ROBBEN ISLAND SHIPWRECK

Robben Island

Topography

Several names were given to the island. The most enduring proved to be the Dutch Robben ( 'seals' ) Island. 

Lying 9 kilometers off the shore of Table Bay, Robben Island is 574 ha, 3 kilometers long, 1,5 kilometers wide and 35 meters above sea level. The view across to the mainland is superb. Robben Island is noted for its arum lilies. It also serves as a breeding ground for approximately 28 species of birds. The island is surrounded by dense kelp beds. The water is cold due to the Benguela current which flows northwards.

Short History

The author Lawrence Green described Robben Island as "The island of Exiles", and this is the role it has played for centuries - a remote and inaccessible place, as one old book put it, for 'law breakers', lunatics and lepers'.

The Portuguese were said to have put prisoners here as early as 1525. In 1614, ten criminals were sent from England to establish a settlement on the island in order to provide fresh supplies for passing ships. In 1657, five years after Jan van Riebeeck's arrival, the island became the site of the country's very first lighthouse. It consisted of a platform on which a fire was kept burning at night to warn ships of the Dutch East India Company.

When the Department of Correctional Services took over the island in 1961, it became a maximum security prison for political prisoners. The most famous political prisoner on the island was Nelson Mandela. The last political prisoners were released in 1991.

Shipwrecks

From 1652 Table Bay became a regular anchorage. It is therefore no surprise that the largest concentration of shipwrecks along the South African coast is found in Table Bay and the shores of Robben Island. Due to uncertain winds and fog, the island has been the graveyard of dozens of ships down through the centuries. A survey carried out by navel divers identified at least 22 wreck sites, mostly on the western side.

The Dageraad

Commanded by Jan Tak, the 140-ton Cape packet-boat built in 1692 at the Zeeland Yard wrecked on the west point of Robben Island on 20 January 1694 in misty conditions. Sixteen lives were lost. The Dageraad was returning from St Helena to Cape Town with chests of specie salvaged from the Gouden Buis, which ran aground north of St Helena in 1693. She carried 17 chests of specie of which 3 were recovered at the time. During 1728, John Lethbridge with the assistance of two English divers attempted to salvage the wreck with little success.

Since the Dageraad lies on the seabed within the restricted prison security area of Robben Island (1961 -1991), it is not known if any salvage attempts were made in those years or in more recent years.

Reverse of 1692 Silver Rider 

Obverse of 1692 Silver Rider