5. Shipwrecks

John Dean (hero of Sussex)

About one in thirty-three of the East India Company's ships were wrecked or lost at sea. Considering the distances they travelled, this is not very surprising. The Cape of Good Hope (you can find it on the map) had very stormy seas indeed and sank many ships.

John Dean (shown here), who worked for the East India Company in the 1700s, is famous for surviving two disasters. After his ship, the Sussex, had been abandoned by its Captain, he managed to help steer it to Madagascar. After it had been fixed he sailed it to Mozambique in Africa, but it was wrecked on the way.

Even if a crew member managed to survive a shipwreck and get to shore it was very hard indeed to get home from Africa. Sailors had to find their way to Table Bay and wait for another ship from Europe to call there.