On the 4th of March 1817, the Diana set sail up the Malacca Strait to Prince of Wales Island under the command of Captain Alexander Lyell. The night is pitch black and so with nothing to guide them, they press on blindly to the northwest. As the leadsman calls out the water depths with the ship covering 220m a minute, they reduce rapidly from 16 fathoms, to 10! The lookouts peer vainly ahead but can see nothing. However, below the water is Karang Lintang, a submerged cordillera of granite boulders. First Officer James Crichton anxiously debates whether to wake the captain, who, suffering from dysentery, is asleep on his bunk.
The Diana effectively ends this debate as she crashes into the rocks, sending everyone sprawling. Thrown from his bunk, Captain Lyell rushes up on deck but is too late to save her. Punctured by a boulder the water pours in and though they tumble the cannon overboard, bring down the topmasts and start the water casks, they cannot get her off. Thrice during the night, they try to send a boat back to Malacca for assistance but after it has been driven back for the third time, Lyell orders them to abandon ship. 10 men are left when, after floating free and steering for Malacca, the Diana, settling deeper every minute, suddenly plunges under taking two Lascars and Captain Lyell with it. 176 years later, after discovering records of a lost ship, the Malaysian Historical Salvers (MHS) was awarded a contract to search for an salvage the Diana. After spending three years and locating 11 wrecks, they finally found her 4 days before Christmas.
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