LOCATION

The Southernmost Point of Africa was named Cabo dos Agulhas by the Portuguese, which translates to “Cape of Needles”. Later, French influence led to the name of L’Agulhas for the small town near the southernmost tip. The name “Cape of Needles” makes sense both because magnetic north, as indicated by the needle on a compass, coincides with true north in this region, as well as because the rocks on the reef are sharp (metaphorically like needles) and led to the wrecking of many ships. Throughout its history, South Africa has seen around 150 ships wrecked on its coast, predominantly around the most southern tip of Africa. Due to the unpredictable currents and ominous reef edges, many ships have met their doom along this coastline and earned the area its name the "Graveyard of Ships". To lessen the casualties the building of the lighthouse started on April 1st, 1847 and lit on March 1st 1849. The fierce and treacherous history of Cape Agulhas can be explored at the Shipwreck Museum in Bredasdorp.

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One of the many infamous ships was the Zoetendal, which was the very first ship to wash up on the rocky shore in 1673. The Arniston was also well-known, because only 3 members of the entire crew survived. The Queen of Thames was quite famous in its time because it was built to create a regular line between London and Australia via Cape Town. This ship set sail for Australia, on its first ever journey, in 1871. Everyone was celebrating a successful journey on its way back to London from Australia, when a veldfire (bush fire) was mistaken to be the Agulhas lighthouse. The Queen of Thames was soon washed up on the shore, with luckily only a handful dead. There is a famous story of a stowaway that chose to hide while the ship sank, rather than be captured. Then when some officials boarded the ship the following day (as it was washed up on the rocks), they found him aboard playing the piano. The Birkenhead steals the show, however. The Birkenhead was carrying soldiers en route to the Eastern Cape when it hit the reef and sunk in a matter of minutes. The soldiers stood fast and allowed the women and children to board the life rafts first, which was the birth of the ‘women and children first’ protocol. There were many deaths that day, but every woman and every child was saved. The final known shipwreck at L’Agulhas was the Meisho Maru, in 1982. Today the Meisho Maru stands a steady reminder of all the brave sailors that met an untimely death. The remaining wreck of the ship still lies on the shore near the L'Agulhas Lighthouse and can be visited.

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The area is still rife with the whispers of the many ships that sank between Arniston and Cape Town. The nationalities of the ships range from French, Dutch, Portuguese, British, American, Japanese, Taiwanese, German and many more. T L’Agulas and the surrounding coastal towns have a diverse heritage due to the different nationalities of the shipwreck survivors that settled in the area. Most of them made a living as fishermen, evident by the still thriving fishing community and the many historic fishermen’s cottages in Cape Agulhas.