Maritime record TR 07 SW 1096 - Golden Heart

Following a successful raid on the Medway by the Dutch, the enemy sent a squadron, commanded by Lieut-Admiral Aert Van Nes, who blockaded the Thames. To counter this, a strong force of fireships, under Sir Joseph Jordan and Sir Edward Spragge, was assembled at Harwich and in the Hope. On 23-JUL, the Dutch attacked the squadron off Tilbury, both sides using fireships. Two days later, Sir Joseph took a force of fireships towards the Dutch fleet anchored off the Isle of Sheppey. The intended attack was unsuccessful, since several of the fireships failed to get into action and others were abandoned by their crews before they could be effective. As a result, several of the captains of the fireships were court-martialled for misconduct in battle. The GOLDEN HART (sic) was expended in this action, but the date is uncertain, as also was the effect of her being burnt. (3)

Source (3) spells the name of the vessel as the GOLDEN HART, (1) and (2) as the GOLDEN HEART.

Sources (2) and (3) describe the vessel as a prize, (1) states that she was bought.

Source (2) states that the date the vessel was expended is uncertain; the vessel could therefore have been expended off Tilbury on 23-JUL or Sheppey on 26-JUL. Source (3) attributes the position of loss to the action off Sheppey, and appears to transpose the departure and destination.

NB: Not indexed in "Ships of the Royal Navy".

Acquired: 1667 (1)(2)(3)
Armament: 4 cannon (1)(2)(3)
Master: Captain William Juxon RN (2)(3)
Owner: Royal Navy (1)(2)(3)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

<1> Lists of Men of War 1650-1700 Part 1: English Sips 1649-1702 (Monograph). SKE6710.

<2> Larn, Richard and Bridget, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames (Bibliographic reference). SKE31910.

<3> J J Colledge, 1989, Ships of the Royal Navy, volume 1 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6390.

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