South Africa: Barbara Gordon, Brilliant, Cambusnethan, St Ebba, Amsterdam & Seal shipwrecks

SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage

May 5

“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”

1853: Barbara Gordon, this British wooden sailing barque wrecked at midnight after striking a reef near the Ratel River mouth in the Western Cape. Five passengers and one of the crew drowned when a life raft capsized.

1880: Brilliant, this German brigantine (possibly a schooner) wrecked in a south-easterly gale on North End Beach in Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay the Eastern Cape.

1897: Cambusnethan, this British steel sailing barque was towed out of Algoa Bay on the 4th. In the early hours of the 5th, with a thick fog, the ship lost its way and struck the rocks at Woody Cape in the Eastern Cape. All except the captain abandoned ship. After three days, when it became clear the ship would be a total loss, he finally left.

1916: St Ebba, this British steam-powered whaler was driven ashore near Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape and wrecked with the loss of one life.

St Ebba (1916) shortly after wrecking

1975: Amsterdam, this motor-powered fishing vessel wrecked in the Gourits River in the Western Cape.

1983: Seal, this South African fishing vessel lost its anchor and foundered near Dana Bay in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape.

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South Africa: Bato & Spray shipwrecks

SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage

January 8:

Staaten Generaal under Vice-Admiral Pieter Melville.
The Staaten Generaal was renamed 'Bato' after it had finished serving in the North Sea and was moved to Cape Town

“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”

1806: Bato, this 74-gun Dutch ship of the line was scuttled on Long Beach in Simons Town in False Bay in the Western Cape. The Bato was a 74-gun Dutch ship of the line built in 1784 in the Rotterdam shipyards. Initially named Staaten Generaal, she was renamed Bato after completing her service for the Dutch in the North Sea.

Edges of burnt timber on the Bato (1806) in 2012

She served in defending Amsterdam and then as part of the East India squadron, travelling between Cape Town and Batavia. On 27 February 1804, the Bato returned to Table Bay and would never leave South African waters again. Deemed unseaworthy, the vessel was used as a floating battery to defend Simon's Town.

What remains of the main site of the wreck of the Bato (1806) is visible on satellite images, with much kelp having grown over it

The crew was ordered to burn it when the Dutch lost the Battle of Blaauwberg to the British and a new occupation became inevitable. Today very little of the wreck remains, but because it is a very shallow wreck in a sheltered bay, it has seen been the subject of many maritime archaeological projects. Timber and conglomerated iron and kelp patches make this wreck visible on satellite images too. The unit last inspected this wreck in November 2020.

One of the Bato's (1806) guns which stands in front of the Simon's Town post office

1906: Spray, this wooden steam-powered fishing ketch wrecked on North Patch Reef at Bird Island in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape. Two lives were lost as a result of the wrecking.

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South Africa: Reliance, William Pitt, Amsterdam, Albatross & Rainbow shipwrecks

SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage

December 16:

“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”

1809: Reliance, this American wooden sailing vessel was broken up in Table Bay in the Western Cape. Very little is known about it. 

1814: William Pitt, this British East Indiaman wrecked somewhere between Algoa Bay and St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape. It was only known to have wrecked from items washing ashore with no survivors having been reported. The Stag searched for evidence of its wrecking and found further proof, such as a medicine chest lid with the name ‘William Pitt’ on it. 

1817: Amsterdam, this 80-gun Dutch man-of-war wrecked at the eponymous Amsterdamhoek at Bluewater Bay in the Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.

Part of the display on the Amsterdam (1817) at Bayworld Museum in Port Elizabeth

The captain made the decision to run the warship ashore after having sprung a leak in a storm. Three men lost their lives and the survivors travelled to the nearest town, which at the time was Uitenhage/Kariega, before eventually making their way back to the Netherlands. Bayworld Museum has an exhibit on this vessel.

Display on the Amsterdam (1817) at Bayworld Museum in Port Elizabeth

1881: Albatross, this German sailing barque’s anchor cables parted during a south-easterly gale and it wrecked along the bight in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.

1896: Rainbow, this Norwegian wooden barque wrecked at Stalwart Point, between the Great Fish and Mpekweni rivers.

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