Under the command of Captain Robert Hancock , '' Eagle '' was lost with all hands off the Scilly Isles on 22 October 1707 when a disastrous navigational error sent Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell 's fleet through dangerous reefs while on their way from Gibraltar to Portsmouth . Four ships ( '' Eagle '' , '' Association '' , '' Firebrand '' and '' Romney '' ) were lost , with nearly 2,000 sailors . The Scilly naval disaster was one of the greatest maritime disasters in British history . It was largely as a result of this disaster that the Board of the Admiralty instituted a competition for a more precise method to determine longitude
Scilly naval disaster
Scilly naval disaster of 1707
HMS Eagle (1679)