"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 finding 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.