Table Bay

For the Canadian settlement, see Table Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Table Bay Tafelbaai
An aerial view of Table Bay from Bloubergstrand, to the north of Cape Town. Table Mountain is visible in the distance on the far side of the bay.
Coordinates	33°53′S 18°27′E / 33.883°S 18.450°E / -33.883; 18.450Coordinates: 33°53′S 18°27′E / 33.883°S 18.450°E / -33.883; 18.450
Ocean/sea sources	Southern Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries	South Africa

Islands	Robben Island
Settlements	Cape Town^[1]

Table Bay, the harbour and the City Bowl from the summit of Table Mountain.

Table Bay (Afrikaans Tafelbaai) is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.

History

Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this region in 1486. The bay, although famous for centuries as a haven for ships, is actually a rather poor natural harbour and is badly exposed to gales from both the SE and NW. Many sailing ships seeking refuge in the bay during the 17th and 18th centuries were driven ashore by storms (see the article about Wolraad Woltemade).

The Dutch colonists nevertheless persisted with their efforts on the shores of Table Bay, because good natural harbours along this coastline are almost non-existent. The best of them- Saldanha Bay- lacked fresh water and the only realistic alternatives- Simon's Bay and Houtbaai- were rightly inaccessible at the time and only marginally less exposed to the weather, which is notoriously bad often enough in the Cape Peninisula (see article on S.S. Maori and Sea Point). Eventually a harbour was built in Table Bay by a process of land reclamation and was defended by breakwaters to protect shipping. The older part of this structure is called the Victoria Dock. The newer part is called the Duncan Dock. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, is in this bay.

Gallery

Dutch ships off Table Bay in the 17th century
Looking over sailing ships in Table Bay in 1727 with Table Mountain in the background
Map of Table Bay (1882)
Map of the Docks and Infrastructure (1884)
Cape Town from space, looking south over False Bay with Hangklip Point (top left), Cape Point (top right) and Table Bay south and east of the clearly visible, circular Robben Island, February 1995.
Cape Town from space, looking east over Cape Peninsula and False Bay (behind) with Robben Island (front left), Table Mountain (centre front) and Cape Point (front right). The white dot on the left in False Bay is Seal Island, famous for footage of Great White Sharks

References

↑ GoogleEarth

African seas

Oceans and seas	Alboran Sea Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Levantine Sea Mediterranean Sea Red Sea Southern Ocean

Gulfs and bays	Abu Qir Bay Acheïl Dakhlet Al Hoceima Bay Algiers Bay Algoa Bay Ambas Bay Ana Chaves Bay Angra de Cintra Antongil Bay Antsiranana Bay Arab's Gulf Baía Almeida Baía da Condúcia Baía da Corimba Baía de Mocambo Baía de Mossuril Baía de Namibe Baia de Porto Amboim Baía de Santa Marta Baía de Sucujaque Baía de Tombua Baía do Ambriz Baía do Bengo Baía do Dande Baía do Govuro Baía do Lúrio Baía do Nzeto Baía do Suto Baia dos Tigres Baie de Gorée Baie de Sangareya Baie de Yof Bandombaai Bay of Anfile Bay of Arguin Bay of Aseb Bay of Arzew Bay of Benin Bay of Beylul Bay of Edd Bay of Hawakil Bay of Langarano Bay of Saint-Augustin Bay of Tangier Benguela Bay Bera’esoli Betty’s Bay Bight of Biafra Bocock’s Bay Bombetoka Bay Bootbaai Bosluisbaai Cape Cross Bay Cape Negro Bay Chake-Chake Bay Chameis Bay Chwaka Bay Conception Bay Cuio Bay Dakhlet Nouadhibou Dalwakteah Bay Deurloopbaai Doringbaai Dungonab Bay Durissa Bay Elandsbaai Enseada das Pombas Enseada de São Braz Enseada do Catumbo Enseada do Chalungo Enseada do Quicombo Enseada do Quitungo Enseada dos Três Irmãos Equimina Bay False Bay Farta Bay Fernao Veloso Bay Foul Bay Frederik se Baai Grosse Bucht Gulf of Aden Gulf of 'Agig Gulf of Gabès Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Hammamet Gulf of Sirte Gulf of Suez Gulf of Tadjoura Gulf of Tunis Gulf of Zula Hafun Bay South Hann Bay Harrison Cove Hentiesbaai Hirghīgo Bahir Selat’ē Horingbaai Hottentotsbaai Hurdiyo Hydra Bay Inhambane Bay Jammer Bucht John Owen Bay Kalawy Bay Kiwaiyu Bay Lambert Bay Lamu Bay Langbaai Loango Bay Lobito Bay Luanda Bay Lüderitz Bay McDougall Bay Manza Bay Maputo Bay Markusbaai Memba Bay Menai Bay Meob Bay Mietjie Frans se Baai Moraha Bahir Selat’ē Mosselbaai Möwebaai Noopbaai Oran Gulf Pemba Bay Pipas Bay Platbaai Plaatjieskraalbaai Plettenbergbaai Pointe-Noire Bay Port Alexander, Angola Prinzen Bucht Río de Oro Bay Rock Bay Roode Bay Rooiwalbaai Saint Francis Bay Saint Francis Bay (Eastern Cape) Saint Helena Bay Saint Sebastian Bay Saldanha Bay Sandwich Harbour Sierra Bay Skoonbergbaai Skurfbaai Slangbaai Sodwana Bay Sofala Bay Somnaasbaai Spencer Bay Struisbaai Spoegrivierbaai Swartstraat Table Bay Thysbaai Tietiesbaai Ungama Bay Walker Bay Walvis Bay (bay) Yawri Bay

Straits	Bab-el-Mandeb Bab Iskender Canal de Bolama Canal de Bolola Canal de Caió Canal de São Vicente Canal do Meio Mafia Channel Massawa Channel Mozambique Channel‎ Pemba Channel Shubuk Channel Strait of Gibraltar Strait of Sicily Straits of Tiran Zanzibar Channel

Historical Seas	Aethiopian Sea Erythraean Sea Sea of Zanj

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Table Bay

History

Gallery

See also

References