HMS Restoration (1678)

HMS Restoration was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, named after the English Restoration. She was built by Betts of Harwich and launched in 1678.

She took part in the Battle of Barfleur on 19 May 1692. She was rebuilt at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1702, remaining a 70-gun third rate.

Restoration was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands in the Great Storm of 1703. All 387 men were lost, including her captain, named Emms.

Wreck
Local divers found the wreck site in 1980. The initial designation was of 50 around what is now known as the South Mound; the North Mound was discovered in 1999 and the area was amended under Statutory Instrument number 2004/2395 as a 300 m radius around 51° 15.6302' N, 01° 30.0262' E. It is believed that the Restoration lies under the North Mound and the South Mound is the fourth rate HMS Mary wrecked in the same storm, but this is not known for certain. The site lies 100 m to the west of the Goodwin Sands off Deal, near the wrecks of HMS Stirling Castle and HMS Northumberland which also sank in the storm.

The site was investigated by Wessex Archaeology on 25 June 2006. They found copper-clad timbers, a cannon, lead pipes and hearth bricks.

External references

 * Restoration HMS and many other ships lost during this storm on the wrecksite