Maritime History

Cabo Santa Maria (ship)

Cabo Santa Maria (Spanish: Cabo Santa María) was a Spanish general cargo ship built by Empresa Nacional Bazán at Cartagena, Spain. She was one of four Type Y merchant ships ordered under the new-construction programme of the state-owned Empresa Nacional Elcano. Launched on 20 December 1955 as Hernando de Solís, she entered service in 1957 as Díaz de Solís for Naviera Comercial Aspe. Ybarra y Compañía acquired and renamed her in 1963 or 1964; contemporary and later registers differ by one year. On 1 September 1968, while making her 28th outward voyage from Europe to South America, the ship ran aground in Salinas Bay on the north coast of Boa Vista, Cape Verde. All 37 crew members were reported safe. Attempts to refloat her failed and she was declared a total loss. The unloading of her cargo involved residents from across the island and entered local memory as a providential supply of food during a period of scarcity. The wreck became a visual symbol of Boa Vista, and the adjoining part of Praia de Atalanta came to be popularly known as Cabo Santa Maria beach.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Japanese destroyer Isokaze (1939)
• ▸Herculaneum
• ▸Blue Ensign

Uncatalogued shelf

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