SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
May 17:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1685: Good Hope, this wooden British sailing ketch was driven onto the rocks by a squall while trying to warp over the bar to enter the bay at Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. The 24 survivors constructed a decked boat, which nine men and the master used to reach Mozambique. Later, four were rescued by a British ketch that entered the bay looking for fresh meat, and of the remaining 10 people, five died of dysentery. The last five, after waiting ashore for nine months, were found by the survivors of the wrecks of the Bona Ventura (1686) and the Stavenisse (1686). Together the survivors, using the remains of the Good Hope, built the boat Centaurus over the next eight months. With three of the survivors of the Good Hope wreck staying behind because they enjoyed life with the local people, the rest left for the Cape of Good Hope on the 17th of February 1687. On the first of March 1687, they safely arrived at the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Governor at the time, Simon van der Stel, had the Centaurus refitted and sent back to look for more survivors of other wrecks.
1788: Avenhoorn, this Dutch East Indiaman wrecked at night in a north-westerly gale on Woodstock beach in Table Bay in the Western Cape.
1845: A north-westerly gale claimed two vessels off the west coast in the Western Cape:
• Catherine Isabella, this wooden sailing schooner wrecked when its cables parted, just north of the Olifantsriver mouth. One man drowned whilst trying to land.
• Eve, this wooden British sailing brig’s cables parted and it wrecked at Paternoster.
1854: Shrimp, this sailing schooner was lost near Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape.
1855: Josephine, this sailing schooner wrecked on rocks about 16km west of Cape Recife in the Eastern Cape.
1857: Maria, this South African sailing barque, a sealer registered in Cape Town, wrecked after its cables parted in a storm on the eastern side of the Prince Edwards Islands. The crew was marooned on the island and only returned to Cape Town seven months later.
1865: The Great Gale of 1865
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| A historical image depicting the aftermath of the Great Gale of 1865 in Table Bay |
On the 17th May 1865 a severe storm blew into the southern Cape of South Africa. Cape Town and the ships sheltering in or near Table Bay were badly affected with at least 15 vessels believed to have wrecked and at least 60 people losing their lives as a result. Photos of the aftermath of the storm depict the devastation caused to the ships and show many of them stranded high on the beach or wrecked in the waters:
• Alacrity, a British sailing barque, wrecked beyond the military hospital, no lives lost.
• RMS Athens, an iron British steam-and-sail-driven mail ship (barque), wrecked between Mouille Point and Green Point. All 30 that were on board drowned. Wreckage is still visible at the site, at an average depth of about 7m, but it has becoming heavily encrusted with marine life.
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| Wreck of the R.M.S. Athens (1865) in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, illustrated London News (29 July 1865) |
• Benjamin Miller, a sailing schooner, wrecked with no loss of life.
• City of Peterborough, a British sailing barque, wrecked in an area which is now part of the Royal Cape Yacht Basin. It was reported that the cries of the people on board could be heard from the shore, but that they could not be helped. All 18 that were on board were lost including the captain, his wife, and child.
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| Another historical image depicting the aftermath of the Great Gale of 1865 in Table Bay |
• Clipper, a wooden sailing schooner, wrecked with no loss of life.
• Deane, a British sailing barque, wrecked with no loss of life.
• Esther, a German sailing brig, wrecked on Woodstock beach with no loss of life.
• Fernande, a Danish sailing schooner, wrecked near the castle, with no loss of life.
• Isabel, a British sailing schooner, wrecked near the castle, with no loss of life.
• Jane, a British sailing brig, wrecked opposite the castle.
• Kehrweider, a German sailing brig, wrecked with a cargo of timber, with no loss of life. Its captain, Johann Parow was taken care of by a family, and he married the family’s only daughter, Johanna Timmerman. They eventually moved north of Cape Town and started selling land in the Tyger Valley area, with the area now having captain Parow as its namesake.
• Royal Arthur, a British sailing barque, wrecked with a cargo of timber, with no loss of life.
• Stag, a British steam-powered cargo ship, was lost whilst rendering assistance to other vessels in distress, with the loss of 12 lives.
• Star of the West, an iron British sailing barque, wrecked with no lives lost.
• Water Kelpie, a sailing cutter, wrecked with no lives lost.
1899: Lebu, this iron Norwegian sailing barque foundered after striking wreckage off Cape Recife in the Eastern Cape. All on board were rescued by the tug Sir Frederick.
1901: Rubia, this wooden Norwegian sailing barque wrecked near Cove Rock, near East London in the Eastern Cape. It was run ashore after it was discovered that it was leaking. All seven on board lost their lives during the wrecking. The alternative date of wrecking is reported to be on the 4th of May.
1943: Northmoor, this steam-powered British cargo ship was sunk by the German submarine U-198 off Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal. Eleven crew and one gunner were lost with the survivors being picked up by HMS St. Loman and landed at Durban.
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| The Northmoor (1943) in Vancouver, Canada, date unknown |
1958: Disa, this motor-powered South African fishing vessel was scuttled in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.
