SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
April 4:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1823: Cockburn, this wooden sailing schooner wrecked in a south-easterly gale on Muizenberg Beach in False Bay in the Western Cape. Alternative dates for the wrecking range from the 3rd of April to the 6th.
1848: Barrys 1, this wooden sailing schooner wrecked in a south-easterly gale in Struisbaai in the Western Cape.
1848: Nancy, this sailing schooner wrecked in a south-easterly gale in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. Although the cargo was landed, one man drowned because of the wrecking.
1877: R P Buck, this American sailing barque wrecked in thick fog about 24 km west of the Ratel River mouth in the Western Cape, possibly near Franskraal.
1933: Haleric, this British steel steam-powered freighter steamed into St Helena Bay in a thick fog on dead reckoning. It struck a reef but managed to come off. Shortly after, it struck another reef and started to flood.
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| The Haleric (1933), date and location unknown |
It was abandoned and the tug, TS McEwan, was dispatched to provide assistance. The Haleric’s bulkhead gave way with its boilers coming adrift as it sank nose first to the seabed. The captain was reprimanded for being 22 miles east of his course.
1991: Vasso, this motor-powered bulk ore-carrier foundered offshore, northeast of Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape. It was loaded with manganese ore from Saldanha Bay when it encountered rough seas and large waves on the 3rd of April. A crack was discovered in the No. 1 hold so the crew started making way to East London for repairs.
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| The Vasso (1991) under its previous name, Hopeclipper, between 1977-1984, location unknown |
The crack widened and holds No. 2, 3, and 4 started flooding. It started foundering and an SOS was sent out at 10:00 on the 4th of April. All aboard abandoned ship on two boats which were picked up the Sea Bulker and the Ithaca Reefer. The tug Wolraad Woltemade left Algoa Bay an hour after the SOS was received. When the tug reached the area where the ore-carrier was meant to be the following day, together with a SAAF patrol, all they found was an oil slick and an upturned lifeboat.
