Commodore II Shipwreck Removed

Following a seven-hour operation, the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Management Department, together with a contractor, removed the last remains of the Commodore II shipwreck from the Diep River in Milnerton.

The wreck weighed approximately 21 tons and is estimated to be about 14 metres in length and 6,8 metres in width. The wreck was relocated to City-owned land near the Lagoon Beach Hotel.

The wreck remained intact throughout the operation and it was transported on a low-bed truck to its resting place, a grass embankment owned by the City, near the Lagoon Beach Hotel.

The Commodore II was built in 1919 in Seattle in the United States. She is believed to have featured in the 1935 American blockbuster film Mutiny on the Bounty, with Clark Gable.

Apart from this, she was also used to ferry coal during World War 2. Shortly after, the grandson of President Paul Kruger bought the schooner and sailed to Buenos Aires in Argentina. It is here where her fortunes seemed to take a turn for the worse.