SS Mendi
Encyclopedia
SS Mendi was a steamship of the Elder Dempster Line, chartered by the British government as a troopship
, which sank off the Isle of Wight
in 1917 with the loss of 646 lives. The Mendi sinking is considered one of the greatest tragedies
in the history of the South African military, and was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century in British waters.
, the Mendi was transporting 823 members of the 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps to France
. She had sailed from Cape Town
via Lagos
, where a gun was fitted to her stern, to Plymouth
, before proceeding towards Le Havre
. At 5am, while under escort of the destroyer
HMS Brisk, she was struck and cut almost in half by the SS Darro (11,000 BRT), an empty meat ship that was bound for Argentina
.
616 South Africans (607 of them black troops) plus 30 British crew members died in the disaster.
The men on the ship of the South African Labour Corps came from a wide range of social backgrounds, and from a number of South African peoples, but the majority were from the rural areas of the Pondo Kingdom in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Most of them had never seen the sea before this voyage. Very few of them could swim. The White South Africans were officers and NCOs. Some men were killed outright in the collision, and some were trapped below decks. Many however gathered on the listing deck of the Mendi.
Oral history records that the men met their fate with great dignity. Their chaplain
, Reverend Isaac Dyobha, is reported to have calmed the panicked men by raising his arms aloft and crying out in a loud voice:
Notably, the crew of the Darro made no attempt to rescue survivors. Lifeboats from HMS Brisk rowed among the survivors, trying to rescue them.
The investigation into the accident found the captain of the Darro, Henry W Stump, to be at fault for "having travelled at a dangerously high speed in thick fog, and of having failed to ensure that his ship emitted the necessary fog sound signals." As a result, the captain of the Darro had his licence suspended for a year. His failure to render assistance to the Mendi's survivors has been the source of much controversy. Some historians have suggested that racial prejudice influenced his conduct, while others hold that he merely lost his nerve.
The incident remains a somewhat forgotten aspect of World War I
, both in terms of the loss of life and in relation to the role of African labourers in the war.
In 2006, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
launched an education resource called "Let us die like brothers" to highlight the role played by black South Africans during the World War I
. Although they were treated as inferior while alive, in death they are afforded the same level of commemoration as all other Commonwealth war dead.
In December 2006, English Heritage
commissioned Wessex Archaeology
to undertake an initial desk-based appraisal of the wreck. The project will identify a range of areas for potential future research and serve as the basis for a possible non-intrusive survey of the wreck itself in the near future.
ships:
Memorials, ceremonies and other ways, such as artworks, in which the loss of men of the SS Mendi has been commemorated include:
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
, which sank off the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
in 1917 with the loss of 646 lives. The Mendi sinking is considered one of the greatest tragedies
Tragedy (event)
A tragedy is an event in which one or more losses, usually of human life, occurs that is viewed as mournful. Such an event is said to be tragic....
in the history of the South African military, and was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century in British waters.
Sinking
On 21 February 1917, during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Mendi was transporting 823 members of the 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. She had sailed from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
via Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, where a gun was fitted to her stern, to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, before proceeding towards Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. At 5am, while under escort of the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
HMS Brisk, she was struck and cut almost in half by the SS Darro (11,000 BRT), an empty meat ship that was bound for Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
616 South Africans (607 of them black troops) plus 30 British crew members died in the disaster.
The men on the ship of the South African Labour Corps came from a wide range of social backgrounds, and from a number of South African peoples, but the majority were from the rural areas of the Pondo Kingdom in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Most of them had never seen the sea before this voyage. Very few of them could swim. The White South Africans were officers and NCOs. Some men were killed outright in the collision, and some were trapped below decks. Many however gathered on the listing deck of the Mendi.
