HMS Swift (1763)

HMS Swift was built in 1762 at the shipyard of John Greave in Limehouse, on the banks of the River Thames, and launched in 1763. It was a sloop-of-war 28 m in length and was armed with 14 6 pdr guns and 12 pedreros of $1/2$ pound. It sank along the coast of Puerto Deseado, Argentina in 1770.

The discovery of HMS Swift in Puerto Deseado represented the beginning of underwater archaeology in Argentina.

The wreck
Based at Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands, Swift undertook an exploratory trip along the Patagonian coasts before the winter of 1770. A storm forced them to stop near the site of present-day Puerto Deseado to rest and dry their clothes. Entering the Río Deseado, they ran aground on a submerged rock and, although after getting rid of much of the cargo, they managed to free the ship, minutes later they came across a second uncharted rock. At 18:00 on 13 March 1770, Swift sank. Three of the ninety-one crew members (the cook and two soldiers) died. The cook's body appeared days later and he was buried after an impromptu funeral.