HMS Sapphire was a 32-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy, scuttled at Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, Canada in 1696. It is currently a protected archaeological site. It was the only vessel of any size sunk in the Anglo-French wars in North America.
History
HMS Sapphire (also spelled Saphire, and called Zephyr by the French) 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. The warship left England during King Williams’s War in April 1696 with orders to escort fishing vessels across the North Atlantic and protect them from the French, and remained active in the waters around Newfoundland after its initial escort task. The ship was under the command of Captain Thomas Cleasby, accompanied by Lieutenant James Brothers and 135 men. Sapphire was cornered in Bay Bulls Harbour by a French squadron on 11 September 1696. Cleasby, in fear that the French would capture the ship,...decided to scuttle the ship, lighting it on fire and ordering his crew off the vessel. As the French scrambled to put out the fire, the English fled overland towards the colony of Ferryland. The fire on the Saphire spread to the powder room and sent the ship to the bottom of Bay Bulls Harbour.Historian John Oldmixon described the battle thusly,On the 11th September, the whole French Squadron came down upon the Saphire, and fir' d with the utmost Fury; Captain Cleasby made a brave Defence for 2 hours, and hall' d most of the Ship's Guns on her side next the Enemy; the French at the same time made a Descent, and having driven the Men that were ashore into the Woods, attack' d the Saphire on al l sides; the Captain finding 'twas impossible to maintain the Ship any longer, set her on fire, and retir' d with his Officers and 35 Men to the Woods. When the Saphire was on fire, 40 French Men came aboard, endeavouring to extinguish it, but they were all blown up into the Air as soon as the Fire reach'd the Powder Room.Cleasby escaped across land to the colony of Ferryland. There, he was captured and sent to France as a prisoner. He was eventually released as part of an exchange of prisoners. On 26 October 1696, he was tried under a Royal Navy Court Martial on the charge of "Loss of ship by setting on fire." A contemporary newspaper reported:On Thursday at 11 a clock, was held a Court Martial, on board His Majesty's ship the Monmouth, riding at the Buoy in the Nore, Captain John Mundon President, for the tryal of Captain Thomas Clesby, for burning his Majesty's Ship the Saphire at the Bay of Bulls in Newfoundland, and upon a full hearing, he was honourably acquitted, and the Court was pleased to tell him, that he deserved a reward and preferment, for his courage and conduct in that Action.Cleasby returned to Newfoundland the following year in command of HMS Lyme. He died 23 July 1718 at Greenwich Hospital.
Excavation and protection
The wreck of Sapphire lies 61m from shore in approximately 15m of water. Salvage divers discovered the remains of Sapphire in the 1960s. The original discoverer is believed to have been Ernest "Ernie" Power, who discovered the cannons in 1969 and recovered an intact grey stoneware chamber pot from the site. Three cannons were retrieved and sold in 1972. What was then called the Bay Bulls Harbour Shipwreck was designated a Provincial Historic Site on 25 April 1974.
In response to looting, the Newfoundland Marine Archaeology Society (NMAS) performed the first initial excavation and survey on the wreck in 1974; over 300 artifacts were retrieved including examples of late seventeenth century glass and ceramics. A National Film Board documentary about the site was produced by Ted Remerowski in 1979, which chronicles a 1977 underwater archeological expedition led by Robert Grenier of Parks Canada to recover artifacts from the wreck.
Eventually about 2,500 artifacts were taken from the wreck and are in storage in St. John's and Ottawa. One notable artifact recovered was an Ottoman pipe bowl, or chibouk, one of only a handful found in North America. Also recovered in excellent condition was a nocturnal, with the paint used to highlight the incised numbers having survived.