21 May 1737
Nine ships were wrecked and 208 lives lost in Table Bay during a severe gale at the Cape, proving again that the Cape was quite aptly called 'Cape of Storms' (Cabo das Tormentas) by Bartholomeu Dias, the first Portuguese explorer to reach the Cape in 1488. There are more than 2 000 shipwrecks, dating back at least 500 years, off the SA coast.