SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
Simferopol shipwreck in Namibia
February 16:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1686: Stavenisse, this Dutch East Indiaman wrecked at what is presumed to be near the Mzimkulu River mouth at Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal resulting in the loss of eleven lives from the crew of 71. The rest of the crew encountered survivors of the Good Hope (1685) and the Bona Ventura (1686). They worked together to build the boat ‘Centaurus’ which was officially launched 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.
1713: Bennebroek, this Dutch East Indiaman wrecked near the Mtana River near Hamburg in the Eastern Cape. The vessel was disabled in a gale while homeward bound from Ceylon. It ran aground in broad daylight and began to break up immediately. Of the 150 lives on board, only 57 Europeans and 20 enslaved people from Malabar (south-western India) managed to reach the shore. The survivors started walking to the Cape, but most turned back after reaching an unfordable river. Of those that continued, only one (although some sources suggest up to five) person(s) reached the Cape alive on the 26th of February 1714, more than a year after the wrecking. Those who turned back lived near the wreck until June 1713, trading iron and copper for food with the local people, who treated the survivors with kindness. When this supply was exhausted the survivors made another attempt to reach the Cape, but after several weeks the survivors, now reportedly only consisting of 7 Europeans, found refuge with another friendly group of local people. On the 4th of September 1714, an English decked boat reached the Cape from Delagoa Bay with 4 of these 7 survivors on board. They had been found living in a local village near the mouth of a river. A subsequent six-month search by the galiot Postlooper for the wreck and remaining 3 survivors was unsuccessful. Although there are some reports that claim in 1716 three Englishmen were reported to be living on that coastline with wives and children and it is possible that these three men were those last three survivors. The wreck was excavated in 1985 under a National Monument’s Council permit.
1850: Amelia Mulholland, this wooden barque wrecked at Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape after its cables parted in a south-easterly gale.
1853: Mary, this schooner wrecked in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape during a south-easterly gale after its cables parted. One life was lost during the event.
1864: Lucy, this vessel wrecked during a south-easterly gale, at night, on Birkenhead Rock at Danger Point near Gansbaai in the Western Cape.
1878: A south-easterly gale claimed two vessels on this day in East London in the Eastern Cape:
• Elise, a wooden barque wrecked near the mouth of the Buffalo river,
• Olive, an unknown vessel type, wrecked on East Beach with the loss of all six of the crew.
2019: Ankoveld, this South African fishing vessel capsized near St Helena Bay off the west coast in the Western Cape. All 10 that were on board were rescued.
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