East Prawle unwittingly became a temporary home for drunken sailors back in 1784 when HMS Crocodile crashed into the rocks below the point. The 114ft frigate with a crew of 170 men (30 short of her usual complement) was returning from India via Africa, carrying important dispatches. Keen to get home, she raced up the channel at her maximum speed of 14knots despite foggy conditions, when an error of judgement led to her demise. She was severely holed and taking in water but luckily the sea was calm and all the crew managed to scramble ashore.

A barn in the village was commandeered to keep the crew together but one sailor - Patrick Crawley - got drunk (probably on local cider) and, in an ensuing argument compounded the felony by assaulting an officer. The penalty for such behaviour was the cat o' nine tails and the unfortunate crew man was awarded 100 lashes immediately after his trial in Portsmouth. Ten ships lying at anchor were assigned to take part in administering 10 lashes of the "cat" apiece. The yellow flag was hoisted to signal the start and a muffled drum beat sounded throughout. Poor Crawley, tied to a wooden grating was carried from ship to ship and flogged through the fleet - observed by 8,000 crew members forced to watch as a lesson to others. It is not known whether he died as the naval records merely state that the punishment was executed on June7 1784.

HMS Crocodile lies directly below the wreck of the Heye-P which was featured in our last issue. Musket balls and the rusty remains of one of he cannons lie in the gully below Prawle Island, the graveyard of several ships which have come to grief over the years.