SAHRA Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage
January 27:
“This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history”
1784: Severe, this French man-of-war wrecked on Blaauwbergstrand in Table Bay in the Western Cape after missing its stays and being driven ashore.
1879: Racer, this British wooden sailing brigantine wrecked in a gale somewhere along the Overberg coastline in the Western Cape. One source suggests that it wrecked near Marthapunt, near Skipskop, and another suggests that it wrecked near the Ratel River mouth, just east of Quoin Point.
1882: James Gaddarn/Goddern, this British wooden sailing barque wrecked in an east-north-easterly gale on Back Beach in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal.
1894: Crystal Wave, this wooden sailing schooner capsized in a violent south-easterly squall in Hout Bay in the Western Cape with the loss of four lives. It is currently presumed that it foundered after capsizing, but more research is required to determine this accurately.
1976: Goel No 1, this motor-powered geophysical research vessel (a converted whaler) ran aground on Whale Rock and then wrecked just below the lighthouse on the south side of Robben Island in Table Bay in the Western Cape. They had left Table Bay harbour late at night in a south-easterly gale with an apparent electrical fault on the ship’s instruments.
Goel No 1 shortly after wrecking and starting to disappear beneath the waves
The tugs Danie Hugo and Atlantic rendered assistance but, at 01:00 on the 28th, the ship was abandoned with two NSRI boats rescuing the crew of 19. An oil spill contaminated Table Bay and affected the marine life with fuel and lubricating oil being salvaged. Most of the wreck now lies at about 7 m in depth, perpendicular to the shore.
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