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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