Page 15 of the 'History of South Africa 1486 - 1691 recounts that the first English ships to put into a harbor on the South African coast were the Penelope, Merchant Royal, and the Edward Bonaventure on the 10th of April, 1591. So many men had died of scurvy that it was advisable to send the Merchant Royal back to England short handed.
This is a record of an earlier named Merchant Royal. The Merchant Royal which sank in 1641 was built in 1627 and is considered my many to be the Black Swan shipwreck discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration.