This steamer wrecked in 1945, carrying a cargo of guano, which is harvested from bird colonies on the rocky offshore islands and used as fertilizer. It is one of the most isolated wrecks on the coast, on a small beach bounded by jagged cliffs. A colony of fur seals guards the rusting hulk.
The intriguing man-versus-nature story of another wreck, which I do not have a photo of, is illustrative of the perils facing sailors near the Skeleton Coast. In 1942, the cargo ship Dunedin Star ran aground and sent an SOS distress call. 21 passengers and 85 crew were aboard. The ship’s only motor launch began to ferry people to the beach, but after three trips in the heavy surf it was destroyed, stranding those who had landed with no shelter or provisions. Two days later, rescue ships arrived and reached the grounded ship but could not get through the heavy surf to the beach. An overland convoy of eight vehicles set out from Windhoek, while a Ventura bomber (see my New Guinea gallery for a picture of one) flew from Cape Town to drop supplies for the beach party. On their way up, the aircrew saw that one of the rescue vessels had also run aground. The Ventura crew landed on a gravelly section of beach but then got stuck. Now the beached castaways of the Dunedin Star - 21 passengers plus 42 crewmen – were joined by the airmen.
Meanwhile, the grounded rescue ship’s only life boat was swept away by the surf, carrying three men to the shore. The crew then tried to use a tiny dinghy to land four more men ashore but it quickly capsized. Three of these men swam to shore while the fourth disappeared. Yet another three men rashly decided to swim to shore from the ship, and all of them made it but one immediately died of exhaustion.
Six days after its departure, the overland convoy had not been heard from, and another rescue aircraft found them stuck in the dunes halfway between Windhoek and the coast. A second overland convoy was sent. In the end, the survivors of the two stranded ships and the Ventura were lifted out bit by bit via air, sea and land. But the story does not end there. A new overland convoy was sent to salvage the stuck Ventura bomber. They got it unstuck and when it took off they headed back for home across the desert. But shortly after takeoff one of the Ventura’s engines failed and the plane plunged into the ocean. It quickly began to sink but luckily the engines broke off and the plane bobbed to the surface. The two crewmen floated ashore in the fuselage. Unable to issue a distress call in time, they were now stranded alone on the Skeleton Coast without supplies. They realized that their only hope was to catch up with the retreating salvage convoy. Exhausted, they desperately raced into the desert, guessing on direction. They miraculously found the convoy and joined them on the trip home.
