La Auguste

La Auguste sank in 1761 off Nova Scotia, Canada.

After their defeat by the British in the French and Indian War (Seven Years War in Europe), French national in Canada were deported back to France. On October 15, 1761, 123 men, women and children departed Quebec on the Auguste, a 70 foot long ex-French privateer captured by the British. After a disastrous fire amid stormy seas, the captain attempted a landing near Cape Breton Island, but the ship hit a sandbar and foundered on November 15, 1761. The loss of life was disastrous as only seven survivors lived to tell the tale.