My Wild Coast

The Greek-owned Oceanos cruise liner sank in heavy seas on the 4th of August off the coast near Hole in the Wall. The liner had left East London that afternoon with 576 passengers and crew aboard.

Shockingly, the Greek captain and crew abandoned the ship, leaving the remaining passengers to fend for themselves. Had it not been for the entertainment staff that sent out the distress call, there might well have been a huge loss of life. A large-scale rescue operation ensued, involving the South African Defence Force Medical Command, the South African Air Force, the Department of Transport and the Civil Protection Services at East London and Port Elizabeth.

Many of the passengers were airlifted by helicopters from the deck of the ship, while others were rescued from lifeboats by ships that answered the distress calls. The operation was carried out in extremely dangerous circumstances, with rough seas and bad weather conditions, and without any casualties. It was a resounding success and a real tribute to all of those involved, except for the Greek crew that is...

The Jacaranda was a 2000-ton Greek-owned coaster, which ran aground on the night of September the 18th, 1971. She was not laden with any cargo and her engines failed as she negotiated the windy seas. She ran aground on the beach, about an hour's walk north of Qolora Mouth and the captain, his wife and 14 crew members abandoned ship using a rope ladder which they strung from the ships prow to the nearby rocks. Successive storms have taken their toll on the stranded ship and today only the bow remains.

The wreck is an hour-long walk north along the beach from Qolora.

It is still unclear whether the wreck, which lies off Double Mouth's "Bead Beach", is in fact that of the Santo Espirito or that of some unrecorded wreck of which there were no survivors. The only reference to the Santo Espirito in Portuguese literature is that it ran aground on "the coast of Natal, and the survivors escaped by boat to Mozambique". Maps of the age indicate that the coast of Natal could have been farther south than it's current boundary. Analysis of the Chinese Ming Porcelain found washed up at the site, indicates that it may have been made towards the end of the 16th Century.

As its name suggests, "Bead Beach" is a great place to hunt for Carnelian beads and shards of Ming Porcelain. An intact lid of a Ming Porcelain pot was unearthed there recently, after heavy seas had shifted the beach sand. "Bead Beach" is a 15-20 minute walk south along the coast from the car park at the Double Mouth Nature Reserve near Morgan Bay.

The Santo Alberto was wrecked at the present day site of Sunrise on Sea. She was overloaded, poorly maintained and not well suited to the adverse weather conditions in which the crew found themselves. To make matters worse, her pumps had become clogged when her cargo of peppercorns mixed with the water flooding into her hold. The decision was therefore made to run the ship aground before she sank in the rough seas. She grounded within '400 paces' of the shore, split in two, and washed up on the rocks. At low tide, 285 survivors out of a total of 347 were able to make it ashore.

Ahead of the survivors lay an arduous trek up the coast to Maputo. Nuno Velho Pereira, who took command of the survivors, knew from hearing other survivor accounts, that the terrain along the coast would be rough and that there would be many great river mouths to cross. He realized that it would be better to travel inland before heading for Maputo. His excellent leadership over his disciplined, well-armed men meant that fewer passengers and crew were lost on the trek to Maputo than the parties of the Sao Joao and Sao Bento, who had taken the coastal route.

Screw steamer of 39 tons. Wrecked at Port St Johns on 10 July 1887 after crossing the bar while on a voyage from Natal to East London via Port St Johns with a cargo of 1 026 pockets of sugar. No lives were lost.
Eastern Province Herald, 13 July 1887
Shipping Register, Cape Archives, C.C. 3/7/2/4

Cape schooner of 60 tons, built in 1855 at Newhaven, sheathed with zinc, and owned by J.O. Smith, Algoa Bay. Wrecked on the rocks at Port St Johns on 21 December 1861 when the wind failed her while coming out of the river. No lives were lost.
Graham’s Town Journal, 4 January 1862
King William’s Town Gazette, 31 December 1861
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1861-62
Shipping Register, Cape Archives, C.C. 3/7/2/1

American ship of 843 tons, owned by Edward Lawrence of Boston, and commanded by Capt Andrew J.Smith. Wrecked a little south-west of the Xora River mouth in the Transkei on 28 July 1881 while on a voyage from Cebu in the Philippines to Boston with a cargo of flax, sugar and manila hemp. The captain and 12 crew were drowned; three were saved. The vessel was wrecked at Twine Point, named after the hemp (twine) which washed ashore.
Eastern Province Herald, 9 August 1881
Shipping Register Cape Archives, C.C. 3/7/2/3