Oral history records that the men met their fate with great dignity. Their chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
, Reverend Isaac Dyobha, is reported to have calmed the panicked men by raising his arms aloft and crying out in a loud voice:
"Be quiet and calm, my countrymen. What is happening now is what you came to do...you are going to die, but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothers...Swazis, PondoPondoThe Pondo or Phondo are an ethnic group who have given their name to Pondoland, a sub-region comprising much of the northern seaboard of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The Pondo comprises several tribal groups that are all defined as amaXhosa and speak the Xhosa language...
s, BasothoBasothoThe ancestors of the Sotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...
...so let us die like brothers. We are the sons of AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegaiAssegaiAn assegai or assagai is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron.-Iklwa:...
s in the kraalKraalKraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...
, our voices are left with our bodies."
Notably, the crew of the Darro made no attempt to rescue survivors. Lifeboats from HMS Brisk rowed among the survivors, trying to rescue them.
The investigation into the accident found the captain of the Darro, Henry W Stump, to be at fault for "having travelled at a dangerously high speed in thick fog, and of having failed to ensure that his ship emitted the necessary fog sound signals." As a result, the captain of the Darro had his licence suspended for a year. His failure to render assistance to the Mendi's survivors has been the source of much controversy. Some historians have suggested that racial prejudice influenced his conduct, while others hold that he merely lost his nerve.
The incident remains a somewhat forgotten aspect of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, both in terms of the loss of life and in relation to the role of African labourers in the war.
Wreck site
The wreck was located 11.3 nautical miles (20.9 km) from Saint Catherine's Light in 1945, but was not positively identified until 1974. The ship is sitting upright on the ocean floor, but has started to break up, exposing her boilers.In 2006, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
launched an education resource called "Let us die like brothers" to highlight the role played by black South Africans during the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Although they were treated as inferior while alive, in death they are afforded the same level of commemoration as all other Commonwealth war dead.
In December 2006, English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
commissioned Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology
Wessex Archaeology is one of the largest private archaeological organisations operating in the United Kingdom, based near Salisbury in Wiltshire.-Background:...
to undertake an initial desk-based appraisal of the wreck. The project will identify a range of areas for potential future research and serve as the basis for a possible non-intrusive survey of the wreck itself in the near future.
Memorials
This event is commemorated by a number of memorials in South Africa, Britain, France and Holland, as well as in the names of two South African NavySouth African Navy
The South African Navy is the navy of the Republic of South Africa.-Formation:The South African Navy can trace its official origins back to the SA Naval Service, which was established on 1 April 1922....
ships:
- SAS Isaac Dyobha, a Warrior class strike craftSaar 4 class missile boatThe Saar 4 or Reshef class missile boats were built at the Israel Shipyards and based on Israeli Navy designs grounded in accumulated experience derived in the operation of "Cherbourg" class....
. - SAS MendiSAS Mendi (F148)SAS Mendi is the last of four Valour class frigates built for the South African Navy by the European South African Corvette Consortium and entered service in March 2007.-Construction:...
, a Valour class frigateValour class frigateThe South African Valour class frigates are the major surface ships of the South African Navy. Their German manufacturer designates these warships as the MEKO A-200SAN class, member of its MEKO family of naval ships...
.
Memorials, ceremonies and other ways, such as artworks, in which the loss of men of the SS Mendi has been commemorated include:
- Hollybrook Memorial in SouthamptonSouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, bearing the names of the men of the SS Mendi who had no known graves.
- Thirteen men rest in cemeteries in England, one in France and five are commemorated by memorials in Holland.
- Mendi Memorial in Avalon Cemetery in SowetoSowetoSoweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
. Unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 23 March 1995. http://www.allatsea.co.za/cems3/mendiavalon.htm
- Mendi Memorial in New BrightonNew Brighton-Canada:* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood* New Brighton , a settlement in British Columbia-United Kingdom:* New Brighton, Merseyside, a seaside resort in Wallasey, England**New Brighton A.F.C., the current football club...
, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Mendi memorial at the Gamothaga Resort in AtteridgevilleAtteridgevilleAtteridgeville, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township located on the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is bordered to the west by Saulsville, to the east by Proclamation Hill; to the south by Laudium and to the north by Lotus Gardens.-History:Atteridgeville was...
