After taking on provisions off Dover, with her captain still ashore, deteriorating weather led the senior officer on board, Lieut. Thomas Bulkeley, to weigh anchor in order to get to sea, the pilot assuring him that he could get the ship clear of the land. The wind increased, accompanied by regular snow storms which obscured the land and confused the pilot, with the result that the ship ran aground in St. Margaret' Bay. The pilot was blamed for the wreck and ordered never to serve as a pilot again. It would appear that some of the timbers from the wreck were reused in MAR-1690 in the construction of a new fourth rate man o'war at Chatham (2). The SEDGEMORE was said to have been carrying #200,000 in bullion (Orange Gazette), but according to the English Current there was no plate on board. (5)

Source (4) gives the position of loss as South Foreland, and the tonnage as 559.

The date of loss has been expressed as both 1688 (Old Style) and 1689 (New Style).

Built: 1687
Where Built: Chatham Dockyard
Commanding Officer: Captain David Lloyd, RN
Crew: 230
Armament: 48 cannon (4); 50 cannon
Owner: Royal Navy

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index:
Orange Gazette No.3, 07.01.1688 (Burney Collection, B.M.); English Current 09.01.1688(Wed)(R); SRN.Vol.1 p499; SNR.Occ.Pub.No.5 Part 1 p40 (No.659)

<1> United Kingdom shipwreck index, Page Nos. N/a (Bibliographic reference). SKE6340.

<2> British Warship losses in the Age of Sail 1650-1859 (Monograph). SKE6713.

<3> Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks (Monograph). SKE6709.

<4> Calendar of State Papers Domestic (Bibliographic reference). SKE6354.