SS Kaffraria

SS Kaffraria was a British cargo owned by Bailey & Leetham of Hull. She was built in 1864 by J. Laing & Son, Ltd, of Sunderland. She was originally built for the shipping company Ryrie & Co of London who sold her to Bailey & leetham in 1871

Composition
Initially the ship displaced 872 gross tons, but this was increased in 1873 to 1039 gross tons. She was 237 feet long and had a beam of 29 feet with a depth of 16 feet. She was constructed from iron and was a single screw Schooner. She had 1 deck with two tiers of beams, 5 cemented bulkheads, a well deck and a double bottom aft. She had a four cylinder compound engine which produced 90 horsepower. The engine was built by the Humber Iron Works of Hull. Her Lloyds Register Code letters were WFVQ and her Official Number was 49917

Fate
Whilst under the command of Captain W. Barron, the SS Kaffraria ran aground in the river Elbe at Otterndorf, Germany on 7 January 1891. The ship had a cargo of general export goods such as Kitchen utensils, children’s toys, bundles of wool, hand tools and all kinds of domestic appliances. This precious cargo was very swiftly removed by the local residents by both legal and illegal methods. Later on 8 January the ship sank. The wreck became a threat to shipping and in 1984 the wreck was removed. The stern part of the ship with the rudder and screw can be seen today at Otterndorf.

Foot Note
Kaffraria was the descriptive name given to the southeast part of what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa.