Cape Verde was an important port of call for ships traveling between Europe and South America. Over 70 ships were lost between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries off the Cape Verde coast as a result of storms, poor navigation, or treacherous reefs. Today these wrecks remain as a major attraction to divers who visit the islands. Many of the wrecks have a story to tell and this article will list a few of the notable shipwrecks off Cape Verde. Let’s take a closer look!
Le Dromadaire
Off the coast of Sao Vicente lies La Dromadaire, a French East Indiaman that sank in a storm in 1762. Of the 154 passengers aboard, just 77 survived. This ship was reported to have been carrying a cargo of gold and silver. Divers in search of the vessel worked in a team of 10 and in a line parallel to the shore prior to finding her. A series of 20 cannons have been recovered from the ship as well as a 1760 gold coin.
The Norfolk
The Norfolk was on her way from Bathurst in the Gambia to Marseille with a cargo of nuts when she became embroiled in a series of catastrophic events that led to her demise. The problems began when the pilot failed to disembark after guiding the ship through the Gambia River mouth and had to be put ashore just south of Cape Verde. Once he had been dispatched onto a fishing boat the ship entered stormy weather, the pumps failed and were found to be choked with nuts from the cargo. Unfortunately the ship ran aground on the treacherous Hartwell Reef and keeled over around 3-4 miles off Boa Vista.
The Hartwell
The Hartwell is one of 26 ships that sunk off Boa Vista after being caught by the Rifona Reef. In 1784, she was en route to China on her maiden voyage when she sank carrying 320,000 Spanish Portrait dollars worth approximately £770,000. Although these were initially recovered by the Braithwaite brothers in 1788, the Cape Verde government managed to locate the wreck in 1993 as an archaeological project.
Grev Ernst Schimmelmann
The Grev Ernst Schimmelmann was a Danish East Indiaman en route to China from Copenhagen with Swedish coins and cannon in 1781. She hit a reef off the north coast of Maio and sank. Some of the recovered timber was used to build the church in Porto Ingles, Maio. The coinage was recovered and auctioned in 1999.
The Princess Louisa
The Princess Louisa originated from a shipyard in Deptford in 1733 and was designed for the East India Company. A three masted ship she was impressive and was named after the younger daughter of King George II. In 1743, the Princess Louisa was sailing from Portsmouth with another East Indiaman, the Winchester, when she hit a reef off the coast of Maio. Although the Winchester tried to help, the ship sank and approximately 74 people lost their lives. Many of the doomed men drank themselves into oblivion before drowning. What floated to shore was salvaged by locals who also managed to take valuables from some of the survivors. Two and a half centuries later the salvage of the treasure associated with the Princess Louisa finally took place.
The Lady Burgess
The Lady Burgess was another East Indiaman that sank while en route to Madras in 1806. Becoming trapped on a reef between Boa Vista and Maio the ship floundered in heavy seas and was lot in three hours. The reef is 200 meters long and the north side is very steep which managed to trap the ship. Her cargo of iron and general produce was salvaged some two hundred years later.
Many of the older wrecks on the Cape Verde islands are not accessible to divers. The museums in the resorts are fascinating to visit as they give an insight into the treacherous seas and the wreck history off Cape Verde. There is still a substantive amount of underwater treasures which remain the subject of future planned archaeological projects.