In the second part of our series, with the theme – “Street Names of Plettenberg Bay” we want to take a look at the history around shipwrecks within the Plettenberg Bay surroundings.
Quite a few of the streets, mostly in the area of Whale Rock, received the pleasure to carry the heavy history in name form of these ships that sank on one of the main shipping routes around the Southern coast.
Listed below is a list of shipwrecks that received the privilege of a street name. Please take a look at the Ship name, type of ship, captain’s name and date of tragedy
- Agnes — Cape wooden schooner (94 tons), Capt. Needham — 28 May 1882, Plettenberg Bay.
- MFV Athina (Rosa Vlassi, Galaxidi) — Greek stern factory trawler (814 tons), Capt. John Katsiaris — 1 August 1967, Robberg Beach, Plettenberg Bay.
- Christina — Cape wooden brigantine (196 tons), Capt. G. Love — 28 May 1882, Plettenberg Bay.
- Diadem — Brig (158 tons), Capt. J. Caithness — 4 December 1851, Plettenberg Bay
- Jane — British wooden barquentine (256 tons), Capt. R. Evans — 27 August 1888, Matjes River
- Magneten — Norwegian brig (205 tons), Capt. Berentsen — 29 November 1872, Beacon Isle, Plettenberg Bay.
- Maria — Dutch flute (908 tons) — 23 August 1788, near Robberg, Plettenberg Bay.
- Midge — British wooden schooner (61 tons), Capt. Bernstein — 19 November 1874, Plettenberg Bay.
- Swiftsure — Schooner, Capt. J.F. Sewell — 8 August 1847, Plettenberg Bay.
- Waif — British brigantine, Capt. Brown — 25 March 1874, Plettenberg Bay.
- São Gonçalo — Portuguese East-Indiaman, Fernão Lobo de Meneses — July 1630, the Piesang River mouth.
So next time you visit Plett, take a drive through the Whale Rock area, take a look at the street names and enjoy some local maritime history. Visit your local library or even the web to see of you can’t find some literature regarding one of these sunken ships and brush up on some local history.
