Feversham
Fifth-Rate Frigate · England · Lost 1711 · Nova Scotia & Sable Island
A Royal Navy frigate leading ships toward the aborted 1711 assault on Quebec was wrecked with heavy loss on the rocks of Scatarie Island.
The Vessel and Her Loss
HMS Feversham was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate built at Shoreham in 1696. In 1711 she was escorting transport ships from New York toward the St Lawrence to join Admiral Hovenden Walker's expedition against Quebec when strong winds and unexpected currents drove her onto rocks near Scatarie Island, Cape Breton, on 7 October 1711. She and three accompanying vessels were lost, and her captain, Robert Paston, died in the wreck. The site was located by divers in the 1970s and has since drawn archaeological and treasure-salvage interest.
Vessel
- 1696
- Thomas Ellis and William Collins
- Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex
- Wood
- 107 ft
- 28 ft
- 372
- Sail, full-rigged ship
- Royal Navy
Loss
- October 7, 1711
- Grounding
- Near Scatarie Island, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
- Atlantic Ocean, off Cape Breton Island
- New York → St Lawrence River, to join the expedition against Quebec
- Specie and military stores
- 148
- 46
- Robert Paston
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 1970s
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Scatarie Island, Cape Breton
General wreck area near Scatarie Island is reported by salvors and historians, but a verified charted position was not found in sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (70/100)
A precise modern wreck position and depth are not firmly established in the sources reviewed.
Build details, dimensions, and loss circumstances.
This Is Paston (Paston family history archive)
Narrative of the wrecking, casualty figures, and rediscovery of the wreck.
