SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
Abandoned Ulan near Walvis Bay, Namibia
September 4:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1825: Mulgrave Castle, this wooden sailing vessel wrecked near the Green Point Lighthouse in Table Bay in the Western Cape. It entered the bay in hazy, but otherwise fine weather and attempts to refloat it were unsuccessful.
1840: Alert, this wooden sailing schooner wrecked after its cables parted in a south easterly gale in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
1841: Prince Rupert, this wooden sailing barque wrecked after a sudden change in the current resulted in it swinging onto the rocks at Mouille Point in Table Bay in the Western Cape. Of the approximately 160 that were on board, only one life was lost, but four rescuers also lost their lives. The Bucephalus was anchored nearby and was one of the first to render assistance. On the fourth voyage between the vessels, to look for any more people that were on board, the boat that the rescuers were using was swamped by a wave. Five of the rescuers perished, one of whom was a passenger returning to the Prince Rupert.
1869: Sparfel, this wooden sailing schooner wrecked on Struispunt, just south of Arniston/Waenhuiskrans in the Western Cape. Immediately after striking the rocks, it broke apart. Although the exact number of those that were on board is not known, all hands were lost. For the next few weeks its cargo of hides washed ashore.
1872: Niagara, this sailing vessel wrecked at the Slang River mouth, at Oyster Bay, in the Eastern Cape.
1900: Abeona, this iron sailing vessel wrecked on Thunderbolt Reef, off Cape Recife in the Eastern Cape. After getting stuck on the reef in a sinking condition, its master and crew of 19 abandoned ship and landed at the North Jetty within three hours. The tug James Searle II found it the following day on its side and breaking up.
James Searle II tug, date unknown
Some salvage was carried out, but by the next day it had completely broken up. The wreck site was known for many years as the ‘Lead Wreck’ by local divers. This changed in 1978, when Mike Klee, David Allen and Gerry van Niekerk positively identified it. Amongst the wreckage they found a brass winch (or a capstan cover) which was inscribed with “Abeona Glasgow 1867”.
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