Page 26 - Bulletin 22 2019

23

the Cape with her new crew. Linois was involved in a brief skirmish with another British

convoy of Indiamen under escort of HMS Blenhein. Linois could not risk damage to his
vessels, as repairs would have been difficult, so he broke off the engagement and set sail for

St. Augustines Bay in Madagascar, hoping to find the Brunswick there. He never located her
and sailed on to the Cape.

On 29 august 1805, Linois arrived in Simon’s Bay to await the arrival of the Brunswick and

another ship he had captured – Atalante. On 2 September 1805 the Brunswick arrived and set
anchor. On 19 September 1805 a gale force south-east wind blew up and drove her ashore.

She is regarded as a prized archaeological wreck site, as sections of her hull are intact and
show the hull construction clearly, as well as the use of copper plating. (Figs. 1.25 & 1.26.)

Sadly, this site is eroding but the SAHRA, under Iziko, insist that it is best to leave a ship

undisturbed, so as to preserve it.

Fish Hoek

Waterloo was a British brig of 215 tons from Portsmouth. (Fig. 1.27.) She was wrecked on

Fish Hoek beach on 25 October 1821 whilst loading whale oil. Whales were pulled onto the
rocks near the Sunnycove using rope pulleys attached to rings, some of which remain in the

rocks to this day. The blubber, up to 46 cm thick, was stripped away (‘flensing’) and the cut

strips were put into cauldrons of boiling water to extract the oil (‘frying out’.)

A south-south-west wind blew up, the ship dragged anchor, and she was pushed across the

bay onto the rocks just seaward of the Silvermine River estuary.

A brig has two square-rigged masts and is used in merchant trade. They varied in size and

were difficult to sail into the wind. The main mast of the brig is aft and to improve its

manoeuverability it carries a small gaff-rig (fore and aft.)

St. James

On 10 November 1818, the Vrouw Ida Alida, a Dutch East Indiaman commanded by Capt.

Spikes, was wrecked near St. James when a gale force south-easter blew up. (Fig. 1.28.) She

was on a voyage from Batavia to Amsterdam with a cargo of spices, coffee, rhubarb and
comforts.