SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
July 19:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1829: Phoenix, this wooden British ship wrecked on the eponymous Phoenix Shoal in False Bay whilst trying to enter Simon's Bay in the Western Cape. Iron ballast and a stern are visible at the shoal, but it has not been determined if these belong to the Phoenix or perhaps another wreck.
What remains of the stern of a vessel, possibly the Phoenix (1829), that wrecked at Phoenix Shoal
1857: Susan, this sailing cutter either foundered or ran aground in Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape. Very little is known about this vessel.
1874: Natal Star, this British wooden sail-propelled barque wrecked after running aground in a gale near the Buffalo River in the Eastern Cape.
1878: Jeanne/Jean, this French schooner was driven ashore and wrecked after its cables parted in a north-westerly gale at the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay in the Western Cape.
1881: Zara, this British schooner sprung a leak near Cape Agulhas but managed to reach Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, where it heeled over in Munros Bay and became a wreck.
An anchor, possibly from the Zara (1881), at Munros Bay near Santos Beach in Mossel Bay
1883: Freeman Clark, this fully rigged American transport ship’s cargo caught alight on the 18th of July. The crew took to the boats, meanwhile, the abandoned ship came ashore at the mouth of the Gamtoos River in the Eastern Cape and wrecked. The captain and seven of the crew were lost after their boat capsized in the surf. Two more of the crew died from sun exposure whilst navigating to Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
1894: Fingoe, this South African barque wrecked in a gale near East Beach in East London in the Eastern Cape.
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