Most people rescued at sea by horse

On 1 June 1773, the Dutch ship De Jonge Thomas was wrecked on a sandbar in Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. As the ship broke up, survivors were left clinging to the wreckage, close to shore but separated by wild water that was running out to sea. As news spread of the unfolding disaster, dairy farmer Wolraad Woltemade (South Africa) rode to the beach on his horse, Vonk (Spark). They entered the roiling waters in a bid to reach the wreck but couldn't quite make it all the way. He ordered two men to jump into the sea and grab the horse’s tail from where they were towed back to the safety of the shore. He and Vonk repeated this seven times, saving in total 14 men. Tragically on thefinal run, six desperate men jumped and swamped Woltemade and his exhausted horse, leading them all to perish. The sacrifice of Woltemade and Vonk is celebrated to this day, with numerous engravings, paintings and even a full-size statue dedicated to the heroic pair.

June is winter in South Africa and a terrible gale drove De Jonge Thomas towards shore and onto a sandbank at the mouth of the Salt River.

The story was recorded at the time by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg, who worked as a surgeon for the Dutch East India Company.

Of the total 191 people on board, It's believed that 53 survived the wreck, including the 14 saved by Woltemade and Vonk.