Note 9 — LETTERS FROM CORNISH TO CLEVLAND

This officer, later a subordinate admiral, was in 1782 in command of the “Royal George,” a three-decker of 108 guns, generally extolled as the finest ship in the British navy. While preparing for the relief expedition to Gibraltar under Admiral Howe, and while the vessel was heeled over for some trifling repairs, a sudden squall caught it, filling it with water, so that it sank with all on board, scarcely a person being saved. The wreck long obstructed the anchorage at Spithead. See Yonge’s History of British navy, i, pp. 392, 393. ↑