SS Peshawur

A roll of green ribbon

Lara Band, Unpath'd Waters - Science and the Sea

June 28, 2024

Please note: this StoryMap addresses sensitive topics including racism, with language reflective of the early 20th century, as well as someone taking their own life.

SS Peshawur, built in Glasgow in 1905 by Barclay, Curle & Co for the Peninsular & Orient Steam Navigation Company (now P&O), lies on the seabed 12 miles east of Ardglass, Northern Ireland. The hole in the hull, visible in the multibeam sonar survey of the wreck, was caused by one of two torpedoes fired by U-96 on 9th October 1917, killing 11 seamen in the engine room ^[1].

A map of the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, with black dots representing all the mapped wrecks and other obstructions on the seabed — Map showing *SS Peshawur's location*. The black dots are other wrecks or obstructions on the seabed

A blue, grey and white image of a shipwreck on the seabed. The details of the ship show up more clearly in this image and can be matched with the plan — Sonar survey of *SS Peshawur* showing torpedo damage

A detail from a bronze cast panel reading PESHAWAR GLASGOW ANDREWS W.I. CAWS W.G. — *SS Peshawur* commemorated (though misspelt) at Tower Hill

The Memorial to the Mercantile Marine at Tower Hill, London only shows two names however: you have to search via the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website to find the other nine ^[2]. And you have to dig deeper still in to archives to discover why their names and those of another 2246 seafarers were excluded. This omission has been explored by historian John Siblon ^[3] whose inspiring research highlighted the records cited below.

The database entry for the 11 men who died onboard SS Peshawur (ABDULLAH WAHIB DIN, Trimmer; AKBAR FALAH KHAN, Fireman; KAMMU MAUBARAK, Trimmer; MAULA DAD KHUSHI MUHAMMAD, Fireman; MIYAN GULAB ALI, Fireman; SHUKRULLAH JAN MUHAMMAD, Storekeeper; NIZAMDIN UMAR, Fireman; RAHMAT RAHIM BAKHSH, Fireman; SAKHYA KARAMDIN, Trimmer; CAWS, WALLACE GEORGE, Age 32, Third Engineer, Son of Wallace George Caws; husband of Jessie Elizabeth Caws (nee Browne), of 30, Burgess Rd., East Ham, Essex. Born in Jersey. ANDREWS, WILLIAM JAMES, Age 32, Winchman, Son of the late George Andrews; husband of Louisa Jane Andrews (nee Adams), of 38, Chauntler Rd., Custom House, London. Born at Deptford). Even this shows the inequality in commemoration, with more detail given for the two British sailors. It also seems likely that the Indian sailors have been added to the database at a later date. — The names of the 11 crew members who died on board *SS Peshawur* on 9th October 1917, CWGC 2024

Three years after the end of the First World War, the Imperial War Graves Commission began discussing a memorial for the Mercantile Marine. The archive documents ^[4] show entrenched colonial disregard:

“The Native Ratings [...] whose lives were lost due to enemy action number 2255. It seems probable that about 490 were Chinese, and the remainder Indians or East Africans (I am unable to distinguish these, and so apparently is the Board of Trade). It seems […] the native sailors names will not appear on the British seamans’ memorial but will be commemorated somewhere east of Suez.” ^[5]

Names would probably not appear here either “owing to difficulty in verification” ^[6]. The last mention of the matter comes in 1923 in a letter that discusses memorial options for the European seafarers and states that "the natives will be dealt with separately" ^[7]. While memorials were eventually erected in Hong Kong and Mumbai, the exclusion of Chinese, Indian and African seafarers from the Tower Hill Memorial effectively whitewashed the Merchant Navy contribution to the war effort, and continues to do so today.

By 1914, 1/3 of British merchant vessel crew members had been born abroad: over half of these were ‘Lascars’: seafarers from the Indian Ocean region including pre-partition India, East Africa and the Philippines^[8]. Employed on ‘Asiatic articles’ rather than ‘European’ contracts Lascars were paid less and suffered harsher conditions. Frequently employed as engine room crew on the prejudiced assumption they’d be more able to stand the fierce heat, they were also only legally entitled to 1m³ of living space, raised to 2m³ after 1914 ^[9].

A detailed engineering drawing on yellowed paper, showing the space for hammock, slatted shelves, wash house and kitchen. Shared by 93 crew members, this drawing shows how cramped the space must have been — Detail from a plan for *SS Peshawur* (1905), showing the living quarters for 'Native' crew

Detail of a page in a log book with a table titled EMPLOYMENT OF LASCARS AND ASIATIC SEAMEN. 92 are shown for the journey from the UK, 88 are shown for the return journey — Detail from SS Peshawur's log book for the passage London - Australia - London, February - July 1910

As at Tower Hill, these crew member's names are are not visible in the record. Standard issue log booksname seafarers on European articles but for “Lascars and Asiatic Seamen” there’s just a number. It’s only in discipline, injury or death that we learn their names or anything about them.

Shafkhan Caderbux Khan (Fireman, Certificate No. 75450) , jumped overboard 300 miles west of Sierra Leone on 13 March 1910, 11 days after SS Peshawur left London for Adelaide ^[10]. The brief report of his death and the list of his belongings pinned inside the logbook gives a glimpse of a life otherwise reduced to a statistic. A fireman from India, his last address was Royal Albert Dock, London. His dungarees and boiler suit, Sunlight soap and scrubbing brush conjure an image of someone scouring their clothes clean after a shift in the intense heat and soot of the engine rooms. His looking glass, razor, 4 ½ bars of soap, shirts, trousers, waistcoat and straw hat also suggest he took pride in his appearance, though a tin with only 8 annas and 5 pfennig, around £2.70 today ^[11], hints at the desperate need for employment. An educational primer suggests he must once have hoped for a better future; writing materials and spectacles complete a studious image. Is '1 necklace (nuts)' a misinterpretation of prayer beads, perhaps misbaha? And was the roll of green ribbon a gift, bought with someone dear in mind?

