Worst British naval disaster On 22 October 1707, a fleet of 21 Royal Navy ships were sailing past the Isles of Scilly when four of the ships were wrecked and roughly 2000 sailors lost their lives. The disaster was blamed on navigational errors, particularly the inability to accurately determine a ship’s position. This was one of the worst disasters in British naval history, and it compelled the government to respond by passing the Longitude Act of 1714. Image Credit 'Sir Cloudesly Shovel in the Association with the Eagle, Rumney and the Firebrand, Lost on the Rocks of Scilly, October 22, 1707'. ID: PAH0710. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0, https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-140657
