Portsmouth praised for honouring 'bravery' of South Africans killed in SS Mendi disaster

The lives of 646 men were lost when their troop carrier, SS Mendi, sank off the Isle of Wight on February 21, 1917.

The vessel had been transporting the more than 800 members of the South African Native Labour Corps to the Western Front when it was accidentally rammed by British ship SS Daro in thick fog.

It was the worst maritime disaster in British waters during the war – but one that was relegated to the footnotes of history for decades.

Today city leaders joined with dozens of residents, veterans and South African officials to honour nine of the victims buried in Milton Cemetery.

South Africa’s high commissioner, Nomatemba Tambo was ‘tremendously grateful’ for Portsmouth staging the ceremony.

She said: ‘We lost a lot of men on the SS Mendi more than a century ago and they have never truly been recognised.

‘They had tremendous bravery when they knew they were going to die. There was complete calm and acceptance. It speaks a lot to the character of South African people..

‘So for people back at home to listen to that story being told here in the United Kingdom in Portsmouth means an awful lot.’

Only 267 survived the sinking; 195 black men, two of the four white officers and 10 of the 17 white NCOs.

A government inquiry said the Darro failed to lower lifeboats, leaving 646 men to drown. Its captain was later handed a one-year suspension of his master's certificate.

The story became a symbol of racial injustice in South Africa, where successive white-led governments discouraged annual Mendi Day commemorations.

Marie Costa, chairman of the Portsmouth African Women’s Forum, said it was critical the deaths were not overlooked.

She said: ‘These people came to fight a war that had nothing to do with them.

‘And while each year we remember all those other people who died in the Great War these men have been forgotten.

‘It’s really great that Portsmouth has taken it upon themselves to honour these men.’

Prayers were read out and wreaths laid at the graves of the nine men. The Last Post sounded to mark a minutes’ silence.

Councillor David Fuller, Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, attended the ceremony and insisted: ‘Portsmouth will not forget the people that lost their lives many, many years ago. God bless them all.’