Tracks in Search of the [phantom] St. Esprit Reef by HM Ships—Barbados 1834 map
£140
SKU
'Tracks in Search of the St. Esprit Reef by H.M. Ships'
This chart records the Royal Navy’s systematic attempts to verify the reported existence of the “St. Esprit Reef,” a supposed shoal said to lie north east of Barbados. The hazard was reported in 1817 when the French ship St. Esprit, sailing from Marseilles to Martinique, claimed to have encountered a reef with only eight feet of water above it. Given the potential danger to Atlantic shipping, British warships including Ariadne, Sapphire, Vestal, Forte, Victor, and earlier Galatea conducted extensive zig-zag searches between 1826 and 1834, taking soundings and plotting tracks. Their investigations appear to have concluded that the reef was a phantom hazard, likely the result of navigational error or the St Esprit observing a sunken object
Size 18 x 14 cm | 7.0 x 5.5 inches
Date Published: 1834
Type: Antique engraved map
Author: The Nautical Magazine
Publication: The Nautical Magazine
Condition: Good |
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