SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
October 10:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1846: Galatea, this wooden sailing brig’s cables parted in a south easterly gale and it wrecked by being smashed on rocks in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. Four lives were lost during the wrecking.
1857: Cape Lassie, this vessel wrecked on North End Beach in Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape. Very little is known about this vessel.
1905: A storm struck East London in the Eastern Cape, claiming at least three vessels:
• Caledonian, a steam-powered tug was swept down the Buffalo River by floodwaters along with its caretaker. Neither was ever heard from or seen again;
• Helene, an iron coal hulk was driven ashore and wrecked on the west bank of the Buffalo River;
• New Blessing, a wooden sailing vessel was driven ashore at the Rowing Club on the Buffalo River. It may have been refloated;
• Triton, a small vessel wrecked on the Buffalo River.
1942: Orcades, this British troop steam-powered transport ship was torpedoed and sunk by U-172 on this day. There were 290 crew, 36 gunners, and 741 passengers who were all returning to the United Kingdom. They were travelling slower than usual to conserve fuel and rain had reduced visibility. At 10:28 two torpedoes struck the port side about 350 km southwest of Cape Town. The Port engine and steering gear were destroyed, and distress signal were sent and lifeboats started being launched. The abandoning took longer than expected because of the heavy seas, but 20 lifeboats were successfully launched and most of those on board had abandoned ship. At 10:45, a third torpedo struck.
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| The Orcades (1942), date and location unknown |
One of the lifeboats capsized, but all were successfully picked up by one of the motorboats and another boat was seen drifting away, waterlogged, which accounted for most of those lost as it was assumed to have swamped having never found. A skeleton crew had remained on board, which included passengers, who would man the guns and attempt to save the ship. At 10:54 a fourth torpedo was fired, but missed, with the Orcades running in circles. The engineers managed to use the screws to steer the ship and started heading for the coast whilst U-172 had to reload. The U-boat eventually overtook the ship but dived back down after the guns were fired near them. Three further torpedoes battered the starboard side of the ship at 12:49, 12:50, and 12:54. These broke the ship’s back, and it sank within 6 minutes. The remaining crew of 55 abandoned ship in the last four lifeboats after the first of those three torpedoes struck. The chief engineer however failed to abandon ship and went down with it. An aircraft fired at U-172 and it had to leave the area without questioning the survivors. The lifeboats remained together and were picked up by the Polish steam merchant, Narwik, which had tended to the calls of the aircraft. The crew worked tirelessly to rescue more than 1000 people and remained in the area looking for survivors despite the danger of being torpedoed itself and being in rough seas. The destroyers, HMAS Nizam and HMS Foxhound were pursuing U-159 which had been spotted nearby, but they arrived and escorted the Narwik to Cape Town where the survivors were landed on the 12th of October. Forty-five lives were lost, which consisted of seven army personnel, 27 crew, two gunners, seven naval personnel, and two passengers.
1974: Tekton, this super tanker collided with the Obo Queen outside of Port Elilzabeth in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape on this day.
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| The damage sustained by the Tekton (1974). |
An explosion and fire broke out on board and the tanker was abandoned.
The Dutch tug Friesland eventually started towing the tanker, to be broken up in Durban, but on the 9th of November, the Tekton broke in two and a few days later both parts sank, somewhere along the coast between Port St Johns and Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.
1978: Shin Tung Yong 18, this fishing vessel foundered about 40 km west of Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape.
1982: Jung Tai No. 2, this motor-powered fishing trawler wrecked at Suiderstand, near Agulhas in the Western Cape. Within 10 years the trawler had broken up and was no longer visible above the water. |
| The Jung Tai No. 2 (1982) supposedly lay where it wrecked for 10 days, listed, and sank beneath the waves with very little pieces of the wreck ever being seen again. |
