SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
January 31:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1776: Nieuwe Rhoon, this wooden sailing vessel struck whale rock in Table Bay in a south-easterly gale and was badly damaged. It was towed and subsequently beached at the Castle Jetty in Table Bay in the Western Cape, where its cargo was unloaded, and it was left to become a wreck.
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| Aerial shot of the excavation of the Nieuwe Rhoon (1776) in the Foreshore of Cape Town in 1971 |
In 1970 during the construction of the Civic Centre building at the foreshore in Cape Town the remains of a wooden ship were uncovered. The subsequent excavation by the city’s building inspector, Bob Lightly, in 1971 revealed a section of the hull had survived partly covered by ballast consisting of iron shot. The excavation included the exposure of, and good written and drawn records of the timbers.
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| The Foreshore during the excavation of the Nieuwe Rhoon (1776). Construction of the Civic Centre in 1971 |
Good quality photos taken during the excavation have also been of particular benefit. The artefacts recovered were relatively scarce and consisted of clay pipes, Chinese porcelain, glazed pottery, and peppercorns. These artefacts tentatively dated the ship to wrecking during the mid-18th century. The position of the wreck, lying at right angles to the old shoreline, and its location near to where an old wooden jetty is recorded indicates that it was deliberately beached. The lack of artefacts also indicates that there was plenty of time to empty its hull, thereby indicating that it did not wreck suddenly. Records show that a Dutch ship, the Nieuwe Rhoon was deliberately beached in Cape Town in 1776.
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| Archaeologists excavating and exposing timbers of the Nieuwe Rhoon (1776) in 1971 in the Foreshore |
Therefore, Lightly concluded that the wreck uncovered at the Civic Centre was that of the Nieuwe Rhoon. The excavation was the first of its kind in South Africa and was important in showing that early wrecks can survive in a good state of preservation beneath reclaimed land.
1843: Sir John St Aubyn, this paddle-wheel driven steam-powered tug wrecked whilst towing the Sophia over the Kowie River bar in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. Although the Sophia also went down during this event, it was refloated and remained in service for another 10 years.
1851: James Shepherd, this wooden sailing barque wrecked near Still Bay in the Western Cape.
1873: Bismarck, this iron steam-powered coaster wrecked on Madagascar Reef about 14 km southwest of the Keiskamma River in the Eastern Cape. It is often state that the Bismarck was the first steamer to have crossed the bar of the Buffalo River. Its bell is housed at the East London Museum.
1897: Reistad, this wooden sailing barque wrecked in a south-easterly gale in Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape. After its cables parted it was driven ashore, where it wrecked, and it even fouled the Norwegian barque Arnguda’s anchor in the process.
1898: Dorothea, this wooden sailing schooner wrecked near Cape Vidal in KwaZulu-Natal. It sprang a leak and was abandoned to be driven ashore, after which it broke in two.
1901: Harry Mundahl, this wooden sailing vessel wrecked at Anchor Bay in Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal.
1916: Magnet, this sailing (in some reports a steam-powered) sealer/Robben Island packet wrecked at Hout Bay Harbour in Hout Bay in the Western Cape. Whilst passing through the entrance in a gale and a heavy swell in an attempt to find shelter, the ebb tide set it on the shore where it remained fast and wrecked.
1965: Bluff, this steam-powered trawler wrecked in thick fog whilst returning to Cape Town from the fishing ground, just south of Bakoven, off Victoria Road in the Western Cape. The cook drowned whilst the rest of the crew survived. During WWII, the Bluff served as a minesweeper for the South African Navy.
