South Africa: Chanticleer, Rondebosch, Borella & Stormgans shipwrecks

SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage

Unknown shipwreck in Luderitz, Namibia

March 1:

“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”

1848: Chanticleer, this South African iron schooner struck a rock on the east bank of the Kowie River in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape and foundered. 

1956 (possibly 1959): Rondebosch, this motor-powered fishing boat wrecked at night on the northern sandbank of the Mvoti/Hlimbitwa River Mouth in KwaZulu-Natal. It is reported that the man on watch thought that the lights from KwaDukuza (formerly Stanger), which is 4km from the shore, was coming from a village directly on the shore. The vessel ran aground with such force that it proved impossible to be refloated. The following day the vessel was smashed to pieces at high tide. The captain gave his ship’s lanterns to the Jex family to thank them for the assistance that they rendered during the event.

1971: Borella, this South African fishing vessel was scuttled by the SA Navy in Simon’s Bay in False Bay in the Western Cape.

1975: Stormgans, this South African fishing vessel foundered off Danger Point in the Western Cape.

1988: Embraer 110P1 Bandeirante (registration no. ZS-LGP), this passenger plane wrecked near Germiston in Gauteng. The plane was en route from Phalaborwa to Johannesburg when witnesses reported hearing an explosion overhead. The plane plummeted from the sky with the passenger deck and the fuselage separating complete after striking the ground. All 17 that were on board on lost their lives.