7. The fourth in a long line of ships bearing the name HMS Victory, in 1744, just twenty-three years after its eponymous predecessor was destroyed in a fire, the fledgling warship sunk in the English Channel taking 1,150 sailors with it.
Not to be confused with Nelson’s flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line belonging to the Royal Navy. Launched on February 23, 1737, with timbers salvaged from the previous iteration of the Victory used during construction, the £50,000 warship became the flagship of the Channel Fleet. Despite bearing a grand heritage behind her name, the fourth HMS Victory to sail for Britain was poorly designed. A product of internal disputes, rooms requested to be small were deliberately made large out of spite, an additional stern galley was added for ascetics, and her additional weight risked compromise in rough seas.
Taking years to pass sea trials as a result of these incompetent alterations, on October 4, 1744, whilst returning to England after breaking a French blockade in the Tagus estuary, HMS Victory encountered a large storm. Scattering the accompanying fleet, her companions lost sight of the young warship and, despite an extensive search, neither she nor her crew were discovered. Identifying wreckage on the shores of Jersey and Alderney, it was believed that the ship had been wrecked on Black Rock during the night, killing all 1,150 sailors on board. In 2008, a marine exploration company discovered the wreck, resting on the seabed of the Western Approaches.