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steam ahead’. This resulted in her ending high and dry as she hit the beach at near full power. Her

plates cut a deep furrow in the soft sand, with steep banks of sand rising on either side of the ship.
Two seamen climbed down a rope ladder onto the beach and went ahead with a lantern to look

for help in the early hours of the morning. They wandered about until they saw a light in the
milking-shed at Brakkloof Farm. There they were able to raise the alarm, and the remainder of

the crew was rescued without loss of life. The tug T. E. Fuller was despatched on Saturday 26
May to stand-by in case of any rescue. She arrived at 15h00 and commenced towing operations

which were unsuccessful.

SS Thomas T. Tucker 27 November 1942

The remains of the Thomas T. Tucker sit high and dry on the rocks about two kilometres from

Olifantsbos Point. She was a wartime wreck, an American Liberty Ship of 7,176 tons, which ran
aground on 27 November 1942. (Figs. 4.11 & 4.12). She was one of over 2,500 Liberty Ships

constructed at eighteen shipyards across the United States between March 1941 and November

1945. All these vessels were standardised and served as armed merchant ships. She was en route
from New Orleans to Suez on her maiden voyage with a cargo of six Sherman tanks, spares,

lorries, barbed wire and other war materials for the hard-pressed Allies in the North African

Campaign.

Her construction was completed in September 1942 by the Houston Shipbuilding Corporation,
Texas. She was classified as No. 30. She was an all welded ship put together in a matter of weeks

due to the urgency of war.

She was painted grey and had guns fore, aft and amidships. This was scant protection for an all-

welded vessel which had a weak bulkhead and longitudinal frames, but it was not enemy craft
that wrecked the Thomas T. Tucker. A warning had been sent that enemy U-boats had been seen

in the area and the captain duly altered course in an effort to find a safe harbour. At 00h15 while
proceeding slowly because of thick fog she ran aground about one kilometre offshore and about

two kilometres south of Olifantsbos Point. The captain and crew were rescued in the morning by
a naval party.