Skip to main content
Menu
♥ Donate
eventREF E-0125367Revised

Event record

The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi

Updated
30 Sep 2019
The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi

HMS Durham Castle Image source

Following the sinking of the SS Mendi troop ship carrying the Fifth Battalion of the South African Native Labour Contingent, the recruitment process for troops to assist in World War 1 was not heavily impacted. On the 23rd of March the 1st ship, the Durham Castle, carrying Black troops after the Mendi set sail from Cape Town. The following is an excerpt from Jingoes, who wrote of his journey, published in Black Valour: “’I do not wish to imply,’ continued the Major, that your ship, also, will be sunk, but you ought to know what has happened. You knew, when you volunteered, that you might have to fight: you knew what war is…’” The experience of this troopship was that of good weather conditions and orderly routines.

Search events by date

What happened on your birthday?
View more events from this day

How we know this

  1. 01Clothier, Norman. Black Valour. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1987.
  2. 02“World War 1”, South African History Online, Accessed 19 February 2017.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2018, September 18). The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ts/ref/E-0125367

South African History Online (2018) 'The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi', South African History Online, 18 September. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ts/ref/E-0125367 (Accessed: 23 July 2026).

South African History Online, The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ts/ref/E-0125367, (accessed 23 July 2026).

"The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi." South African History Online, 18 Sept. 2018, https://sahistory.org.za/ts/ref/E-0125367. Accessed 23 July 2026.

South African History Online. "The 1st troop ship to set sail after the sinking of the SS Mendi." South African History Online. September 18, 2018. https://sahistory.org.za/ts/ref/E-0125367.

Further reading

SS Mendi Article

SS Mendi

The sinking of the SS Mendi was caused by the reckless action of the captain of the SS Darro.
Related Content
Mendi Memorial, Eastern Cape Place

Mendi Memorial, Eastern Cape

The actual wreck lies off The Isle of Wight, in the English Channel. In Britain the story of the SS Mendi is almost...
Related Content
Armistice day 11th Nov 1918 Event

Armistice day 11th Nov 1918

At 11am on the 11th November 1918 a truce came into effect between Germany and the Entente forces.
Related Content
Final legal note on the SS Mendi Event

Final legal note on the SS Mendi

A brief report appeared on the 13th of November in the Times, which was the last of the legal conclusions around...
Related Content

SAHO is free because readers fund it. Donate →

Contribute to this record0 comments

Comments are reader contributions. They are not part of the archival record.