Norwegian wooden barque of 487 tons built in 1873 by Oliver, Quebec, and commanded by Capt C. Gundersen. Wrecked near the Qora River mouth in Transkei on 10 November 1894. No lives were lost.
Argus Annual, 1895
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1894-95

Clan Line steamer of 2 668 tons, built in 1896 by Naval Construction & Armament Co, Barrow, and commanded by Capt J. Schofield. Wrecked at Clan Lindsay Rocks in Mazeppa Bay on the Transkei coast on 20 March 1898 while on a voyage to Mauritius. No lives were lost.
Cape Times, 23, 24 March 1898
Lloyds Register of Shipping 1897-98

Schooner commanded by Capt W. Moses. Wrecked on the sand bar at Port St Johns on 7 November 1847 after the wind had failed her. No lives were lost.
Shipping Register, Cape Archives, C.C. 2/16

British twin screw freighter of 5 155 tons, built in 1925 by Harland & Wolff, Glasgow, owned by Bank Line, and commanded by Capt B.T. Symmonds. Wrecked a little north-east of the Mtakatye River in Transkei on 10 November 1958 after catching fire while on a voyage from Cape Town to Durban to load 1 000 tons of anthracite for the Far East. One man died.
Cape Argus, 10 November 1958
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1958-59

South African twin-screw streamer of 191 tons, built in 1896 by Ramage & Ferguson, Leith, Scotland, and commanded by Capt A.V. Buuren. Wrecked at Port St Johns on 20 November 1926 with a general cargo including 100 pigs, which swam ashore. No lives were lost among her crew of 13.
Eastern Province Herald, 23 November 1926
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1925-26

Twin-screw motor vessel of 163 tons, built in 1921 by Berninghaus, Duisberg, Germany, and commanded by Capt Plough. Wrecked on Shixina Point on the Transkei coast on 7 April 1938.
Cape Times, 7 April 1938
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1937-38

British vessel of 729 tons in the service of the English East India Company, commanded by Capt John Coxon. Wrecked in the big gully to the north-east of the Tezani Stream, near Port Grosvenor in Pondoland, on 4 August 1782 at night during a south-west gale while on a homeward-bound voyage from Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri-Lanka). Of the 150 people on board, 128 set out on an epic journey to the Cape through native territory. The vessel was reputed to carry a fortune of gold. Captain Sydney Turner recovered cast iron cannon and gold and silver coins in 1880. Iron ballast and cannon are evident on the site.
Barrow, John, An Account of Travels into the Interior of South Africa, Vol 2, 1804
Cape Archives, V.C. 550 (Report of William Hubberley)
Dalrymple, Alexander, An Account of the Loss of the Grosvenor Indiaman, London, 1783
Hardy, Charles, A Register of Ships in the service of the English East India Company, 1800
Kirby, P.R., Source Book on the Wreck of the Grosvenor, V.R.S. 34, 1953
Natal Mercury, 21 May 1880 (report of salvage by Captain Sydney Turner)

Durban-owned coaster of 2 081 tons, built in 1954, and commanded by Capt W.F. Nicholls. Wrecked 8km south-west of Port St Johns near Mngazi River on 12 May 1967 while on a voyage from Cape Town to Mauritius via Durban with a cargo of cement, fruit and general cargo including liquor.
Cape Argus, 12 May 1967
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1966-67

British iron ship of 1 390 tons, built in 1874 by T.R. Oswald, Sunderland, and commanded by Capt William Roy. Wrecked at the Qora River in Transkei on 14 November 1887 at night while on a voyage from Rangoon to London with a cargo of rice. The captain and 12 seamen were drowned and buried at Qora River. Eleven other crew members were saved and taken to East London by ox-wagon.
Cape Argus, 23 November 1887
Lloyds Register of Shipping 1887-88
Shipping Register, Cape Archives, C.C. 3/7/2/4

Greek freighter of 1 591 tons, built in 1953, and commanded by Capt Kokkios Paulos. Wrecked a little south-west of the Kabonqaba River, a few kilometers north-east of the Kei River mouth, on 18 September 1971 after experiencing engine trouble while on a voyage from East London to Durban in ballast. She lies high and dry in a gully (1987)
Argus, 20 September 1971
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1971-72