A page of ruled paper torn from another book and pinned inside a log book. The list reads "Inventory of effects of late Shafkhan Caderbux Khan Fireman. Certificate no. 75450, SS Peshawur" and goes on to detail the following: 1 pair spectacles, 1 roll green ribbon, 1 khaki cartridge bag, 4 pairs cotton trousers, 2 cotton shirts, 1 red Pagg[?ari], 1 education primer, 1 tin snuff box containing 8 Anna and 5 pfennig , 1 necklace (nuts), 1 bandana handkerchief, 1 new razor all contained in small box. 1 dungaree trousers, 1 boiler suit, 1 waistcoat, 1 pair cotton trousers, 1 looking glass, 1 [?]slats, 1 coloured cotton shirt, 1 white cotton shirt, 4 1/2 bars soap, 1 straw hat, 1 pair socks, 1 pkt sunlight soap, 2 tin spoons, 1 coloured handkerchief, 1 scrubbing brush, 1 package Indian writing material, 1 tin plate. Signed C Dayas, First Mate and C.F. Lockstone, Master 13th March 1910 — The list of Shafkhan Caderbux Khan's belongings in *SS Peshawur*'s log book for February - July 1910, National Archives BT 165/465

We'll never know the answers to these questions, and are unlikely to find out more about Shafkhan Khan or his life. But we do know he was one of an alarming number Lascar seafarers, nearly always engine room crew, who took their own lives in exactly the same manner. Remarking on 15 similar incidents between 1902-1904, the British Consul at Suez noted the miserable living and working conditions that left seafarers like Shafkhan Khan “practically…a prisoner on board” ^[12].

Today, the shipping industry transports 90% of world trade: everything you’re wearing, carrying or eating has been touched by the maritime world ^[13]. Seafarers from the Global South account for 60% the 1.9 million workforce ^[14] and are still subject to significantly worse treatment and suffer significantly worse mental health than European and other Global North seafarers ^{[15, 16]}. While the Maritime Labour Convention (2006) ^[17] sets out the right of seafarers to decent work conditions, the globalised nature of the shipping industry makes the monitoring of employment conditions almost impossible.

In his death Shafkhan Caderbux Khan inadvertently left behind a record that stands for all those who contributed to the wealth of shipping companies, the wealth of Empire and the war effort, but whose names are excluded from the archive, or buried within it. By remembering him, we honour their labour and, at the same time, acknowledge both the the critical work that seafarers do today, and the conditions they work under, to keep global supply chains moving.

References

^[1] National Archives TNA ADM 137/1365 ^[2] www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead , accessed 28 June 2024 ^[3] Siblon, John. 2016. Negotiating Hierarchy and Memory: African and Caribbean Troops from Former British Colonies in London’s Imperial Spaces . The London Journal, 41(3) ^[4]Commonwealth War Graves Commission CWGC/1/1/9/E/12 (WG 998/2 PT.1) ^[5] Ibid. Letter from the Principal Assistant Secretary, 2nd February 1923 ^[6] Ibid. Memorials to the Mercantile Marine, undated [pdf page no. 267] ^[7]Ibid. Letter from the Principal Assistant Secretary, 2nd February 1923 ^[8] Hughes, Nicky. 2018. Forgotten Seafarers of the First World War ( Historic England blog, 5 June ). ^[9]Ahuja, Ravi. 2012. Capital at Sea, Shaitan Below Decks? A Note on Global Narratives, Narrow Spaces, and the Limits of Experience . History of the Present, 2(1) ^[10]The National Archives BT 165/465 ^[11]Deshmukh, C.D (Ed.). 2005. History of the Reserve Bank of India 1935-195 1 and Marcuse, Harold. 2018. Historical Dollar-to-Marks ^[12]Ahuja, Ravi. 2012 ^[13] Lloyd’s Register Foundation. 2024. Industry experts warn of “systemic risks” to ports and maritime trade (blog 2 April 2024) ^[14] UN Trade and Development. 2023. Seafarer supply, quinquennial, 2015 and 2021 ^[15]Khalili, Leila. 2024. The Corporeal life of seafaring. Np.: MACK ^[16]George, Rose. 2013. Deep Sea Foreign Going. London: Granta ^[17]International Labour Organization. Nd. Maritime Labour Convention , 2006

Further Reading

The two following resources give an overview of current research and have excellent further reading lists:

Historic England. 2018. Forgotten Seafarers of the First World War (blog)

Ransley, Jesse. Nd. Black and Asian Seamen of the forgotten wrecks of the First World War , Maritime Archaeological Trust

The CWGC has an ongoing project to redress non-commemoration, "to analyse the historical actions of the CWGC within a global context to identify and, wherever possible, correct any gaps in commemoration". There does not seem to be any of the Merchant Navy in outputs so far, see https://www.cwgc.org/non-commemoration/

We are sensitive to the emotional consequences of this story but are driven by our values to connect people with information beyond ‘traditional’ narratives. If, like us, you find that you are negatively impacted by the content of this story, please consider taking a quiet break, make time for self-care and consider the following links for further support:

- Mind - Infoline 0300 123 3393, 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday or email info@mind.org.uk - Mind - useful contacts - racism and mental health - CALM - call 0800 585 858 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year - Shout - text SHOUT to 85258 for a text support service - Samaritans - call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org - NHS - call 111 to be directed to your local helpline