Ship's Bell from SS Mendi (1917)

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SS Mendi was lost off the Isle of Wight in February 1917, resulting in the deaths of over 600 labourers of the South African Native Labour Corps on their way to the Western Front. In 1974, the Mendi was discovered by local diver and founder of the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum, Isle of Wight, Martin Woodward.

The existence of the bell had been known to BBC reporter Steve Humphrey from more than 30 years of research. Following years of contact with people who claimed to know the location of the artefact, the SS Mendi bell was finally left for him at Swanage Pier, Dorset, UK, in the early hours of one morning in June 2017. Read more in the BBC article and on Historic England’s website.

The bell was scanned on 21/09/17 using a DAVID SLS-3 by the Maritime Archaeology Trust while it was on loan and on display at the museum. H 38.7 x W (lip diam.) 39.1 cm.