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The Glentana shipwreck refers to the remains of the SS Glentana, a steel-hulled steamship that ran aground near the coastal village of Glentana, approximately 20 kilometres west of George in the Western Cape. The vessel was built in 1901 by the Glasgow shipyard of A. Rodger & Co. for the Glentana Steamship Company, and it was en route from London to Cape Town when it was wrecked on 26 July 1902. The ship struck the rocky shoreline during heavy weather, and although the crew was rescued, the vessel broke apart and was declared a total loss. The wreck site lies on the shore and in the surf zone just east of the Glentana beach, near the mouth of the Maalgate River, and its scattered iron remains are still visible at low tide today. The site is not formally proclaimed as a heritage site under the National Heritage Resources Act, but it is protected as part of the maritime heritage of the Western Cape. The wreck is a popular local landmark and a reminder of the many ships lost along the treacherous Cape coast during the age of steam. The village of Glentana itself was only formally established in the 1930s, so the wreck predates the modern settlement and is one of the oldest recorded maritime incidents in the immediate George coastal area.
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