AH-WR-1426

HMS Oxford

Fifth-Rate Frigate · England · Lost 1669 · Cuba & the Greater Antilles

Henry Morgan's flagship, blown apart by an accidental explosion off Haiti in 1669 while his buccaneer fleet mustered for a raid on the Spanish Main.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

HMS Oxford was a Commonwealth-built fifth-rate warship taken into the Royal Navy at the Restoration and later loaned to the Governor of Jamaica for use by the privateer Henry Morgan. On 2 January 1669, while anchored with Morgan's fleet off Île-à-Vache preparing for a raid on the Spanish Main, the ship was destroyed in a sudden explosion that killed more than 200 men; Morgan himself survived. A wreck believed to be Oxford was reported found off Haiti in the early 2010s by an independent survey team.

Vessel

Built: 1656
Builder: Manley Callis
Yard: Deptford Dockyard, England
Material: Wood
Length: 72 ft
Beam: 24 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Royal Navy; leased to Sir Thomas Modyford, Governor of Jamaica, and placed under Captain Henry Morgan for a privateering expedition

Loss

Date: January 2, 1669
Cause: Mechanical failure
Location: Anchorage off Île-à-Vache, southwestern Hispaniola (present-day Haiti)
Water: Caribbean Sea
Voyage: Port Royal, Jamaica → Staging point for a planned raid on the Spanish Main
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 200
Master: Henry Morgan (fleet commander; among the survivors)

The Wreck Today

Depth: 12 ft
Condition: Scattered hull timbers and ordnance reported at the discovery site
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2011-2013
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 18.07° N 73.64° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Île-à-Vache, off southwestern Haiti
Region: Cuba & the Greater Antilles

Position given is the general locale of Île-à-Vache reported by the 2013 discovery team; a peer-reviewed, precise site position has not been published.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (62/100)

The identification of the reported wreck site as HMS Oxford rests on a private survey team's research and has not been confirmed through a peer-reviewed academic excavation.

Wikipedia (citing Royal Navy ship histories)
Build details, service history, loss date, cause, casualties
Wales Online
2013 discovery claim and survey details