HMS Sapphire (1675)

HMS Sapphire was a 32-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was designed and built by Sir Anthony Deane at Harwich in 1675, at a cost of £4,175.

In 1677 Sapphire was the first command of Cloudesley Shovell, who later became Admiral of the Fleet and eventually died in the Scilly naval disaster of 1707. 

Sapphire was cornered in Bay Bulls Harbour by a French squadron in August–September 1696. Her master, Captain Thomas Cleasby, in fear that the French would capture the ship, scuttled her and escaped across land to the colony of Ferryland.

In popular culture
In the video game Assassin's Creed Rogue, Sapphires wreck could be visited by the protagonist Shay Cormac at the North Atlantic. Once Shay collects all 24 Templar artifacts, he could claim an armor belonging from the original Knights Templar of the 11th century.

References

 
 Winfield, Rif (2009) British Warships in the Age of Sail 1603-1714: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. .
 Lavery, Brian (1981) Deanes Doctrine of Naval Architecture Conway Maritime Press. .
 Barber, V.C. (1976) International Journal of Nautical Archaeology Vol. 5(4) pp. 353–356.
 Canadian Geographic Feb/Mar 1979 - An article that appeared in Canadian Geographic about the Sapphire.
 International Journal of Nautical Archaeology - 6.4, 1977 pp. 305–313
 Initial Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977 (Newfoundland Marine Archaeological Society)
 Second Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977 (Newfoundland Marine Archaeological Society)
 Third Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977. Additional notes on wreck 1 are included. (Newfoundland Marine Archaeology Society)
 Final Report on the Underwater Survey and Excavation of the wreck of HMS Sapphire in Bay Bulls, 1977. (Newfoundland Marine Archaeological Society)
 Canadian Collector Vol 20(2), March 1985 - Artifacts of the Sapphire

Category:Ships built in Harwich
Category:1670s ships
Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Category:Maritime incidents in 1696
Category:Scuttled vessels of the United Kingdom