Duke William was a ship which served as a troop transport at the Siege of Louisbourg and as a deportation ship in the Île Saint-Jean Campaign of the Expulsion of the Acadians during the Seven Years' War. While Duke William was transporting Acadians from Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) to France, the ship sank in the North Atlantic on December 13, 1758, with the loss of over 360 lives. The sinking was one of the greatest marine disasters in Canadian history.

Captain William Nichols of Norfolk, England, was the commander and co-owner of Duke William when it sank. Nichols survived the sinking and received international attention when his journal recounting the tragic incident was published in popular print throughout the 19th century in England and America. Several years after the sinking of Duke William, Nichols also received international attention when he was taken captive by American patriots during the American Revolution.

Noel Doiron (1684 – December 13, 1758) was one of over three hundred people aboard Duke William who were deported from Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). William Nichols described Noel as the "head prisoner" and the "father of the whole Island", a reference to Noel's place of prominence among the Acadian residents of Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). For his "noble resignation" and self-sacrifice aboard Duke William, Noel was celebrated in popular print throughout the nineteenth century in England and America. Noel Doiron also is the namesake of the village of Noel in Hants County, Nova Scotia.

Jacques Girrard was a priest who also sailed on the fatal voyage. Girrard had been the parish priest for Noel Doiron and other Acadians who lived on Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). He was one of the few who survived the sinking of Duke William.

Louisbourg fell to the British on July 26, 1758 and within two weeks a deportation order was issued for the Acadians of Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). The British authorities had given up on their earlier attempts to assimilate the Acadians into the thirteen colonies and now wanted them returned directly to France.

On October 20, 1758, Duke William left Île Saint-Jean for France with over 360 Acadians on board. The ship sailed in a convoy with nine other vessels, two of which were Violet (with over 280 Acadians) and Ruby (with approximately 310 Acadians). The ship sailed through the Canso Strait and moored off Canso, Nova Scotia, for almost a month because of foul weather. During the time in Canso, the Acadians helped the ship narrowly escape a raid by the Mi'kmaq.

On November 25, Duke William sailed out of the bay of Canso. On the third day at sea there was a storm and Duke William became separated from the other two ships. Ruby ran aground in a storm on Pico Island in the Azores, which caused the death of 213 of the Acadians on board.

Almost two weeks after the ships were separated, late in the day on December 10, Duke William re-encountered Violet. Violet was sinking; during the night Duke William sprung a leak and the Acadians assisted at the pumps. In the morning on December 11, after a brief squall, Violet sank with all the Acadians on board.