Shipwrecks Archives

Guillaume Chenu de Chalezac, the ‘French Boy’

Guillaume Chenu de Chalezac, the ‘French Boy’

admin2021-02-24T09:48:14+00:00July 24th, 1991|

The 15-year-old 'French boy' was wrecked on he Ciskei coast in 1687, and spent a year living in the household of a Xhosa chief. The worlds of the Huguenot diaspora, the great days of Indian Ocean trading, the Cape's pivotal position in the struggle for mastery, and the awakening interest of the Dutch in the 'Terra de Natal' form a many-layered basis to this first full account of the Xhosa and their way of life since European settlement in South Africa began.

The Last Voyage of the Guardian, Lieutenant Riou Commander, 1789-1791

The Last Voyage of the Guardian, Lieutenant Riou Commander, 1789-1791

admin2021-02-24T08:27:54+00:00July 24th, 1989|

The voyage of HMS Guardian is unique in naval history. She sailed from Spithead in September 1789 with stores for Britain's new colony in New South Wales. Thirteen days out from the Cape of Good Hope she struck an iceberg that tore away her rudder and most of her keel. Half the ship's company took to the boats, only one of which survived the stormy 1300-mile voyage back to the Cape. A month later, through exemplary courage and seamanship and against all probabilities, the crippled Guardian herself sailed into Table Bay. The full and fascinating story of the Guardian's voyage is told here in the ship's logs and letters.

A Source Book on the Wreck of the Grosvenor East Indiaman

A Source Book on the Wreck of the Grosvenor East Indiaman

admin2021-02-23T21:08:58+00:00July 25th, 1953|

This volume is a companion to The Wreck of the Grosvenor, published by the VRS in 1927. It includes various accounts of the wreck, the journal of William Hubberly, a survivor of the wreck, as well as some Dutch material on the event. The volume concludes with a full list of the ship's company and passengers.

The Wreck of the Grosvenor

The Wreck of the Grosvenor

admin2021-02-23T20:57:32+00:00July 25th, 1927|

Containing a narrative of the loss of the Grosvenor, East Indiaman, wrecked on the Coast of Caffraria, 1782; compiled by Mr George Carter, from the examination of John Hynes, one of the survivors, London, 1791; and Journal of a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope in 1790 and 1791, undertaken by J. van Reenen and others in search of the wreck of the Grosvenor; a literal translation of the original by Capt. Edward Riou, London 1792.

Guillaume Chenu de Chalezac, the ‘French Boy’

The Last Voyage of the Guardian, Lieutenant Riou Commander, 1789-1791

A Source Book on the Wreck of the Grosvenor East Indiaman

The Wreck of the Grosvenor

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