HMS Penelope
Frigate · United Kingdom · Lost 1815 · The Gulf of St Lawrence
A Royal Navy frigate returning troops from the Napoleonic Wars was wrecked on the Gaspé coast in 1815 with heavy loss of life.
The Vessel and Her Loss
HMS Penelope, a 36-gun frigate that had fought in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars, was carrying troops back to Canada in the spring of 1815 when she struck rocks off the Gaspé coast near present-day Cloridorme. She sank on May 1, 1815, and most of those aboard were lost. The point where she wrecked was later named Pointe-à-la-Frégate in memory of the disaster, and a scattered artifact field there is inventoried as a possible site of the wreck.
Vessel
- 1798
- Not established
- Bursledon, Hampshire, England
- Wood
- 150 ft
- Not established
- 1052
- Sail
- Royal Navy
Loss
- May 1, 1815
- Grounding
- Off Pointe-à-la-Frégate, near Cloridorme, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec
- Gulf of St. Lawrence
- Spithead, England → Quebec City, Canada
- Not established
- Not established
- Contemporary accounts describe most of the ship's company as lost, with a commonly cited estimate of at least 200 deaths, though precise numbers were not recorded.
- James Galloway
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Scattered artifact field including cannon, cannonballs, and copper fittings in shallow water
- Not established
- 2008
- Inventoried archaeological site in Quebec's cultural heritage register
Position
- Not established
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Cloridorme, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec
Quebec's cultural heritage register locates the site off Pointe-à-la-Frégate, Cloridorme, without publishing precise coordinates.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
Definitive identification of the archaeological site with HMS Penelope, and precise casualty figures, are not established in the sources reviewed.
Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec
Site description, possible identification, date of loss, depth.
Narrative account of the wrecking, captain's name, casualty estimate.
