The Middenrak was lying in Table Bay when, just after 3pm on Saturday 3 July 1728, her cables parted in a north, north-westerly gale and she was driven ashore. She came ashore just beyond the mouth of the Salt River. The storm and the raging ocean conditions made rescue attempts impossible. The Middenrak held together during the day, but by the next morning had gone to pieces, and her remains were scattered along the beach.

Everyone onboard, a total of 116 people, were lost when the Middenrak wrecked. Two other vessels, the Stabroek and the Haerlem, were lost in the same gale with the loss of two lives.

Salvage work under permit was done on the Middenrak and the excavated material is housed at Iziko Museum.

• DAS 2728.1.
• Generale missiven Deel 8, 180.
• SAHRA Database.
• Lesa la Grange, Martijn Manders, Briege Williams, John Gribble and Leon Derksen (2024).
  Dutch Shipwrecks in South African Waters: A Brief History of Sites, Stores and Archives [Unpublished].