South Africa: Chancellor, Theresa, Mackay, African Belle, Stella & Voortrekker shipwrecks

SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage

September 12:

“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”

1854: Chancellor, this wooden sailing vessel wrecked on Martha’s Strand near Skipskop in the Western Cape. Two of the passengers drowned during the wrecking.

1861: Theresa, this schooner cables parted during a southerly gale and it wrecked on the west bank of the Buffalo River in East London in the Eastern Cape.

1871: Mackay, this British wooden sailing barque wrecked in a south-easterly gale at De Mond, north of Struisbaai in the Western Cape. The wreck occasionally washes open when the tide reaches up high enough to wash out some of the dunes. It is locally known affectionately as the ‘Maggie’.

1873: African Belle (possibly African Queen), this sailing brig wrecked on the west back of the Kowie River in Port Alftred in the Eastern Cape. It was later blown up to clear the shipping channel.

1876: Stella, this sailing barque wrecked after its cables parted in a south-easterly gale in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Another source lists the day of wrecking as the 18th of September instead. 

1993: Voortrekker, this oil rig supply tug foundered about 3 km from the Gouritz River mouth in the Western Cape. It had capsized on the 10th of September, about 80 km offshore, trapping the crew of 12 and the ship’s cat inside the upturned hull. Three of the crew managed to escape, although one later died from his injuries. Heroic divers attempted in four different operations to rescue those that were trapped, but the rough seas made this task impossible. It was towed closer to the coast in the hopes that rescue attempts would be easier in calmer coastal waters. Two bodies surfaced during the towing, and then, on this day, two days after being upturned, it sank, claiming the remaining seven men, and the ship’s cat, Lighthouse. It settled, still upside down, hull up, at a depth of 40 m and in a thick mud, which made body recovery attempts futile. There is a memorial in the Port of Mossel Bay commemorating those who lost their lives and the local SPCA has a framed memorial for the cat. In 2012, whilst draining fuel that had started leaking, divers also erected a cross on the wreck.

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South Africa: Ganges, Arniston, Stella, Clan McGregor & Ryvingen shipwrecks

SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage

May 30:

“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”

1807: Ganges, this British East Indiaman foundered south of Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape. It was off the Cape of Good Hope on the 29th when it sprang a leak. Luckily, the Earl St Vincent was in convoy and managed to get all that were on board off. By noon the next day, on the 30th, it sank south of Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape.

1815: Arniston, this British East Indiaman wrecked on the rocks near the eponymous town of Arniston in the Western Cape. It was on its way to Ceylon to repatriate wounded British soldiers when it became separated on the 26th from its convoy whilst rounding the Cape in bad weather.

The replica monument at the top of the dunes near the wreck of the Arniston (1815)

The weather damaged its sails and, as it was never fitted with a chronometer, they relied on the convoy for navigation. On the 30th, due to a navigational error, believing that they had just crossed the Cape and been blown offshore, they headed North for what they thought would be St Helena Bay. However, it was further west than the Cape and was driven onto a reef near the town of Waenhuiskrans by onshore winds.

The wooden ribs that washed up near the town of Arniston/Waenhuiskrans that are believed to have belonged to the wreck of the Arniston (1815)

Of the 378 people that were on board, including 14 women and 25 children, only six men survived. Waenhuiskrans has since been renamed to Arniston, as the town had become synonymous with the wrecking. The wreck site was discovered and formerly excavated in 1982 by the University of Cape Town’s Archaeology Department guided by Jim Jobling, with many of the finds being housed at the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum.

Artefacts of the Arniston (1815) on display at the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum

It is currently understood that this survey and excavation was the first formal attempt at introducing the field of Maritime Archaeology into South Africa. In the late 1990’s, large wooden wreckage had washed up on the shore near Arniston and many believe that these belong to the Arniston. There is a replica monument at the top of the dunes that speaks to the loss of four of the children that were on board.

1872: Stella, this sailing schooner ran aground (and is presumed to have become a wreck) at Port Beaufort in the Breede River in the Western Cape.

1902: Clan McGregor, this British iron steam-powered ship, whilst on its maiden voyage, was lost after running aground near Ryspunt in the Western Cape as a result of bad navigation.

The Clan McGregor (1902) after running aground and people posing for a photo. The provided image shows it wrecked in the back

1902: Ryvingen, this Norwegian iron barque drove its bows into the side of the submerged wreck of the America (1900) during a north-westerly gale in Table Bay in the Western Cape and became a total loss. Its remains reportedly still lie in the Container Basin of the Cape Town Harbour.

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