In early 1805, as Napoleon’s anti-British rhetoric gathered momentum towards the Battle of Trafalgar, a new frigate was launched on the Thames. Today, the wreck of that frigate – the HMS Pomone – lies some 7–8 metres down off Alum Bay, opposite Hurst Castle.
HMS Pomone by T G Dutton, after a painting by G F St John
The 38-gun Leda-class Pomone was built at Frindsbury and went on to lead a short but illustrious career in the Royal Navy. Although originally commissioned for service in the English Channel, she served much of her time in the Mediterranean, battling against the combined naval forces of France and Spain.
Under the command of Captain Robert Barrie for most of her service, the Pomone inflicted considerable damage on the enemy. In 1810, Barrie also successfully captured a vessel carrying Lucien Bonaparte, who was attempting to escape from his brother, Napoleon, to the United States.
The following year the Pomone – in need of repair after the Battle of Sagone Bay off Corsica – had orders to make for Constantinople (now Istanbul), where she was boarded by the retiring British ambassador to Persia, Sir Harford Jones, along with a herd of Arab stallions as a gift from the Shah of Persia to King George III.
It was nearing the end of this voyage, on 14 October 1811, that disaster struck. For whatever reason, perhaps because he was also carrying urgent messages for the British authorities, the captain decided to approach Portsmouth through the shorter Hurst Narrows route rather than via the east of the Isle of Wight.
In fading light, with visibility further compromised by a sea mist, the ship’s master mistook the Needles lighthouse for that at Hurst Castle. Recognising the error, Barrie went for the wheel, but it was too late. At 7pm the ship collided with a submerged rock, ripping off the rudder and gouging great holes in the hull. Despite the efforts of the crew, who cut away the rigging and the masts, the Pomone went down.
Fortunately, calm seas allowed pilot boats from Yarmouth and the guard ship Tisiphone to be on the scene within the hour, and all 283 members of the crew were saved. Sir Harford was transferred to Portsmouth, and over the next three days most of the cargo and weaponry were salvaged. Even the horses made it to land, ‘manhandled out through the gun ports’. Following the accident, the Admiralty decreed that naval ships should not in future attempt to pass through the Needles Passage at night.
It was to be over 150 years before divers formally identified the wreck, spread across two sites off the Needles, with sections of the hull intermingled with the wreck of the Assurance, which foundered in 1753. Artefacts from the ship are today on display in Portsmouth, Bembridge and at Fort Victoria.