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- Jan 6, 2001
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If you're a marine history buff (or just appreciate superbly made knives), I'd like to present a fairly recent addition to my collection: the "Recon 123 Boot Knife" by South African knife maker Rob Brown, who works in a small shop (with a great view of the ocean) in a village called Schoenmakerskop. Rob only builds knives to order, and only makes one knife at a time from start to finish.
The blade is mirror-polished with a false edge and full tapered tang. The blade is 4.8 inches in length; the knife is 9.5 inches OAL. The bolster is engraved with a design taken from an antique Spanish helmet; the stylized letter "E" incorporated in this design is the first letter of my surname.
The engraver's name is Armin Winkler, an Austrian who was trained at the Austrian engravers school in Ferlagch. "Musgrave" (the local arms manufacturer) brought him out to South Africa in the late Seventies. Winkler's time is completely taken up with engraving rifles from various custom makers around the country, but occasionally he can be convinced to accept a commission for a very special knife.
What makes this knife unique is the ebony wood from which the handles have been created. This rare wood was recovered from the wreck of a Spanish galleon, the "Sacramento".
The ships, both Spanish galleons, left Spain in 1646 on their way to the Far East. Spain was at war with England at the time and they were on their way to Macao in China to collect, amongst other things, a shipment of bronze cannon to arm the Spanish coast. The ebony used on this knife had been carried in the hold of the "Sacramento" as dunnage to protect the cannon.
At the time, Spain had a settlement at Delagoa Bay (now Mozambique) on the east coast of Africa, but the rest of South Africa had to wait until 1652 for the Dutch East India Company to send out Jan van Riebeeck to set up a half-way station at the Cape, to supply their ships on their spice route runs to the East.
All went well for the "Sacrameno" and "Atalaya" on their trip to China. However, on the return voyage, disaster struck. First, the "Atalaya" ran aground and sank near the Fish River, about 200 miles up the coast, and then the same thing happened to the "Sacramento" just offshore from Rob Brown's village. The whereabouts of these two wrecks was never exactly known. Then, in the early part of the last century, a cannon was salvaged at Schoenies that was thought to be from this wreck. In the mid Seventies, two young salvage divers living in the village, Dave Allen and Gerry van Niekerk, decided to research this wreck.
Seventy-two survivors from the "Sacramento" spent a few days camped near the wreck site; with no hope of being rescued, they decided to walk the 1300 kilometers to Mozambique. At the Fish River, they met up with the survivors from the "Atalaya".
One of the survivors from the "Atalaya" had kept a diary and so the story of these wrecks finally became known.
The survivors of the ships continued their walk but animals, natives (and not being good outdoorsmen) took its toll and only 9 of the original survivors reached Delagoa Bay, 6 1/2 months later. Allen and Van Niekerk located and salvaged the wreck of the "Sacramento" in 1977, more or less in the area it was thought to be - but a lot closer to the breakers than was ever imagined. The story of the survivors and of the salvage is covered in their book "The Guns of the Sacramento".
There is one footnote to the tragic events in this story: one of the young salvage divers, Dave Allen, committed suicide a few years later -- at the exact site of this wreck.
Technical Specifications:
Design: 123 Recon Boot Knife
Steel: Hitachi ATS-34 vacuum hardened to 59 Rockwell C and mirror polished
Handle: Ebony recovered from the "Sacramento"
Coachwork: Grade 303 Stainless Steel
Engraving: Armin Winkler
Sheath: Cape Buffalo Hide
The blade is mirror-polished with a false edge and full tapered tang. The blade is 4.8 inches in length; the knife is 9.5 inches OAL. The bolster is engraved with a design taken from an antique Spanish helmet; the stylized letter "E" incorporated in this design is the first letter of my surname.
The engraver's name is Armin Winkler, an Austrian who was trained at the Austrian engravers school in Ferlagch. "Musgrave" (the local arms manufacturer) brought him out to South Africa in the late Seventies. Winkler's time is completely taken up with engraving rifles from various custom makers around the country, but occasionally he can be convinced to accept a commission for a very special knife.
What makes this knife unique is the ebony wood from which the handles have been created. This rare wood was recovered from the wreck of a Spanish galleon, the "Sacramento".
The ships, both Spanish galleons, left Spain in 1646 on their way to the Far East. Spain was at war with England at the time and they were on their way to Macao in China to collect, amongst other things, a shipment of bronze cannon to arm the Spanish coast. The ebony used on this knife had been carried in the hold of the "Sacramento" as dunnage to protect the cannon.
At the time, Spain had a settlement at Delagoa Bay (now Mozambique) on the east coast of Africa, but the rest of South Africa had to wait until 1652 for the Dutch East India Company to send out Jan van Riebeeck to set up a half-way station at the Cape, to supply their ships on their spice route runs to the East.
All went well for the "Sacrameno" and "Atalaya" on their trip to China. However, on the return voyage, disaster struck. First, the "Atalaya" ran aground and sank near the Fish River, about 200 miles up the coast, and then the same thing happened to the "Sacramento" just offshore from Rob Brown's village. The whereabouts of these two wrecks was never exactly known. Then, in the early part of the last century, a cannon was salvaged at Schoenies that was thought to be from this wreck. In the mid Seventies, two young salvage divers living in the village, Dave Allen and Gerry van Niekerk, decided to research this wreck.
Seventy-two survivors from the "Sacramento" spent a few days camped near the wreck site; with no hope of being rescued, they decided to walk the 1300 kilometers to Mozambique. At the Fish River, they met up with the survivors from the "Atalaya".
One of the survivors from the "Atalaya" had kept a diary and so the story of these wrecks finally became known.
The survivors of the ships continued their walk but animals, natives (and not being good outdoorsmen) took its toll and only 9 of the original survivors reached Delagoa Bay, 6 1/2 months later. Allen and Van Niekerk located and salvaged the wreck of the "Sacramento" in 1977, more or less in the area it was thought to be - but a lot closer to the breakers than was ever imagined. The story of the survivors and of the salvage is covered in their book "The Guns of the Sacramento".
There is one footnote to the tragic events in this story: one of the young salvage divers, Dave Allen, committed suicide a few years later -- at the exact site of this wreck.
Technical Specifications:
Design: 123 Recon Boot Knife
Steel: Hitachi ATS-34 vacuum hardened to 59 Rockwell C and mirror polished
Handle: Ebony recovered from the "Sacramento"
Coachwork: Grade 303 Stainless Steel
Engraving: Armin Winkler
Sheath: Cape Buffalo Hide
)
I'd better get on that list for a Rob Brown knife. He is outstanding in character and his knives are 'second to none'! 
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