SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
September 18:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1869: A strong south-easterly gale, recorded with wind gusts of up to 100 km/ph struck Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape late at night on this day, wreaking havoc for the town of Port Elizabeth. Many vessels were driven ashore, and the lucky ones were refloated. Only one vessel, the Sarah Birch (in one source the Sarah Black), a British barque was lost on this day, after attempts to ride out the storm had failed. The storm would go on to claim 11 lives and result in the loss of 11 vessels the following day.
1917: Bia, this Swedish steel steam-powered freighter wrecked on Albatross Rock at Olifantsbos on the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape. The loss was explained by faulty seamanship owing to not giving enough berth to this dangerous stretch of coastline. Of the crew of 31, only four lives were lost when a boat overturned. Captain Axel Johanson of a passing ship called the Clara, risked his life for over four hours in the shallow waters rescuing 14 of the stricken crew. The Swedish King awarded him the highest honour for bravery. The wreck now lies between 8 and 4 meters in deep in thick kelp, in two ‘wreck areas’, just off the Thomas T Tucker trail.
A description of the wrecking was featured in the book “Eight Bells at Salamander” by Lawrence G. Green and reads “Huge seas washing over us," reported the distress call. "Am breaking up. Crew in great danger. Send tug with lifeboat at once." Soon the Admiralty tug Afrikaner was standing by, and the Cape Town harbour tug Ludwig Wiener arrived. But they could not approach the wreck. The seas were breaking over her so heavily that the ominous thudding sound of salt water against steel could be heard a mile away.
At great risk the Afrikaner sent a boat among the reefs and rescued fifteen men. Still heavier seas ended this effort, and twenty-five men remained on board the Bia. At this stage Captain Johanson happened to be passing in the Clara, and decided to take a hand. It seemed hopeless, but the three rescue ships waited, hoping for a lull.
Suddenly they observed the desperate men in the Bia lowering one of their own lifeboats. The boat rose and fell on the tremendous seas, vanishing and reappearing. The watching seamen felt that no boat could stand such a battering, and they were right. The lifeboat was swamped, but most of the crew was saved. Four men were drowned. And there were still fourteen men on board the wreck. (Captain Johanson) …… offered to take the rocket apparatus on board the Clara and run in close in the hope of saving his fellow countrymen.
The plan was carried out. Somehow the shallow Clara evaded all the rocks and reefs until she came to a patch of broken water two hundred yards from the surf-beaten wreck. Johanson fired rocket after rocket before a line fell at last across the deck of the Bia, there to be secured by the frantic men. They hauled the breeches-buoy on board. One by one they were dragged to safety on board the Clara. Fourteen men - and it was four hours before the last man left the wreck. Johanson breathed again, and steamed out to open water. After that valiant effort he received the highest decoration for bravery awarded by the King of Sweden.”
Bia on the left
1971: Jacaranda, this Greek freighter wrecked at the mouth of the Kobonqaba River in the Eastern Cape. The ship was caught by strong winds and although the crew dropped 2 anchors in an effort to stabilize the ship, the anchors refused to stay down, and dragged along the sandy ocean floor, causing the ship to head into the rocks. The wreck has been an attraction for many years, although in 2019 it was noted that much of the vessel is now broken up and becoming unrecognizable in the waves.
2005: Kathleen Louise III, this South African fishing vessel capsized and foundered north west of Robben Island in the Western Cape.
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