shipping from the Spanish, with whom England was at 

 war. 



Later this patrol was extended farther south to in- 

 clude the waters adjacent to Cuba and the Florida keys. 

 On February 4, 1744, while cruising in the straits ofiF 

 Havana, Captain Utting captured a Spanish vessel and 

 headed north through the Florida straits, followed by his 

 prize. 



Either the ship's navigator miscalculated, or unknown 

 currents carried the Looe well oflF her course and to the 

 west. In spite of frequent and careful soundings, shortly 

 after midnight she found herself in the white breakers 

 marking a small key which raised itself slightly above the 

 surface of the water. She struck just as the officer on watch 

 discovered their predicament. The ship first lost her tiller 

 and then the rudder as she swung about in the tide. Water 

 poured into the hull as she bilged, and the hold started to 

 fill as she pounded upon the rocks. 



There was just time to get the men ashore and to 

 save twenty bags of bread and six barrels of gunpowder. 

 It was fortunate indeed for her crew of nearly three hun- 

 dred men that there was land upon which to disembark. 

 The Spanish snow, which had been following the Looe 

 closely, also piled up on the shore a short distance to port, 

 where she soon began to break up. 



It was not until morning that they discovered they 

 were on a small key several miles off the "Martires," south 

 of Cape Florida, for the navigator had been positive they 

 had struck on Double Headed Shot cay many miles to the 

 east. 



Captain Utting realized that he and the men in his 

 care were in a most desperate plight. They could expect 

 only capture and imprisonment from their enemies, the 

 Spanish, in nearby Cuba, and the hostile Caloosa Indians 



22 Sea Diver 



