AH-WR-1429

Royal Fortune

Frigate · Pirate command (formerly Royal African Company, England) · Lost 1722 · Cuba & the Greater Antilles

Bartholomew Roberts' 40-gun pirate flagship, taken as a Royal Navy prize after his death and destroyed weeks later in a Port Royal hurricane.

Captain of Record

Timothy Long

AHR-1888

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Originally the Royal African Company frigate Onslow, this ship was captured by the Welsh pirate Bartholomew Roberts off the African coast and renamed Royal Fortune as his flagship. After Roberts was killed at the Battle of Cape Lopez in February 1722, the Royal Navy took Royal Fortune as a prize and sailed her to Port Royal, Jamaica, for sale. Roughly two weeks after arrival, a hurricane struck the harbor and destroyed her along with dozens of other vessels.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Captured by pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts from the Royal African Company and renamed as his flagship

Loss

Date: August 1, 1722
Cause: Storm
Location: Port Royal harbor, Jamaica
Water: Kingston Harbour, Jamaica
Voyage: Captured off West Africa, taken as a Royal Navy prize → Port Royal, Jamaica, for condemnation and sale
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not fully located; associated with the broader submerged Port Royal harbor site
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Within the Port Royal submerged town and harbor site protected by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Port Royal, Jamaica
Region: Cuba & the Greater Antilles

Precise wreck position within Port Royal harbor has not been published; a 2013 Texas A&M student survey searched for the site without a confirmed public location.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)

The wreck's precise position within Port Royal harbor has not been established in the sources reviewed, and its physical remains have not been conclusively located despite academic survey efforts.

Society for Historical Archaeology / tDAR (Gulseth, 2013)
Loss of Royal Fortune and consorts in the 1722 hurricane, survey effort
Battle of Cape Lopez (Wikipedia, citing period naval accounts)
Capture and renaming of Onslow as Royal Fortune