⚓ Shipwrecks Map

MV Dunedin Star 1942

Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).

Key facts

NameMV Dunedin StarWikidata label
Year lost1942English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed)
EraSecond World Warderived from year
Ship typepassenger-cargo shipWikidata P31 instance of
Cause of lossGrounding or wreck on rocksKeyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence
Nationality / flagUnited KingdomWikidata P8047 country of registry
ConflictWorld War IIWikidata P607 conflict
Sea / oceanSouth Atlantic OceanNatural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon
Nearest coastNamibiaNatural Earth (public domain); approx. 28 km from land
Position-18.1300, 11.5500Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0)

About the wreck

MV Dunedin Star was a British refrigerated cargo liner. She was built by Cammell Laird and Co in 1935–36 as one of Blue Star Line's Imperial Star-class ships, designed to ship frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to the UK. The ship served in the Second World War and is distinguished for her role in Operation Halberd to relieve the siege of Malta in September 1941.

Dunedin Star was lost at the end of November 1942 when she ran aground at Clan Alpine Shoal in the South Atlantic on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia, then South West Africa. A complex sea, air and land operation overcame many setbacks and rescued all of her passengers, crew and gunners. An aircraft, a tug and two of the tug's crew were lost in rescue attempts. It took a month for the last of Dunedin Star's crew to reach Cape Town, and more than two months for the last of the rescuers to return.

Location

  • Recorded position: -18.1300, 11.5500 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
  • Sea / ocean: South Atlantic Ocean
  • Nearest coast: Namibia

Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.

OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article MV Dunedin Star (revision 1376818224), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.

Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).

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Further reading