SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
February 3:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1847: Thunderbolt, this wooden naval paddle steamer (which was also sail rigged) was returning from a survey of the Buffalo River Mouth when it struck a reef after rounding Cape Recife in the Eastern Cape. The captain managed to bring it into Algoa Bay and beached the steamer near the mouth of the Baakens River. An attempt was made to repair it, but it was further damaged by a storm. The steamer was eventually salvaged, and the remaining hull was blown up more than 40 years later. The reef that the steamer struck is now called Thunderbolt reef.
1868: Tugela, this wooden sailing vessel wrecked in a light north-easterly wind on Back Beach in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. A single pin was found to have broken out of the shackle that was holding its anchor chain.
1877: Bierstadt, this wooden barque wrecked on Nahoon Point in East London after its cables parted in a north-westerly gale.
1877: Emelia, this wooden schooner wrecked at Dyer Island in the Western Cape, in a north-westerly (in some reports a north-easterly) gale whilst loading guano.
1892: Onaway, this wooden barque wrecked near the lighthouse, on the south pier of the inner breakwater at Durban harbour in KwaZulu-Natal. The Captain’s certificate was suspended and the cause of wrecking was determined to be negligence on behalf of the Captain, who had not been to Durban since the construction of the south pier and he mistook it for the north pier.
1939: Avala, this steel steam-powered cargo ship wrecked about 1km west of Quoin Point in the Western Cape in heavy fog. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats and landed safely on shore. Although the reports on the amounts of each item of cargo vary, the main cargo included 7000 tons of Coca-Cola, and a smaller amount of beer, wine, and coal.
1970: Dorita, this South African fishing vessel foundered near Paternoster, on the west coast in the Western Cape.
Image 1: A painting by T. Baines (1848) showing the Thunderbolt (1847) steaming into the Baakens River.
Image 2: The freighter Avala (1939) stuck on a submerged reef after it was abandoned near Quoin Point, photographed by The Argus airplane.
Image 3: The boats and crew of the freighter Avala (1939) after landing safely on the nearby beach, photographed by The Argus airplane.
Image 4: The Onaway (1892) after running aground in Durban.
