HMS Santa Monica

HMS Santa Monica was a Spanish frigate which battled the British HMS Pearl in 1778, off the Azores. It was built in 1777 in Cartagena, Spain and launched as Santa Ammonica. It was taken as a prize in the 1778 battle, commissioned into the Royal Navy and renamed in 1779, but a few years later was grounded off Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and was broken up. Its wreck was later found in what is now the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

HMS Santa Monica
Pearl engaging Santa Ammonica off the Azores
LocationAddress restricted[1]
Nearest cityCoral Bay, U.S. Virgin Islands
Arealess than one acre
NRHP reference No.78003163[2]
Added to NRHPFebruary 17, 1978

History

On 14 September 1779, HMS Pearl engaged the 28-gun Santa Monica off the Azores. At 6:00 that morning, the Spanish frigate was spotted to the north-west and was brought to action after a 3½-hour chase. The Santa Monica surrendered after a two-hour engagement, having 38 men killed and 45 wounded. Pearl had 12 killed and 19 wounded.[3] The Santa Monica was a larger frigate than Pearl, at 956 tons burden, but not as well armed; she was rerated as a 36-gun when taken into British service.[4]

There was a mutiny aboard the ship on 16 July 1781. It was grounded off Tortola on 1 April 1782.

The shipwreck has been found, in the general area of Coral Bay, off Saint John in what is now the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Its specific location is not disclosed.[2]

Santa Ammonica and HMS Pearl in combat
Santa Monica, as drawn in 1779

Citations
  1. Federal and state laws and practices restrict general public access to information regarding the specific location of this resource. In some cases, this is to protect archeological sites from vandalism, while in other cases it is restricted at the request of the owner. See: Knoerl, John; Miller, Diane; Shrimpton, Rebecca H. (1990), Guidelines for Restricting Information about Historic and Prehistoric Resources, National Register Bulletin, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, OCLC 20706997.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  3. "No. 12018". The London Gazette. 11 July 1758. p. 1.
  4. Clowes (Vol.IV) p.33

References
  • Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
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