KWT #3: SS Clan Monroe Redux
The cache, is hidden near Slangkop Point, the rocky headland which claimed this ship, and directly led to the construction of the nearby lighthouse.
See KWT #1: Die Kom(metjie) for access waypoints.
The hiding of this cache, which led to the establishment of this trail mini-series, became possible with the archiving of Paddawan’s GC2A24Q SS Clan Monroe, one of his legendary ~93-cache Shipwreck Series. This caused huge excitement and a flurry of activity when launched on 1/12/20 and has provided hours of geocaching entertainment for many geocachers ever since. Sadly, the series is becoming gradually depleted over the years as more caches are archived, having gone missing and not able to be replaced.
This one was archived on 15/2/23 after some 304 finds and 5 FPs.
To Find the Cache:
Step 1: at the published coordinates you will be standing in front of a bench which bears a small plaque in memory of John Willis who passed away on 1A June 200B.
At the foot of the plaque is an exhortation ‘Long May You **********’. The missing word has C letters.
Step 2: move over to S 34 8.696 E 18 19.148, the location of another memorial bench – this one dedicated to Gillian Hector – on which there are 2 small plaques.
Looking at the right-hand one, you will note that her middle name has D letters.
At the base of the plaque is a Submarine Badge Number 115E.
Step 3: finally walk across to S 34 8.701 E 18 19.141 where you will find a large Slangkop sign with two signboards. On the lower one, there are 6 bordered rule boxes. Of these F have a red border.
A 10-digit Emergency mobile number is provided, the 7th digit of which = G.
The cache is hidden at:
S 34 8.GDE E 18 19.(A-B-1)(C+2)(F+2)
The Clan Line steam ships plied the trade route around the Cape west coast in great numbers and were a household name. Three of them were however, wrecked along this coast – the Clan Magregor (3/5/1902 at Cape Aghulas), the Clan Stuart (21/11/1914 at Glencairn – see ***) and the Clan Monroe which was the most dramatic of these disasters.
The SS Clan Monroe was built in 1897 by W Doxford & Sons, Sunderland. She was a 4,853 ton single-screw turret ship – so called because of due levied by the Suez Canal company which were calculated according to the breadth of the beam. She was one of 7 such ships built for the Clan Line.
She had sailed from Liverpool on 7 June 1905 headed for Natal, Delagoa Bay and Mauritius with a cargo of motor-cars, dynamite and gun-cotton. She ran into a strong winter north-westerly storm, came broadside on and struck the rocks at 23h30 on Saturday 1 July 1905 some 250 metres off the shore.
She was commanded by Captain Brown and had a crew of 82. At 09h00 the next day a rocket apparatus was sent via special train from the castle. Men had to haul the 3-ton apparatus from the Fish Hoek siding along the wet and muddy Kommetjie gravel road until Imhoff's Gift where a pair of mules was obtained. They reached the wreck around 17h00 but it failed to work properly and only 2 men were brought ashore. One made it without assistance, but the carpenter almost drowned when the buoy ropes snapped halfway. Fortunately, he was hauled ashore by his lifeline.
The weather on the 2nd was horrendous. Cold with driving rain and strong winds. The galley and pantry had been washed away so those on board huddled in the lee of the deckhouse without food. The following day a second rocket-apparatus arrived and the remaining 75 crew were taken ashore. Captain Brown was the last to leave once he had taken down the distress signals. Unfortunately, one of the crew later lost his life during salvage operations and was buried on a small kopje just below where Slangkop Lighthouse now stands.
A full and fascinating account of the wreck and rescue operation is given in Hard Aground: Memorable Western Cape Shipwrecks by local author and historian Michael Walker.
See here for the subsequent Court of Inquiry Report which concluded that the cause of the wreck was due to a strong set-in of the current and that the captain had made a grave error of judgement in not guarding against this. Also that he had continued on his course without soundings or hauling out from the land. The Court censored him but did not endorse his certificate which was returned to him.
The Court emphasised the importance of constructing a lighthouse at Slangkop Point, especially as the Cape Point light was too high and frequently obscured by fog or mist as on the night of the wrecking. This was subsequently done and a new lower Cape Point lighthouse was opened in 1919.
The court also strongly recommended that additional rocket rescue apparatus be kept at Simon’s Town to avoid future unnecessary delays in getting the equipment from Cape Town – as had happened with this wreck.
Thus, the wreck of the Clan Monroe may have indirectly saved many a ship from a similar fate.
She sat high and dry for many years on the large rock shelf where she foundered and at low tide almost the whole ship was visible and was used by locals as a rough tide-table guide. Over the years the sea and waves took their toll on the ship and she eventually broke up and sank beneath the waves.