, South Africa.
- Mendi Memorial on an embankment at the MowbrayMowbray, Cape TownMowbray is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. Its original name was Driekoppen .-Geography:Mowbray is bounded on the west by the M3 freeway, beyond which lies Devil's Peak, and on the north by the N2 freeway, beyond which lies the suburb of Observatory...
campus of the University of Cape TownUniversity of Cape TownThe University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
, at the site where men of the South African Native Labour Contingent were billeted before embarking on the ill-fated SS Mendi. This is a sculpture, by Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
artist Madi PhalaMadi PhalaMadi Phala was a South African artist. His most recent works were predominantly painting, and collage and dealt with the theme of the African herd boy.Phala was born February 2, 1955 in Kwa-Thema, Springs, South Africa....
, and represents a mock ship's prow cast in heavy metal, sinking into the ground. In front of it are helmets, hats and discs, symbolising the men, officers and crew of the SS Mendi. A plaque simply reads "SS Mendi, S. African troopship, sank next to the Isle of Wight 1917 02 21". The artist Madi Phala was murdered outside his house in March 2007.
- Delville Wood Commemorative Museum bronze fresco and panel bearing names of men lost in the SS Mendi disaster.
- The bridge telegraph from the SS Mendi is to be seen at the Maritime Museum, BembridgeBembridgeBembridge is an affluent village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to claims by residents that Bembridge is the largest village in England, and occasional claims that it is...
, on the Isle of WightIsle of WightThe Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
.
- The Order of the Mendi Decoration for Bravery, bestowed by the President of South AfricaPresident of South AfricaThe President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President....
on citizens who have performed extraordinary acts of bravery.
- A wreath laying ceremony was held on 23 August 2004 when the SAS Mendi and HMS NottinghamHMS Nottingham (D91)HMS Nottingham was a batch two Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after the city of Nottingham, England. She was launched on 18 February 1980, and commissioned on 8 April 1983 as the sixth ship to bear the name....
, a Type 42 destroyerType 42 destroyerThe Type 42 or Sheffield class, are guided missile destroyers used by the British Royal Navy and the Argentine Navy. The first ship of the class was ordered in 1968 and launched in 1971, and today three ships remain active in the Royal Navy and one in the Argentinian Navy...
, met at the site where the SS Mendi sank.
- In 2006, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission and History Channel released a 20-minute film, Let Us Die Like Brothers, about the SS Mendi disaster and the involvement of Black South Africans in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in Europe.
- On 21 July 2007, a ceremony took place at the Hollybrook Memorial, SouthamptonSouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the tragedy by the SAS Mendi.
- In March 2009, recognition by the UK Ministry of Defence that the site of the sunken SS Mendi be an official war grave – thanks to a campaign by retired Major Ned Middleton.
- A painted triptych, The loss of the Mendi, by Hilary Graham, at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum of Art, Port Elizabeth.
- An animated short film Off the record by Wendy Morris, 2008 Artist in Residence, In Flanders Fields Museum.
- A radio documentary The Lament of the SS Mendi was broadcast on BBC Radio Four on 19 November 2008. Scottish poet Jackie KayJackie KayJackie Kay MBE is a Scottish poet and novelist.-Biography:Jackie Kay was born in Glasgow in 1961 to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father, Jonathan C. Okafor who later became a prominent tropical plant taxonomist...
looked into the history of the sinking and recited her own memorial poem.
- Several websites including that of Disasters at sea: the loss of the troopship Mendi; SS Mendi at Wessex Archaeology; the Commonwealth War Graves Commission document: 90 Years On: The Legacy of the SS Mendi; and Delville Wood: Sinking of the Mendi.
Further reading
- Norman Clothier - Black Valour - The South African Native Labour Contingent, 1916-1918 and the Sinking of the Mendi (University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg, 1987) ISBN 0-86980-564-9