SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
May 21:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1737: A north-westerly gale in Table Bay resulted in the wrecking of eight homeward bound, heavily laden Dutch East Indiaman vessels. These wrecks resulted in the combined loss of approximately 208 lives and £160,000 (a lot more in today’s money) worth of cargo. It is believed that this event’s heavy loss of life and cargo fuelled the need for the construction of Cape Town’s breakwater:
• De Buys, was driven ashore and wrecked near the Salt River mouth after its cables parted with only five survivors.
• Duinbeek, wrecked near the Salt River mouth with only a handful of survivors (exact number varies by source).
• Flora, wrecked near the Salt River mouth with only six of the crew of 140 surviving.
• Goudriaan, wrecked in the Salt River mouth without a loss of life.
• Iepenrode/Ypenrode, wrecked near the Salt River mouth with many lives being lost (exact number unknown but most sources list that the loss of life was great).
• Paddenburg, wrecked near the Salt River mouth with most of the crew surviving. A giant wave threw the Paddenburg over the other vessels that wrecked in the vicinity.
• Rodenrijs, wrecked near the Salt River mouth with the loss of six lives.
• Victoria, wrecked on Woodstock beach with nearly all the crew surviving. It was the smallest of the vessels that wrecked in the gale as it served as a packet in the Cape.
• Westerwijk, wrecked near the Salt River mouth with only a few lives being lost (exact number unknown).
1888: Adele, this South African sailing schooner's cables parted while loading guano and it ran ashore, wrecking on Dyer Island in the Western Cape.
1906: Oakburn, this steam-powered British cargo ship wrecked at 06:30 in thick fog due to a strong inset current near Duiker Point in the Western Cape. Two lives were lost during the wrecking event.
The Oakburn (1906) going under
On the 27th of June, 1994, the BOS 400 wrecked on top of the where the wreck of the Oakburn lies in Maori Bay. The Oakburn is deteriorating fast, with the BOS 400 slowly falling apart above it, and there is usually a strong surge, so much care should be taken when planning a dive on the site. The maximum depth on the Oakburn is about 22 m with many sections of the bow, and boilers still visible amongst the more modern wreckage of the BOS 400.
Structure of the Oakburn (1906) visible underneath the BOS 400
1972: Margaret A, this motor-powered South African fishing vessel ran aground and was lost near Morgan’s Bay in the Eastern Cape.
1979: Araxos, this motor-powered Greek freighter was scrapped in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape because of a fire that broke out in the crew’s quarters.
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