This article examines British action in the South Atlantic by applying the concept of
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relations. This is achieved through the investigation of ships and the biography of
their objects, identifying patterns of production and consumption. I concentrate on
local scales looking at objects and the social relations they construct in Royal
Navy ships and the different ways that identities are expressed and projected. I
particularly focus on a case study: the pottery assemblage of sloop of war His
Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Swift (1763-1770) located in Puerto Deseado
(Santa Cruz Province, Argentina). By utilizing the concept of praxis, this
article goes beyond a descriptive analysis of wrecks by exploring them and their
cargoes as embodiments of 18th-century social relations. More importantly, it will
challenge traditional maritime approaches providing a different perspective that
emphasizes the richness, diversity and complexity of British action at the end of
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