Unbelizable101

Articles of Interest

• MV Dunedin Star. I highly recommend this article if you have any interests in shipwrecks.

Academic Journals In Relation to MV Dunedin Star

• Van Tonder, E. (2005). Shipwreck survivor camps: A neglected terrestrial component of maritime archaeology in South Africa. Anthropology Southern Africa, 28(1/2), 49-56. [[1]] "I recommend this paper because it relates to the many shipwrecks that have taken place in Africa. Especially along the skeleton coast of Namibia. Most Importantly, it tells the stories o th many survivors. It also highlights the trials and tribulations that they were faced with."
• Greaves, J. (2007). Managing decline: The political economy of British shipping in the 1930s. Journal Of Transport History, 28(1), 57-130. [2]] " I highly recommend this paper because it covers the British mercantile marine network during world war two and after. It also highlights faltering commercial ship performance. This is important because the MV dunedin star has a commercial vessel that sank possibly due to U boats. However, mot believe that it id because off environmental conditions."

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Reasons for Shipwreck

The ship collided with the seafloor due to poorly uncharted maps of the Namibian area known as the Skeleton Coast, named for the ships, airplanes, and vehicles that had already wrecked along it. The ‘skeletons’ of these ships still remain due to the difficulties of retrieving the wreckage. The coastline, consisting mostly of sand dunes, is known for its ever-changing landscapes, and was known to be treacherous by sailors, pilots, and travelers. The coast was also known for its extreme weather conditions, due to its proximity to South Atlantic Current, the Benguela Current , the Agulhas Current, as well as the area’s noticeably hot climate and heavy fog line. The fog in particular hit early morning and evening hours, which did not allow many sailors who were out at the time to know when they were at the coastline until they could feel their ship hitting it.

Despite the extreme conditions some speculate about what else caused the MV Dunedin Star’s hull to be ruptured. Some believe that an unknown submerged object caused the shipwreck. The ship traveled in close proximity to the coast as the British were attempting to avoid German U-boats and submarines. The threat of German forces was taken so seriously at the time that the entire incident was kept a secret until 1958, well after the end of World War II. Many merchant marine ships at the time were being put to use by the British military, which thus wanted to keep all information relating to merchant ship trade routes along the western coast of Africa secret. The MV Dunedin Star was a merchant refrigeration ship that was part of the Blue Star Line cargo fleet, and was transporting supplies for the military in efforts to aid allied troops. The South African court of inquiry decided that the Captain of the ship was responsible for the accident.

Rescue Attempts

The cargo liner was carrying a total of 85 people: 64 crewmembers, 21 were regular passengers. After the hull of the ship was ruptured, the captain attempted to beach the ship in order to ease the rescue of its passengers. A few SOS calls were sent out to Walvis Bay, four hundred miles south of where they wrecked. Using the lifeboats, 42 of the ship’s passengers made it to land before the high seas and increasingly treacherous shores made it impossible for any further rescue attempts to be made. The captain, along with 43 remaining passengers and crewmembers, were stranded among the wreckage of the MV Dunedin Star until further help arrived. A total of four rescue boats were sent in a response to the SOS calls that were received in Walvis Bay. The first boat to respond was the MS Temeraire, a Norwegian ship that was in nearby waters. The MS Temeraire attempted to rescue the remaining passengers aboard the sinking ship using its motor lifeboats, but was only able to recover 10 passengers. The remaining 30 passengers were rescued over a period of several days, through four separate attempts. The Sir Charles Elliot, a tugboat responding from Walvis Bay, and the MV Manchester Division, a nearby British Freighter, transported the 40 survivors to Cape Town.

However, survivors were left stranded on the Skeletal Coast, the harsh conditions making rescue attempts extremely difficult. In fact, on its return from Walvis Bay, the Sir Charles Elliot itself became shipwrecked. Later, the HMSAS Nerine made several attempts at both rescue and sending food and water by rafts, but to could not fight the rough seas and strong currents, and was forced to return home after being short in their own supplies.

The next rescue effort came from the South African Air Force, but only focused on dropping supplies to the stranded crew and passengers so that they could survive until future strategies were implemented. The first drop of supplies failed as the extreme heat caused the supplies to explode in mid-air. The second drop caused the plane to land on a nearby stretch of beach. Although the plane avoided landing closer to the dunes, which had sand of syrupy consistency, it landed in powdery sand which resulted in the plane being stranded with the survivors. Luckily the plane didn’t have any obvious mechanical damages. This meant several days of digging took place in order to free the plane for a flight back to Walvis Bay. However, the during flight attempt to make it back to Walvis Bay, the plane crashed into the ocean a mere 30 minutes after takeoff. Luckily, the crew were able to survive the crash and were able to swim ashore in spite of the strong currents. Overall, it became obvious that rescue attempts by air and sea would not prove to be successful. However, the urgency of the overall well being of the survivors stranded on the beach increased greatly because of the difficulties of the providing them with necessary survival supplies. The final response to this incident was a recue party which consisted of a group of police and soldiers in eight vehicle convoys. After 26 days of traveling through the harsh environment they were able to reach the survivors and transfer them to a military hospital on Christmas Eve. All the party survived and no lives were lost. The only lives that were lost were two brave men aboard the Sir Charles Elliot, who lost their lives in attempt to rescue the party from the Dunedin Star wreck.

Recent News & Travels

One of the most interesting ventures back to the wreck of the MV Dunedin Star was in October 2006. A group of soldiers from a variety of backgrounds endured a difficult expedition across the unforgiving environment of the northern Skeleton Coast. They specifically trekked down from the north west of Namibia and were given permission by the host country. The country of Namibia had been known to be strict with these sorts of matters because of the historical importance many shipwrecks in the area have. The purpose of expedition to the wreckage of the Blue Star Line cargo vessel was to find the ship, survey the cite, and find out the real truth behind the shipwreck. There has been a lot of speculation as to what really happened and what cargo the ship was carrying. They believed that the cargo from the ship has spread over an area of 30 miles. They also planed to excavate the cite with a group of experts. Those experts included archaeologists, scientists, and students. This expedition is historical in many ways. Most importantly, because it is the second time a group of soldiers has had this type of determination. The first time was the group of soldiers that trekked to the wreckage in 1952 to rescue the remaining survivors.

References

-Marsh, J. H.; Anson, L. (1958). Skeleton Coast. (http://rapidttp.co.za/skeleton). Hodder & Stoughton.

-Winchester, S. (2010). Atlantic: great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-170258-7.

-Dunedin Star. (n.d.). Melbourne Star - Home Page. Retrieved April 3, 2012, from http://www.melbournestar.co.uk/Dunedin_Star.html

-(October 20, 2006 Friday 7:03 AM EST ). UNITED KINGDOM: AFRICAN ADVENTURE FOR NORTH WEST SOLDIERS. US Fed News, Retrieved from http://198.189.53.33:2052/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?oc=00240&hl=t&hns=t&hnsd=f&perma=true&lni=4M6C-2WV0-TWTC-6312&hv=t&csi=282801&hgn=t&secondRedirectIndicator=true