SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
April 12:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1790: Guardian, this 44-gun wooden sailing transport sloop struck an Iceberg in dense fog near the southwest Indian Ocean Ridge on the 24th of December whilst transporting convicts and provisions to New South Wales, Australia. It set off from the Cape of Good Hope with a crew size of 123 of which 25 were convicts.
Dramatization of the HMS Guardian's crew escaping on the boats after striking the iceberg, by Robert Dodd, July 1st 1790
The following day, after having struck the iceberg with the ship seeming beyond rescue, numerous attempts were made asking the captain to abandon ship. The captain allowed the boats to be launched and about half of the crew made it onto them. However, the captain, along with a crew of 60 remained on board and managed to repair the sloop to the point of floating and it was mercifully carried by the wind the entire 2000 km back to the Cape of Good Hope. After several arduous weeks at sea, what remained of the Guardian reached the Cape of Good Hope and the captain sent a letter on the 15th of March expressing his intent to ground the sloop in Saldanha Bay so that the Guardian and its cargo may be rescued. Unfortunately, a gale wind forced it into False Bay where it was wrecked on the beach on this day.
Title page of the account of the HMS Guardian's wrecking by its captain, Lieut. Riou, 1808
The wrecking after this gale did not result in the loss of lives. However, of the 63 passengers that were loaded onto the boats on the 25th of December, only one boat with 15 passengers on board was ever rescued. The French merchant ship, Viscountess de Bantannie picked up this boat on the 3rd of January, between 100-500 km (pending the account) east of KwaZulu-Natal.
1790: Maria, this wooden sailing barque wrecked near the Salt River mouth in Table Bay in the Western Cape. It was anchored in the bay when a great north-westerly gale parted it from its cables, and it was driven ashore where it wrecked. It was one of 7 ships to have been driven ashore during this gale, but the only one which could not be refloated.
1829: L’Ecole, this wooden sailing vessel wrecked just north of the Inxaxo River mouth near Sandy Point in the Eastern Cape. Reports vary, but it is believed that between 13-30 people were lost due to the wrecking.
1988: The Wild Goose, this United Air Douglas DC-3C (registration no. ZS-UAS) twin engine charter airplane had an in-flight fire and crashed during the emergency descent in an open field in Hennenman in the Free State with the airplane disintegrating and all 24 occupants losing their lives. The official investigation could not find any maintenance or crew errors and the speculation was that the fire may have been caused by a fuel booster pump failing. The passengers consisted of jockeys and their trainers.
1993: Augusta, this South African motor-powered fishing vessel foundered in a storm east of Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape. All 12 that were on board were lost.
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Sd FB.
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