Wrecked on an unforgiving coast
New book chronicles shipwrecks around the world, particularly southern Africa
DESPITE abundant remarkable local salvage operations, many wrecks dot the coast, as depicted in a new book, On the Rocks, published in the Netherlands.
Excellent colour images by Dutch maritime photographer Anton Rijsdyk show wrecks across the globe, but southern African wrecks feature prominently, including the remains of the American Liberty ship Thomas T Tucker on the front cover.
Steaming from New Orleans to Suez and fully laden with tanks and other military equipment 76 years ago yesterday, she grounded at Olifantsbospunt near Cape Point. According to some reports, the compass was affected by the tanks on deck, so that when she entered a fog bank north-west of Cape Town, she overshot Table Bay, ending up on the coast closer to Cape Point.
Despite refloating efforts by Cape Town harbour tugs, the Liberty steamer remained hard aground for the sea to smash her asunder.
On the back cover is a photograph of the ro-ro ship Jolly Rubino that caught fire, became immobilised and, driven by heavy seas and a strong onshore wind, stranded on the ecologically sensitive coast south of the St Lucia estuary.
So intense was the fire in the chemical cargo that many containers on the foredeck were reduced to twisted wreckage, leaving salvors unable to determine the nature of much of the cargo, and having to be extremely cautious when salvaging it.
With serious cracking of her hull, the ship was a total loss and, once all toxins had been removed, she was blown up to accelerate its destruction in that pristine area of our coast.
Another photograph in the book shows the hulk of the coaster Border that went ashore at Elandsklip, south of Port Nolloth, on April Fool’s Day 1947, the same day the Greek steamer George M Livanos took to the rocks near Green Point lighthouse. Given the day of the respective groundings, few people initially believed reports of either wreck.
Six years earlier, the 31m coaster had survived grounding at Port St Johns where the Mzimvubu River was in flood. Masses of silt had created new sandbanks, while strong river currents added to the master’s difficulties when bringing his ship into the river mouth to berth at the wooden wharf.
Although the pilot had staked out the best channel around the mud banks, a strong current drove the ship on to a sandbank.
Through damaged bottom plating, water began to flood the hold; Border lost her rudder and damaged her propeller.
A doughty Norwegian master arrived in another coaster and devised a salvage plan. He made a new wooden rudder and in Mthatha of all places, he found a small propeller.
He had teams of oxen dragging an old stock anchor to seaward during low tide and connected it to the ship’s anchor chain.
With the oxen pulling and the windlass heaving, the ship refloated, but the propeller broke off and it drifted ashore again on to a sandbank. Again, homespun repairs were done, again the oxen were inspanned, and refloated her.
She returned to the coastal trade until her demise on the west coast.
On passage from Liverpool to Cape Town in November 1942, Blue Star’s reefer ship Dunedin Star hit an unidentified object – possibly the Clan Alpine shoal – and as her holds and engine room were taking water, the master decided to beach north of Cabo Frio on the South West African (Namibian) coast.
Sent to rescue the passengers and crew, the Walvis Bay tug Sir Charles Elliot was wrecked at Rocky Point, to the south of the stranded Blue Star ship. In trying to get ashore, two of the tug’s crew drowned.
The others walked up the beach to join those from Dunedin Star, making | Brian Ingpen-George Young Collection
a growing group awaiting rescue on the beach.
As the surf was too rough and unpredictable for a rescue seaborne operation, an air force Ventura attempted to land on the beach to fly out some of the stranded folks, but got bogged down in the soft sand, leaving the air crew also on the beach.
Meanwhile, the army had begun an overland trek to the wreck’s position, but trucks got bogged down in the sand – and they had no tyre pump.
Eventually, 11 trucks managed to traverse the unforgiving terrain, pick up the castaways, and return to Windhoek.
The air force sent the air crew back to try to fly the Ventura off the beach. It crashed, but the intrepid crew struggled, and, after severe hardships, also returned to civilisation.
Rijsdyk’s book excludes this incident as there is probably nothing left of Dunedin Star, and even modern vehicular access to the site is difficult.
In browsing through the book, I enjoyed the clear colour photographs, but would have liked to have had an account of each wreck shown.
Ingpen is a teacher at the Lawhill Maritime Centre