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Shipwreck

The SS Mendi

Off St Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight

Over 600 men of the South African Native Labour Corps lost in fog.

In thick fog in the early hours of 21 February 1917, the troopship SS Mendi was rammed by another ship, the Darro, which did not stop to help. Over 600 men of the South African Native Labour Corps, on their way to work in France, died in the icy water.

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When
21 February 1917
Where
50.4800, -1.3700
Group
Shipwrecks

Visiting

Memorials stand at Hollybrook Cemetery in Southampton and at Milton in Portsmouth.

Cover of Blood and Gold by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

Blood and Gold

Sixteen true stories of mutiny, mercy, treasure and the gallows from the Golden Age of Piracy: Henry Every, Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts, Edward England, Howell Davis, Christopher Moody, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Charles Vane, Benjamin Hornigold, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Israel Hands, Calico Jack, Edward Low, Captain William Kidd and Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy. Where the record is uncertain, the book says so.

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