HMS Anson Cannon salvaged at Porthleven

Salvagers at Porthleven lift a three-ton gun barrel cannon from sands at Loe Bar, site of the wreck of the forty-four-gun frigate HMS Anson. The cannon now stands on a wooden mount in Porthleven harbour. The ship was wrecked in stormy seas on 29 December 1807 and much of its booty has been salvaged over the years. HMS Anson launched from Plymouth on 4 September 1781 as a sixty-four-gun third-rate frigate, a full rigged ship and fought in the Battle of Saintes off Dominica in 1782.

In 1784 Anson was cut down with decks removed to reduce its size. The ship was on route to Falmouth when it broke from its anchors and Captain Lydiard attempted to save it by beaching it on the sandbar. The loss of HMS Anson and an estimated 130 and 190 sailors brought about the 1808 Burial of Drowned Persons Act whereby common mass graves were no longer acceptable. Also as a result, Henry Trengrouse invented rocket life-saving apparatus, a precursor to the breeches buoy. Subsequently a new harbour at Porthleven was completed in 1825 to offer a haven for ships in Mount's Bay. A monument to the drowned sailors stands is at the harbour entrance and Anson cannon may be seen at Helston Folk Museum and RNAS Culdrose.