Sinking of the SS Mendi

Sinking of the SS Mendi

The sinking of the SS Mendi on 21 February 1917 became one of South Africa’s worst tragedies of the First World War (1914 – 1919). The SS Mendi sailed from Cape Town on 16 January 1917 en route to La Havre in France, carrying the Fifth Battalion of the South African Native Labour Contingent. A total of 616 South Africans, including 607 black troops serving in the Native Labour Contingent, died when the steamship sank in the English Channel on the way to France. The incident happened in the early hours of 21 February 1917, when another ship, the SS Darro travelling at full speed and emitting no warning signals, rammed the SS Mendi, in thick fog 19km south of St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight.

On board were 805 black privates, 22 white officers and a crew of 33. In his attempt to calm the panicked men, Reverend Isaac Wauchope Dyobha “performed what best served as the final rites known as the death drill dance urging all on board to accept the inevitability of their demise” (Natalia Sifuba).

Reverend Wauchope said: “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, Pondos, Basotho … so let us die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies” (Natalia Sifuba).

It was around 05:00 in the morning of 21 February 1917 that the SS Darro, a far larger ship, which was not only running with low lights, and at full speed, hit the SS Mendi straight down on the starboard (right-hand) side of the ship. The initial collision killed many. A number of the lifeboats were rendered unusable due to the speed at which she heeled over. The ship, the SS Mendi, began to sink. The SS Darro did not pause to assist but rather continued onward. This action would see Captain Stump of the SS Darro facing an investigation and having his license suspended for a year.

The men on the SS Mendi were said to be surprisingly calm when considering the watery fate that faced them, despite that a large part had never seen the ocean prior to this journey and an even greater number had never learnt how to swim. According to witnesses from the disaster, the men acted with such dignity and calm that several of the crew gave up their places on the few lifeboats to the Black volunteers.

During the First World War, there was a shortage of labourers, which despite the draft, caused delays in moving supplies from the rear to the front lines. In September of 1916, General Louis Botha, the then Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, informed Parliament that Britain had requested that the South African Native Labour Contingent provide 10 000 men to work behind the front lines in France. Their first task was to act as dock workers and to unpack the incoming supplies and then move further inland to support the troops.

This proposal was quickly approved despite lingering resentment among the Afrikaner representatives towards the British over actions during the Anglo-Boer Wars. While in certain areas of the country such as Lovedale, Healdtown and Blythswood, many Blacks were willing to volunteer, in others, there was less enthusiasm as people felt they should have been asked to volunteer as fighters and not as labourers.

The concept of training and arming a Black army was considered undesirable by the racist White government, as many felt they could return to South Africa and lead an armed insurrection. In the end, thousands volunteered, and many arrived in the conflict areas. They provided valuable support to the British war effort. Most of those on the SS Mendi unfortunately never reached their destination. Leaving Plymouth harbour on 20 February 1917 during the late evening, she sailed towards La Havre, France, and it was early in the morning the following day when the incident happened.

In 2017 the ship’s bell was handed in anonymously to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist. The then British Prime Minister, Theresa May returned the bell to South Africa while on an official visit in August 2018. This event is commemorated with the holding of the Armed Forces Day on 21 February every year in South Africa.

What is most touching about this incident is how the great granddaughter of Reverend Wauchope, Natalia Sifuba, captured the incident and its aftermath. According to Sifuba, “In the aftermath of the sinking of the Mendi, the insensitivity of the racist government of the day was shown when there was no attempt by the government to officially inform the relatives immediately of the fate of their loved ones. Even though the sinking took place in February, families got to know about it only between March and April by word of mouth, the news believed to have been spread by survivors.”

Furthermore, she maintains that “As my ancestor was 64 years of age at the time, he didn’t have to join up or enlist in the army, but he did. Amongst Africans going to war, there was hope that the government would reward and honour them with a proper space in society. That they would win political freedoms. Taking into account that they had just been disposed by the new (Land) Act. This was especially so because just as the South African National Native Congress (SANNC) today’s ANC (African National Congress), believed that by heeding to the British Empire’s call, on returning from the war, the Africans would be properly recognised, things like Poll tax would be relaxed, grants of land wold be made available amongst other reasons.”

“But sadly as it is known”, she continues, “none of these was fulfilled. Essentially, the men on the Mendi died en route to fight for their dignity and human rights through service to the war effort yet still in 2019 after two decades of our freedom, the government is still battling to resolve the land question that which the Africans were dispossessed of. Considering the irony of the land issue hundred years later, one can be excused for being extremely angry about their deaths” (Natalia Sifuba).

“So let us die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa!”

Sources:
Wikipedia
South African History Online (SAHO).
Natalia Sifuba, “The Wauchopes: Generational Activism”, Kwarts Publishers, 2019.
IWM, “Why the Sinking of The SS Mendi is Remembered Around the World”, Imperial War Museums, 21 February 2017.
SA Department of Defence, “Sinking of the SS Mendi 1917 – 2017: Centenary Retrospective”, http://www.rfdiv.mil.za/Magazines/SS%20Mendi%20Brochure%20Web%20version.pdf.
Wessex Archaeology, “Wreck of the SS Mendi”, https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/wreck-ss-mendi.
Baroness Lola Young, “The Hidden History of the Sinking of the SS Mendi”, British Council, 31 October 2014.
Commonwealth War Graves, “Remembering the Sinking of the SS Mendi 105 Years On”, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 18 February 2022.
Delville Wood, “Sinking of the Mendi”, http://www.delvillewood.com/sinking2.htm.
Bethan Bell and Marcus White, “Dancing the death drill: The sinking of the SS Mendi”, BBC News, 21 February 2017.
Historic England, “The South African Native Labour Corps and the wreck of the SS Mendi”, https://historicengland.org.uk/research/current/discover-and-understand/military/first-world-war-home-front/sea/ssmendi.

Castro Khwela
Good evening fellow Compatriots!