Overview
Identifiers
Descriptions
Camps Bay (Clifton) beach is the site of burial of 200 washed up slaves who perished in the sinking of the San Jose in 1794 nearby off Oudekraal.
The Portugese captain, crew and approximately half of the slaves survived. The ship had hugged the shoreline in an attempt to protect itself from strong winds but unfortunately crashed into rocks and was wedged on two reefs in the turbulent ocean. The ship began to break up and although a barge was sent ashore with some of the slaves, the rough sea prevented the barge from returning to the ship. Those aboard attempted to save more of the men and slaves but some 212 slaves died. The surviving slaves were sold in Cape Town.
The South African government has since declared the site a national monument.
No skeletons or even partial remains have been found in the ship wreck.
Record Administration
Location
Location
South Africa