As the survivors of the Portuguese shipwreck Sao Bento walked North along the coast of Africa they found traces all along their way of those who had passed before them. Only two years before the Sao Joao had wrecked on this same shore. Survival among the people who had been on the Sao Joao had been minimal, and those on the Sao Bento could only hope that fate would be more kind to them.
Ship Name: Sao Bento
Nationality: Portuguese
Built: 1551
Tonnage: 900 tons
Ship Type: Carrack
Year Wrecked: 1554
Reason for Wreck: Ran aground in a storm
Location Wrecked: Near the Msikaba River, South Africa
Lives Lost: An estimated 144 in the initial wreck, many more would not survive the walk to Maputo Bay.
Sources:
Reinvestigating the Wreck of the Sixteenth Century Portuguese Galleon Sao Joao by Elizabeth Burger. 2003
https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/ship-sao-bento-st-benedict-wrecked-transkei-coast
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022635539&view=1up&seq=343&q1=BENTO
https://shiplib.org/index.php/shipwrecks/iberian-shipwrecks/portuguese-india-route/s-bento-1554/
https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA03040798_529
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-de-Almeida
https://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php?serial=3372
https://www.academia.edu/6947900/PORTUGUESE_SHIPWRECKS_and_THE_NGUNI
https://www.natalia.org.za/Files/27/Natalia%20v27%20article%20p30-41%20C.pdf
https://www.scielo.br/j/tem/a/Jrkwqtn38BGyRXSNxSVw9CH/?format=pdf&lang=en
https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/117/10/1683.pdf
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