8 January

1806: Bato, this 74-gun 800 ton Dutch ship of the line was set on fire and scuttled on Long Beach in Simons Town in False Bay in the Western Cape on 8 January 1806 - te same day that the Battle of Blaauwberg began. On the 27th of February 1804, it was deemed unseaworthy, and its use was to be a floating battery in defence of Simons Town for the next two years. After the Dutch lost the Battle of Blaauwberg to the British, and a new occupation became inevitable, they were ordered to burn it down. … [Read more...] about 8 January Shipwreck List