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A 19th century gunmetal table model of a ship's cannon, mounted on a dark oak stepped four-wheel...

Currency:GBP Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:100.00 - 150.00 GBP
A 19th century gunmetal table model of a ship's cannon, mounted on a dark oak stepped four-wheel...
A 19th century gunmetal table model of a ship's cannon, mounted on a dark oak stepped four-wheel carriage, the barrel inscribed Relic of Royal George sunk 1782 raised 1840, 19cm long (see illustration) The Royal George, launched in 1756 was the flagship of Admiral Kempenfelt. After the Seven Years War she was laid up in ordinary in Plymouth were the dockyard was supposed to keep the ship in good order, but despite some repairs she was in poor condition by the opening of the Revolutionary Wars with France in 1778. Before convoy duty to Gibraltar, she put into Portsmouth for a last minute repair of a water valve below the waterline. She was heeled by running the starboard guns to the portside to raise the area above water. It later emerged that this had probably placed too great a strain on her old rotten timbers. On the 29th August 1782 she capsized with her crew of 850 officers and men as well as hundreds of shore visitors and tradesmen. Only 320 were saved and the Hampshire Chronicle suggested that 1400 people drowned. The ship was raised in 1840 and souvenirs made from the remains. £100-150