San Pedro Menor: Sound Of Mull

NM55SE 8008 unlocated

NLO: Sound of Mull [name centred NM 58 46].

(Classified as Urca: no cargo specified, but date of loss as 20 September 1588). San Pedro Menor: this vessel [was lost] near Morven [Morvern] Port, Sound of Mull. Port Mor - could this be Morven [Morvern] Port.

(Location of loss cited as N56 36.0 W5 58.0).

I G Whittaker 1998.

The map sheet and quasi-administrative area assigned to this record are essentially arbitrary. The vessel may have been lost within the quasi-administrative area designated as Maritime - Argyll and Bute. The currently-available gazetteer information cites Port Mor names at NM 48 63 and NM 55 52, in both cases on the Morvern shore of the Sound.

It remains unclear whether the vessel stranded or foundered; an origin in the Spanish Armada appears probable. This is presumably the vessel that is cited by Rodriguez-Salgado as San Pedro el Menor, a vessel of 500 tons, which carried 22 mariners and 176 soldiers, and was said to be 'lost'. No rig or weapon (cannon) loading is specified.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 9 April 2008.

M J Rodriguez-Salgado 1988.

The identity and location of this vessel remain unclear, as does the justification for an Armada origin. The 'Port Mor' place-name need not refer to a location in Morvern, being essentially desriptive ('Big Harbour').

Information from Dr C Martin, 22 April 2008.