1880: John N Gamewell, this 3-masted sailing schooner caught alight and burned down to the waterline and then drifted ashore at Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape. This American brigantine of 534 tons, registered in New York and under the command of Capt. G.B. Weaver was at anchor in the bight of the bay, with a general cargo, including hides, cottons and oils. Bound from Bombay for London, it seems that one of the cabin lights exploded. Although the life boat put out to assist, the fire had taken hold and only the crew could be rescued. Along with a few sails. The burning vessel was left to drift ashore. The reports state that she went ashore on the north west shore of the bight. Another report states she drifted to the north east and went ashore near the Swartkops River (Morris 2005)
1972: Rockeater, this motor-powered mineral-sampling dredger was scuttled by the South African Navy to form an artifice reef, in Smitswinkel Bay on the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape. It was the first of five wrecks to be scuttled in Smitswinkel Bay for this purpose. The wreck can be dived with the deepest section being about 36m on the sand.
Smitswinkel Bay, the resting ground of five wrecks, is legendary within Cape Town diving circles. The wrecks vary in depth, with the deepest parts around 38m and the shallowest wreckage at 22m. In order of furthest out to inshore, the wrecks are the MV Rockeater, SAS Good Hope, MFV Princess Elizabeth, MFV Oratava and SAS Transvaal. Given their depths, most divers will usually only dive one (or two) wrecks during a single dive. With a bit of planning, technical expertise (and good navigation skills) however, it is possible to dive on all five wrecks during a single dive!
The American coastal freighter, MV Rockeater was used by the US Navy from 1945, this boat was bought by Ocean Science and Engineering in 1964. Then it was used to carry out topographical surveys and cartography and equipped with a drilling crane to take cores from the sea bed.
