Strange reminder of a terrible shipwreck

[isla]

A bell from a ship involved in one of Britain's worst off-shore disasters has apparently been found in a plastic bag left anonymously for a BBC reporter.

It bears the name of the SS Mendi which sank off the Isle of Wight during World War One, killing more than 600 black South African labourers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-40293225

[Chippie]

Thanks for that Isla.

Surprised that there to be no interest shown.

Swanage is a likely area for it to end up, as the article mentioned that the wreck was gleaned for non ferrous metals more than likely by locals.

It would appear that some one was sensitive enough to save it from being melted down, and was acquired by an equally considerate person.

[PeterSibley]

A very sad story .... no lifeboats lowered and the master gets a one year suspension of his ticket. Institutional racism.

[isla]

It would appear that some one was sensitive enough to save it from being melted down, and was acquired by an equally considerate person.

Yes it looks like it fell into the hands of somebody with a conscience, who realised its historical value and that it would be sacrilege to sell it for scrap.

A very sad story .... no lifeboats lowered and the master gets a one year suspension of his ticket. Institutional racism.

That is the most astonishing thing about the whole story. If the refusal to launch lifeboats was racially motivated, that is unforgivable. Wikipedia has a good report on the incident..

Mendi's complement was a mixture characteristic of many UK merchant ships at the time. Officers, stewards, cooks, signallers and gunners were British; firemen and other crew were West Africans, most of them from Sierra Leone.
Darro survived the collision but Mendi sank, killing 616 Southern Africans (607 of them black troops) and 30 crew.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Mendi