SS: Abercrombie Robinson & Waterloo
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Over 400 wrecks have occurred in Table Bay alone. Most of the original shoreline has either been reclaimed or is now out of bounds. This Shipwreck Series cache is in a public access area closest to the wrecks of the Abercrombie Robinson and Waterloo. For the series methodology and more info visit SS: Shipwreck Series via the related web page link. Tell the guards at the entrance to the harbour that you are going to Royal Cape and they will let you in.
It was Friday 25th September, 1842 when the Abercrombie Robinson anchored in Table Bay. A Royal Naval troop transport of 1,415 tons she was carrying 605 troops, apart from her crew. They consisted of the Reserve Battalion of the 91st Regiment (454 men with 84 wives and children) under Lt. Colonel Lindsay, a detachment of the 27th Regiment, and another of the Cape Mounted Rifles. The intention was that as soon as she had taken on water and food supplies, the transport would proceed to AIgoa Bay where the Reserve Battalion was to be disembarked and the 75th Regiment taken aboard for England.
The following morning the officers of the Abercrombie Robinson realised that the ship was well south of the usual anchorage; moving the vessel, however, involved considerable trouble, and some risk, so nothing was done at the time. Near the transport lay the Waterloo, a small convict ship of 414 tons and the fact that another vessel lay nearby lulled the officers of the Abercrombie Robinson into a false sense of security.
On Saturday morning the 27th August, the wind increased after dark, until at midnight it was blowing a hard gale with violent squalls. At 04h00 there was as violent a thunderstorm as Captain Bance, the Port Captain had ever seen, accompanied by a terrific squall and heavy rain. In the middle of this storm the Port Captain noticed flashes out at sea, and moments later heard the report of guns. Immediately Bance hurried out and set off for the Port Office and set about rescue preparations. Two large surfboats were ordered to be taken down to the beach by wagon, with some coils of rope.
At daybreak the Abercrombie Robinson could be seen aground but standing upright, and reasonably steady about 500 yards this side of her was the Waterloo, apparently still anchored, but very near the breakers. So far, although the Waterloo was flying a signal asking for an anchor and cable, there had been no other call for help.
In 1852 occurred the famous and much publicised wreck of the transport Birkenhead. That wreck was held up to the world as an example of the heroism of the soldiers and their rigid adherence to discipline in the face of extreme danger. Actually the wreck of the Abercrombie Robinson took place ten years before the Birkenhead, and this relatively unknown incident provided as fine an example of adherence to discipline as the later wreck.
Aboard the Abercrombie Robinson there was no panic, for the discipline of a good regiment held it in check. Ironically, it was the very discipline enforcing an incorrect order not to leave the ship, which caused the tragic loss of life in the Birkenhead, whereas the same order, correctly given in the Abercrombie Robinson, was to save the passengers on the transport. Aboard the vessel, Captain Young was a tower of strength in the emergency; cool and calm, encouraging the men, and issuing crisp and sensible orders, he earned the admiration of every soldier that day.
At first the smaller surfboat arrived and started transferring women and children to the shore. Then the larger surfboat arrived and the operation sped up. By 08h30 that morning all the women and a good portion of the soldiers were ashore, the men behaving as if on parade.
It was just after 10h00 when Captain Bance glanced across at the Waterloo and saw her hoist her jib; he realized she was adrift and was trying to turn towards the beach. It was too late, however, and the Waterloo grounded broadside to the beach, and began rolling rapidly back and forwards. The wind - which was partly offshore - was still blowing a gale, though by no means a violent one. The sea was not running unusually high. The evacuation of the Abercrombie Robinson was going like clockwork and the Port Captain did not anticipate any serious trouble rescuing those aboard the Waterloo.
Nevertheless he left the Abercrombie Robinson and set out to see what steps had been taken towards the Waterloo's evacuation. When he arrived there, he found that nothing had been done. The crowd was milling around helplessly. The Port Captain ordered Assistant Port Captain Molteno to take a few men and fetch the boat whilst be returned to the Abercrombie Robinson to arrange for a surfboat. But whilst he was hurrying along the beach, events suddenly look a serious turn. Within moments of each other the Waterloo's main and mizzen masts went overboard, and she began to break up. Aboard the vessel were 219 male convicts, 30 guards of the 99th Regiment, 5 women and 13 children as well as the crew.
Now the watchers on the shore could see convicts, seamen and soldiers, women and children clinging to the upper part of the ship, whilst waves poured over the deck. Some of the men began throwing off their clothes preparatory to swimming ashore, but the women and children stretched their arms out to the land, crying pitifully for help. Those on the beach could do nothing. There was no ljfeboat, no means of firing a line aboard the wreck, no lifebuoys, no ropes fastened to casks, not even enough rope, for the whole rescue had been concentrated on the Abercrombie Robinson. As rapidly as they could, Molteno and the others brought a Malay fishing boat into the water and out to the wreck, where they picked up a few drowning souls.
On a second trip a rope was attached to the remains of the vessel and by this time the surfboat had been dragged along the shore. Immediately the surfboat began making trips out to the wreck along the rope, bringing a number of people back at each trip. Bance observed with horror, however, that the Waterloo was breaking up at a great pace; the sea was filled with large pieces of floating wreckage, which crushed and maimed many of those who tried to swim ashore.
Captain Herbert, aboard the Abercrombie Robinson saw the whole tragedy :- "l saw ... the Waterloo ashore, and her masts falling over her side, not very long after which I was quite astonished to see the ship breaking up. I then looked at her through a glass and saw the vessel in fragments and the people clinging to the detached pieces of the wreck." By noon nothing was left of the Waterloo save her keel. Some 190 souls had perished in full view of the crowd, only 98 being saved from the convict ship.
Saddened, the Port Captain returned to the Abercombie Robinson where the soldiers were still landing with military precision. By 13h00, all 600 had come ashore from the Abercrombie Robinson, without a single life being lost. The loss of life on the Waterloo was due to the rapid disintegration of the ship, which proved to have rotten timber.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre gur vagrepunatr. Orgjrra gur jbbqra ornzf