The Year of Destroying Angels

The Year of Destroying Angels is an expression used by genealogists and descendants of German immigrants to describe deaths of thousands of voyagers who died in 1738 while sailing to America. This author's examination of political events in 1738--Rotterdam provides more down-to-earth causes for the tragedies at sea. These findings were obtained while doing a study of the 1738 Atlantic crossings. This author's wife was the granddaughter of an immigrant on the ship Thistle that year and shares stories passed down to her.