Ship Wrecks - Port St Johns

The Wild Coast is strewn with the remains of ships which have been caught by monster waves or sudden storms and dashed onto the rocks. Some of the wrecks are more glamorous than others. The famed Grosvenor wreck of 1782 gained considerable interest over the years as there were stories of great treasure aboard. She was a three-masted ship of 729 tons burden and was returning to

England when she was wrecked about 43 km away from Port St Johns. The first successful salvage was done in 1880 by Captain Sidney Turner who dived into the sea with dynamite between his teeth to blow up the rocks.

Grosvenor Wreck — ‘The Wreck of the Grosvenor’ by M Wintergerst
(reproduced from Portrait of a Pioneer by Daphne Child)

Ross Wreck — Ross Craft destroyed by the Wild Coast (picture John Costello)

Aster Wreck — The Aster wrecked on the Wild Coast (picture John Costello)

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