wreck of the 'Dunedin Star', Namibia, 1942

The event was marked with a South West Africa (now Namibia) stamp in 1987.

a book published in Namibia on the event

The original Dunedin Star, a refrigerated cargo liner, was built for the Blue Star Line by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, England in 1935 and commissioned in February 1936.  Displacement was 13,000 tons, length 530 ft, beam 70.4 ft, and draught 32.4 ft. Propulsion was by two 9-Cylinder 2 S.C.S.A. oil engines.

In early November 1942, the Dunedin Star sailed from Liverpool bound for the Middle East with Cape Town her first port of call, carrying 21 passengers and 85 crew, which included women and children. Unescorted and to avoid submarine attack, she sailed close to the West African coast.

Three weeks into her voyage, at 10.30 pm on 29 November 1942, her hull was holed by a submerged object. In danger of sinking the Dunedin Star was beached on Namibia's infamous Skeleton Coast - 500 miles (800 km) of raging surf on hot desert approximately 400 miles (640 km) north of Walvis Bay. The next 25 days involved one of the most traumatic rescues of WW2 including an overland rescue party, ships and Ventura bombers of the South African Air Force. All the passengers and crew were eventually rescued, the last of the survivors arriving in Cape Town on 28 December 1942.

The first Dunedin Star pictured near Taiaroa Head, near Dunedin. (Wallace Trickett painting)