SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
Zeila shipwreck in Namibia
August 8:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1750: Elephant, this wooden-hulled Danish East Indiaman wrecked at the Gouritz River mouth in the Western Cape. The crew experienced hardship on the return journey from the East, with many falling ill. It was eventually decided to attempt to get the vessel to Mossel Bay but it was instead run aground at the mouth of the Gouritz River. The crew of 65 were all rescued by local farmers, and they travelled overland back to Cape Town.
1840: Le Cygne, this French wooden-hulled brigantine entered Table Bay late at night and ran aground near Paarden Island in the Western Cape and was later condemned. One man died because of the wrecking.
1847: Swiftsure, this wooden-hulled schooner wrecked during a strong north-westerly gale in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape.
1862: A north-westerly gale in Table Bay resulted in the fouling of several vessels and the wrecking of three. On this day, two wooden hulled barques wrecked, and the following day would see another vessel wrecked:
• Kate, wrecked near the Salt River mouth.
• Crystal Palace, wrecked on Woodstock beach.
1889: Buffalo, this iron-hulled paddle-driven steam-powered tug wrecked after striking the sand bar in the Kowie River in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape whilst trying to assist the USS Saxon. The remains are often visible about 3 km up the river at ‘Buffalo Bend’.
1955: Natalia, this motor-powered fishing vessel was scuttled in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.
1963: A SAAF Avro Shackleton MR 3 (registration no. 1718/K) crashed on this day in the Stetteynskloof Valley just north east of Franschhoek in the Western Cape with the loss of all 14 crew. It was on its way to conduct a military exercise with the Royal Navy submarine HMS Alliance, having flown into, as the investigation board described, atrocious weather conditions, with a low icing height. The board held the captain solely responsible as he disobeyed direct orders by routing overland instead of oversea as was decided in the flight briefing. The crash site was discovered the following day as the weather made searches incredibly difficult.
1991: Fontao, this fishing vessel was scuttled south of the Umhlanga Lighthouse in KwaZulu-Natal by the Oceanographic Research Institute to form an artificial reef to study the rate at which wrecks are colonised by marine organisms. The remains are claimed to make for one of the best dives in South Africa with the deepest section lying around 27 m in depth and the top at about 17 m.
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