SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
April 29:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1846: Gentoo, this wooden American sailing ship (unknown rigging) wrecked late at night, west of de Mond in the Western Cape. Reports vary, but the loss of life was between three and nine people.
The SAS President Steyn (1991), shortly after being struck by a missile during its scuttling in 1991, 30 years after being launched. Interestingly the picture of the SAS President Steyn being hit by a missile was taken through the periscope of a SA Navy Daphne Class submarine
1991: President Steyn, this steam-powered South African frigate was scuttled off Cape Point in the Western Cape by missiles and gunfire from strike crafts during a naval exercise. The President Steyn was meant to have been scuttled in 1982 after having been stripped, but the accidental loss of the President Kruger that year provided it with a renewed life, and it was placed in reserve instead.
The SAS President Steyn (1991) on the river Clyde in Glasgow, shortly after being launched in 1961
Fiscal constraints inhibited restoring the President Steyn though, and in 1991 on this day, the frigate was scuttled with three missiles and gunfire from five strike crafts.
2002: Millie, this South African fishing vessel was lost at sea off Hout Bay in the Western Cape along with its crew of six.
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