1.) ATHENS – Mouille Point – Great Gale of 1865

The boiler and cylinder of this mail steamship, remain firmly wedged between the rocks, to remind us of the lives lost.

2.) KAKAPO - Noordhoek Beach – 1900

The remains of the rudder, boiler and frame of the Kakapo, lie like a skeleton in deep sand in the middle of Noordhoek Beach. The crew didn’t even get their feet wet as they stepped off after the Captain thought he had rounded Cape Point and headed straight for shore in a thick mist. Find out more by reading our post from Monday.

3.) CLAN STUART - Simon’s Town – 1914

No lives were lost when this small steamer dragged anchor in a strong south-easter. The cylinder tops of its engine are easily seen from the coast road just before you enter Simon’s Town.

4.) BOS 400 - Maori Bay – 1994

This floating crane ran aground in June 1994, when the cables attaching her to a tug snapped in a furious north-westerly gale. Without power she was tossed onto the rocks like a toy. The crew of 18 were rescued by helicopter, but the barge with its helicopter landing pad visible, remains impaled on rocks opposite the nude bathing beach of Sandy Bay, directly on top of another ship wrecked there in 1906.

5.) THOMAS T TUCKER – near Cape Point – 1942.

This American Liberty ship struck rocks near Cape Point in a heavy fog during World War II, when German U-boats were thought to be patrolling the area. The Master of the ship thought they had run aground off Robben Island, and during an enquiry it was found that the ship’s compass had an error of 37 degrees! No lives were lost.

Read more about SA’s first lighthouse.