Many ships were lost at sea, the majority of these were returning after fighting the Spanish and their allies the French. About 1,500 sailors were killed when 13 British Navy warships were sank in the storm. An estimated 8,000 to 15,000 lives were lost across southern England. The Eddystone Lighthouse built to warn mariners of the rocky coastline was itself a victim, six people died including its builder when it toppled over on the 27th November some three days into the storm. Over 4,000 ancient trees were lost in the New Forest, over the years these had been a resource for the Navy’s ships when being built.

On the River Thames many boats were lost from their moorings, HMS vanguard was wrecked in the Thames estuary and another boat was blown across the North Sea in the direction of Scandinavia before it could be safely returned to England. Considerable damage was done to buildings in London, Westminster Abbey and St James’s Palace included in that list of damages received.

Prolonged flooding occurred in the west of England and into Wales, Bristol was particularly hard hit. The Bishop of Wells was killed while sleeping in his bed when part of the chimney crashed through the roof and into his sleeping quarters. Wells Cathedral also had its Great West Window smashed in the storm. Additional damage was done throughout Wales.

Storms of this nature are very rare occurrences in Great Britain and it was largely labeled as being the anger of God. The 19th of January 1704 was a day of fasting and called for an ending to the ‘crying sins of this nation.’ Until well into the 19th century the storm was a focal point of many sermons preaching the morals of the country upon an assembled congregation.

The great Storm was the first weather event to be extensively covered by English journalists, and it was the first of its kind to be a news story on a national scale. Daily broadsheets were produced giving details of the damage and loss of life. One of those writers that prospered from the disaster was Daniel Defoe, his first book was called “The Storm,’ it was published in July 1704 and he gives much detail to the destruction he witnessed all across the devastated area. He described one coastal town as looking like it had been sacked by the enemy and torn to pieces. He further wrote that the sunken naval fleet was punishment for their performance against their enemies at sea.

Of the Navy ships that were lost at sea some ships lost their entire complement of crew, a remarkable number of the crews were saved, some with very few losses. On one ship, the ‘Mary’ only one crewman survived. He was saved by another ship the ‘Stirling Castle’ when a wave washed him onto the deck. This ship then sank with the loss of 206 of its 276 crew he was again one of those that survived.