Clan Alpine Shoal is a reef off the coast of the

Skeleton Coast The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic coast of Namibia. Immediately south of Angola, it stretches from the Kunene River to the Swakop River, although the name is sometimes used to describe the entire Namib Desert coast. The in ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

that has caused two major shipwrecks. It lies about 8 km from the coast, south of the mouth of the

Cunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands southwards to the border with Namibia. It then flows in a westerly direction along the border until it reaches ...

and 200 km from

Cape Fria Cape Fria (literally "cold cape") is a headland overlooking the South Atlantic Ocean situated along the northern shoreline of Namibia, about 120 km (75 mi) to the northwest of Mowe Bay and 200 km to the south of the Angolan border. ...

, at 18°8′ S 11°33′ E. The maps of the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

were uncertain as to the location of the rock formation, the highest points of which can pose a shipping hazard under certain conditions. The British steamship SS Clan Alpine (1878) ran aground there on the morning of January 13, 1890 en route from

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Shortly before midnight on Sunday evening, November 29, 1942, another British vessel, the MV Dunedin Star, was also wrecked there.

References

Islands of Namibia {{Namibia-geo-stub