On 26 March 1804, "Apollo" sailed from Cork with a convoy of sixty-seven merchantmen, accompanied by , immediately encountering a strong gale. At 3:30 in the morning of 2 April, "Apollo" unexpectedly ran aground when their calculations showed them well offshore. In the morning "Apollo" discovered that she had run aground about nine miles south of Cape Mondego on the coast of Portugal. Twenty-five or six of the vessels in the convoy, traveling closely behind due to the low visibility and bad weather, were also wrecked. Next day some more vessels wrecked. In all, 29 vessels ran aground.