Royal Captain (East Indiaman)

The Royal Captain measured 43.6 metres from bow to rudder, 11 metres across the beam and weighed 780 tons. She was a schooner chartered to the East India Company and hence an East Indiaman.

On 17 December, 1773, while under command of Captain Edward Berrow, struck an uncharted reef in the South China Sea at 2:30 in the morning. The place where she struck is now known as Royal Captain Shoal and is some 46 miles (76 kilometers) from Palawan. In addition to her captain the Royal Captain was carrying six passengers and 99 crew members. Her cargo consisted of 100,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain, as well as tea, silk, glass beads and gold.

Even though the crew managed to free the ship twice, a third collision with the reef sealed her fate and she sank with the bulk of her cargo. All but three crewmen survived the sinking and were picked up by the British ship Union, which carried them to Balambangan Island, where the East India Company maintained a free port between 1761 and 1805. The three sailors who drowned were apparently drunk and refused to take to the lifeboats.

Discovery and Salvage

In 1999, an expedition lead by Franck Goddio, utilising the Ocean Voyager as well as two high-tech 2-person submarines of the Deep Rover class, capable of diving 1000 metres, located the wreck in a depth of about 330 meters and salvaged a large part of the remaining stage freight.