Bound for the East Indies: Halsewell-A Shipwreck that Gripped the Nation

The East Indiaman HCS `Halsewell' set sail on 1 January 1786, en route from England to India. Her dramatic demise touched the very heart of the nation. It inspired Charles Dickens to put pen to paper; J. M. W. Turner to apply brush to canvas, and the King and Queen to pay homage at the very place where the catastrophe occurred.