SS Kafue
The Golden Thread
Top image : Longitudinal Section & Deck Plans for SS Kafue, 6th April 1911. Bottom image: Multibeam Echosounder image of the vessel which could potentially be SS Kafue.
In April 1918 whilst travelling from Glasgow to Calcutta the steamship (SS) Kafue was torpedoed and sank in the Irish Sea. Eighty-four crew members were rescued. There was one loss of life [1] .
Map showing the possible location of SS Kafue. The black dots are other wrecks or obstructions on the seabed
The ship was listed as carrying 1,800 tons of general cargo. But what was that cargo?
The golden thread which weaves through the history of this ship came from the cargo hold.
Part of SS Kafue's cargo was destined for the Samnuggur jute factory on the Hooghly river in West Bengal (Image © Dundee University Archive).
Record of the claim made for War Insurance Losses by the Samnuggur Jute Factory
Various British companies made claims for cargo lost when the SS Kafue sank.
War Insurance Losses can be accessed via The National Archives online 'Discovery' catalogue. Claims were made for items including railway materials, books, textiles, tea-chest fittings, and wine, ale and whisky [2] .
Also lost were machinery, loom shuttles, and bobbins destined for jute factories in Bengal which were owned by Scottish jute barons.
Close up of a jute plant in flower (Corchorus olitorius).
Jute is a flowering plant native to Bengal. It was imported to Dundee where the process of spinning the raw fibre had been developed. Over sixty jute mills had opened in Dundee since 1838 [3] .
Female workers in the jute factory of Messrs. J. & A. Grimmond Limited in Dundee 1918. Calendar finishing & splitting cloth for sandbags.
As a durable, versatile and cheap fabric to produce jute soon overtook the production of cotton and flax in the city.
Dundee became known as Juteopolis, it was the centre of the world jute trade. Scottish operations had expanded into Asia, fortunes were made, and jute became known as the Golden Thread.
So how could this versatile plant play such a vital role in the First World War?
Jute sacks as were used to transport all kinds of goods
Firstly, jute was essential to the world economy which depended on jute sacks to transport goods such as flour, sugar, coffee, and coal.
Scottish troops taking sandbags up to the front line. Between Martinpuich and Le Sars
Also, war time was a boom time for the jute industry. Millions of sandbags were required to build the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War.
Women packing and shifting bales of sand bags for use in the trenches.
Approximately 13,000 tons of jute was required per month to produce sandbags and sacks. During a two-week period in 1915 Dundee factories produced 150 million sandbags [4] .
It is estimated that 70% of the workforce were women, even in peacetime, and that a good machinist could produce 2500 sandbags in one day [5] . Dundee became known as Womens Town' [6] .
Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1916-1922
When the prime minister, Lloyd George, visited Dundee in 1917 he was sure to mention “the value of Dundee's sandbags in saving the lives of men at the front” [7] .
This shows how important the production of jute was.
A soldier reading at the entrance to his dug-out, reinforced with sandbags. Fampoux, 21 July 1917
Jute sandbags were also used by soldiers as leggings, lunch bags, coffee filters and bedding [8] . They could also boost morale in another way. A report from the frontline stated that when opening an empty sandbag a soldier found a note [9] :
“from a wee Scottish lassie to a brave laddie”
It was more than likely that the writer of the note was a Dundee girl.
It's these golden threads which demonstrate how researching a shipwreck, such as SS Kafue, can take you on an unexpected journey and reveal history that may otherwise be lost at sea.
For more stories like this visit: https://unpathdwaters.org.uk/science-and-the-sea/
References:
[1] Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Record for Richard Edwards, aged 19 of New Brighton, Wirral. Edwards lost his life following the sinking of SS Kafue on 30 April 1918 which was torpedoed by UBoat U-86. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2886270/richard-edwards/
[2] The National Archives catalogue, First World War Claim Settlements for Steamer: Kafue BT 365/22/144 .
[3] Dundee's Jute Trade History: http://www.fdca.org.uk/Dundee_Jute_Trade.html
[4] Dundee Courier - Saturday 06 January 1917, “Raw Jute Increased 30s Per Ton”, page 5.
[5] Tomlinson, Jim, 2022. First World War in a ‘women’s town’: Dundee 1914–1922, Women's History Review, 31:2. pages 173–197.
[6] Cox, Anthony, 2013. Empire, Industry and Class: The Imperial Nexus of Jute 1840-1940. Routledge, London, page 108.
[7] Dundee Courier - Monday 02 July 1917, "Unity Essential to Victory Declares Lloyd George", page 2.
[8] Persico, Joseph E., 2007. Eleventh Hour, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Month: Armistice Day 1918. World War I and its Violent Climax. Random House:London, page 96.
[9] Dundee People's Journal, 25 September 1918, page 8.
Other Sources:
