surgeon, the clerk and 44 men were saved; the other 175 members of the crew were drowned. The second-rate was sunk in Chatham harbour. She was not manned and had no armament fitted; the following year she was raised for rebuilding. The fourth-rate was lost at Harwich; all but four of her men were saved. narrowly escaped a similar fate. More than 40 merchant ships were also lost. Lamb (1991) claimed 10,000 seamen were lost in one night, a far higher figure, about one third of the seamen in the Royal Navy. Daniel Defoe's book The Storm suggests that the Royal Navy lost one fifth of its ships which would however indicate a much lower proportion of seamen were lost, as some wrecked sailors survived. Date: old style The date of 26 November is reckoned according to the Julian Calendar, still in use in 1703. In today's Gregorian calendar, the date would be reckoned as 7 December. See also Great storm of 1987 List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll United Kingdom weather records References Further reading External links Project Gutenberg: The Storm, by Daniel Defoe HMS Restoration and many other ships lost during this storm – www.wrecksite.eu A Biographical Memoir of Sir Cloudesly Shovell "The Great Storm Project", Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society "Stirling Castle, Goodwin Sands", Wessex Archaeology 1703 in England 1703 natural disasters 18th-century meteorology European windstorms Floods in England History of the English Channel Weather events in England Disasters in England Extratropical cyclones Anne, Queen of Great Britain Daniel Defoe