An American-built extreme clipper sold to Havana and put to work in the slave trade. It was captured by the Royal Navy and used as a store ship, before striking a reef and sinking at Mayotte.
A cruise ship that was hijacked in 1985 by the Palestine Liberation Front. It ultimately sank nine years later, after an explosion in the engine room started a fire that engulfed the ship.
British P&O requisitioned troopship bombed and sunk by German aircraft. Sister ship Naldera. Located off Bougie (Béjaïa), Algeria, passing Cape Carbon.
An American merchant ship that ran aground off Cape Bojador in what is now the Western Sahara. The surviving crew, led by Captain James Riley, were subsequently captured and taken as slaves by local tribes.[6]
The sailing yachtTaube, sailing for the (since abandoned) cultural exploration project Migrobirdo, capsized in heavy swell on the approach to the port of Mehdya on the Sebou River. Six youths of different nationalities drowned, while one German female survived. An investigation concluded that several factors contributed to the accident, including an untrained skipper, an inexperienced crew, overloading, and the absence of a clear line of command.[7]
A Malawian ship owned by the Nyasaland Railway Company that set sail from Monkey Bay to Chilumba in Karonga, Malawi in 1946. It capsized en route with the loss of the entire crew.
A Durban steamer that ran aground on a sandbank in dense fog, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Swakopmund. The crew were unharmed and were able to get off the ship once the area's coast guard arrived and allowed everyone off.
A Dutch East Indiaman carrying copper duits, silver bars, and gold ducats, which hit a reef twenty-one kilometres (13 mi) from the eastern coast of Africa and 190 kilometres (120 mi) south of the Portuguese settlement of Mozambique. The wreck was discovered in 1986.[15]
Cordigliera
Unknown
16 November 1996
After placing a distress call to Durban Radio at 10:30 pm requesting immediate assistance due to a leak in a hold, the freighter sank off Port St Johns, South Africa, with the loss of all 23 lives.[16]
A British iron-hulled troopship that struck a submerged rock near Gansbaai. The chivalry of the soldiers in abandoning ship gave rise to the "women and children first" protocol.[23]
A 44-gun Roebuck-class ship laid down in 1780. Severely damaged by an iceberg, the ship was sailed 400 leagues (1,900 km) to the Cape of Good Hope, where it was intentionally grounded.[27]
A Portuguese slave ship that was wrecked on the rocks off Cape Town, resulting in the deaths of over 200 slaves. The wreck was rediscovered in the 1980s, but was not identified until 2015.
A former Mersey-classprotected cruiser that became famous as SATS General Botha, a merchant naval training ship. After retiring as a training ship, it reverted to its original name and was sunk in False Bay near Simon's Town as a target.[35]
A bulk ore carrier that developed a hole in its hull and sank under tow northwest of Cape Town, causing an oil spill that killed around 2,000 endangered African penguins.
An oil tanker that grounded near Cape Agulhas, causing an oil spill. The ship was later refloated, towed out to sea, and re-sunk to avoid further contamination of the coastline.
A French passenger ship that sank near Bank of Arguin. The traumatic experience of the stranded passengers and crew was immortalized in Géricault's painting, The Raft of the Medusa.
^Riley, James; Evans, Gordon H. (2007). Sufferings in Africa: The Astonishing Account of a New England Sea Captain Enslaved by North African Arabs. Lyons Press. ISBN978-1-59921-211-1.
^Merlin, Alfred (1908). Bulletin de la société nationale des antiquaires de France. pp. 128–131. Cited in: Bates, William N. (January – March 1909). "Archaeological News". American Journal of Archaeology13 (1): 102f.
