For whom does Mendi bell toll?

Ownership will be established soon

THE final home of the historic bell from the SS Mendi – which sank off the English coast a century ago, claiming the lives of more than 600 black South African troops bound for war duty – is expected to be known “relatively soon”.

So says Britain’s Receiver of Wreck, Alison Kentuck, the official whose department is responsible for overseeing all maritime wrecks and salvage in the UK.

She said the “resonance” of the bell in South African history would have a bearing on determining the artefact’s fate.

For the time being, the brass bell, delivered anonymously to a BBC reporter in Swanage on the south coast of England a week ago, was “in the care” of the Sea City Museum in Southampton, Kentuck said.

“The bell is in the secure art store undergoing a condition assessment,” Kentuck said.

“One of the main functions of the Receiver of Wreck is to determine legal ownership of recovered wreck material.

“We are therefore in the process of determining who has a legal right to this bell.

“We do have some information on that already, and I would hope that ownership can be confirmed relatively soon.

“We are certainly aware of the resonance this bell will have in South Africa and I have no doubt this will form part of the discussion on the bell’s long-term future.”

In terms of British law, anything recovered from a wreck or found on the country’s shores must be reported to the Receiver of Wreck.

Penalties may be imposed for failing to do so, which could explain why the Mendi bell was relinquished anonymously.

The wreck was located on the seabed 11 nautical miles (20km) south-west of St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight in 1945, and positively identified in 1974.

It became a popular dive site until, in 2009, Britain’s Ministry of Defence designated the wreck a protected war grave, making it an offence to remove items.

The SS Mendi went down in the early hours of February 21 in 1917 claiming the lives of 607 volunteers of the South African Native Labour Contingent, and nine of their white officers, after being struck in thick mist by a much larger vessel, the SS Darro, sailing at speed.

One of our main functions is to establish ownership of the recovered wreck material Alison Kentuck Receiver of Wreck official