French ship commanded by Capt Vidette. Wrecked 48km south-west of the Bashee River on 12 April 1829 while on a voyage from Calcutta and Réunion. Twelve men, including the captain, were drowned.
South African Commercial Advertiser, 9 May 1829

Dutch cargo vessel of 6 045 tons, built in 1919 by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg managed by the Holland Africa Line, and commanded by Capt B. Brouwer. Wrecked on a reef a few kilometers north-east of Port St Johns on 10 January 1943 with an 11 000-ton cargo of ammunition, tanks and aircraft. Captain Van Delden was involved in the salvage of the cargo, one day, shortly after he had left the vessel during a heavy swell, she blew up, pieces landing on the shore.
Van Delden, Gertrude, I Have a Plan
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1942-43

Portuguese East-Indiaman (não), commanded by Capt Joseph de Cabreyra (Admiral of the Fleet). Wrecked a little north-east of Port St Johns on 24 July 1635 while on a homeward-bound voyage from Go to Lisbon with a cargo of Eastern goods and pepper. Her crew of 145 men were ill with scurvy and the ship was unsound. No lives were lost; the crew stayed at the wreck site for six months and built two boats, the Nossa Senhora da Natividade and the Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem; the one boat reached Luanda 48 days later, but the other was lost.
Cabreyra, Joseph de, Naufragio da Não. N. Senhora de Belem, Lisbon, 1636. Translated into English in Theal, G.M., Records of South Eastern Africa, Vol 8, pp 187-234

British vessel of 1 797 tons, built in 1888 by J Laing, Sunderland. Wrecked a little south-west of the Bashee River mouth on 29 December 1916 while on a voyage from Madagascar to England.
Cape Argus, 10 January 1916-17
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1916-17

Portuguese East-Indiaman (não) of 22 guns, commanded by Fernão D’Alvares Cabral. Wrecked at the mouth of a gully on the seaward side of the Island at the Msikba River mouth on the Pondoland Coast after being disabled in a storm on 21 April 1554 with a cargo including pepper, cotton, Chinese porcelain, coco-nuts, silk and spices packed in 72 crates. Forty four Portuguese and over 100 slaves lost their lives; 98 Portuguese (including Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo), and 224 slaves landed safely and travelled overland to Delagoa Bay (Maputo) but only a few made it. They passed the São João wreck (1552) on the way. A great deal of broken Chinese porcelain has been found scattered on the island. Eighteen bronze cannon have been recovered, many lead cannon-balls were also found.
Annals of the Natal Museum, 1982, Vol 25, Part 1, pp 1-39
De Mesquita Perestrelo, Manuel, Relacão Do Naufragio Da Não S. Bento. Translated into English in Theal, G.M., Records of South Eastern Africa, Vol 1, pp 218-285

Schooner of 39 tons, owned by Mr. Stoffels of Port St Johns, and commanded by Capt Davis. Wrecked in the Mzimvubu River mouth at Port St Johns on 9 December 1973 after a voyage from Durban. Unknown to her captain the sandbanks in the river mouth had changed and she was wrecked while trying to enter the river. She was employed in the coasting trade between Port St Johns and Durban.
Natal Mercury, 18 December 1873

The Dutch ship, Stavenisse, was wrecked in what is thought to have been the Coffee Bay area. A few survivors decided to walk to Cape Town, while the rest decided to stay. These were later met by survivors of the English ships, Good Hope (1685) and Bonaventura (1686). Together they decided to build a new boat, the Centaurus, from the wreckage of the Good Hope, which they then sailed to Cape Town. The Cape Governor, Simon van der Stel, ordered the refitting of the Centaurus and sent her back in the hope of finding more survivors.

At Cove Rock, south of East London, three naked white men paddled out on a makeshift catamaran to meet the Centaurus, they were survivors of the Stavenisse! By the end of the next day a further 16 survivors had been rescued. Amongst the survivors was a 13-year-old French boy who had, through various twists of fate in the previous four years, been separated from his family in France; smuggled to America; sailed to the Far East; wrecked on the South African coast; been adopted by a Xhosa chief; learnt the language and had served as a guide to the Stavenisse survivors on their march to the Cape!