Data relating to casualties records events that caused the loss
or damage of a vessel but not necessarily its wrecking. These
events can include vessels burnt, grounded, cast away, scuttled,
prizes taken in battle, and wrecking, all of which may have an
impact on the potential for wreckage or debris on the seabed.
Numerous journeys recorded were related to descriptions of
incidents at sea which did not necessarily lead to a wrecking
event. Casualty events therefore had to be recorded to avoid
breaking up related information. The casualty data for England’s
Shipping recorded pre-1730 events in the database to
characterize the locations and manner of loss of the vessels,
which was also plotted in the GIS. Data was extracted from
secondary sources such as Larn's Shipwreck Index of the British
Isles, Rodger's Safeguard of the Seas, and Hepper's British
Warship Losses in the Age of Sail. Many of the records were
inferred from historic descriptions rather than based on
archaeological evidence, and tended to be vagu