# SS Jebba

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**SS *Jebba*** was a [steamship](/source/Steamship) that was built in [Middlesbrough](/source/Middlesbrough) in 1896 and wrecked on the south coast of [Devon](/source/Devon) in 1907. She was launched as ***Albertville*** for the [Compagnie Belge-Maritime du Congo](/source/Compagnie_Maritime_Belge) (CBMC), and was renamed *Jebba* when [Elder, Dempster & Co](/source/Elder_Dempster_Lines) acquired her in 1898. She was the first of four CBMC ships to be called *Albertville*,[1] and the first of two Elder, Dempster ships to be called *Jebba*.[2]

## Building

The CBMC was founded in January 1895 to operate [merchant ships](/source/Merchant_ship) between [Belgium](/source/Belgium) and the [Belgian Congo](/source/Belgian_Congo). Sir [Raylton Dixon](/source/Raylton_Dixon) & Co in Middlesbrough on the [River Tees](/source/River_Tees) built all of the CBMC's early ships. The first, *Léopoldville*, was a [cargo ship](/source/Cargo_ship) that was completed in January 1895.[3]

*Albertville* was designed slightly larger, and with some passenger accommodation. She was launched on 16 April 1896 and completed that June.[4] She was named after the town of Albertville, now called [Kalemie](/source/Kalemie), which is on [Lake Tanganyika](/source/Lake_Tanganyika). Her registered length was 352.0 ft (107.3 m), her beam was 44.2 ft (13.5 m), her depth was 23.4 ft (7.1 m). As built, her [tonnages](/source/Tonnage) were and .[5]

*Albertville* had a single [screw](/source/Propeller), driven by a three-cylinder [triple expansion engine](/source/Marine_steam_engine#Triple_or_multiple_expansion) that was built by Thomas Richardson & Sons of [West Hartlepool](/source/West_Hartlepool). It was rated at 419 [NHP](/source/Horsepower#Nominal_horsepower)[5] and gave her a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h).[6]

## Owners, operators and identification

CMBC [registered](/source/Ship_registration) *Albertville* in [Antwerp](/source/Port_of_Antwerp). Her Belgian [code letters](/source/Code_letters) were MBCH.[5]

In 1898 the African Steamship Company, which was part of Elder, Dempster Lines, bought both *Léopoldville* and *Albertville*. The African Steamship Co traded between Britain and [Nigeria](/source/Colonial_Nigeria), and renamed both ships with names from Nigeria. *Léopoldville* was renamed after the region of [Biafra](/source/Biafra),[3] and *Albertville* was renamed after the town of [Jebba](/source/Jebba)[4] on the [River Niger](/source/River_Niger).

The African Steamship Co re-registered both ships in [London](/source/Port_of_London). *Jebba* had the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland) [official number](/source/Official_number) 109969 and [code letters](/source/Code_letters) QGVN.[7][8] By 1904, 6,000 cubic feet (170 m3) of her hold space was [refrigerated](/source/Reefer_ship) to carry perishable cargo.[9]

## Loss

In March 1907, *Jebba* was steaming from [Calabar](/source/Calabar), [Lagos](/source/Lagos), [Gold Coast](/source/Gold_Coast_(British_colony)) and [Gran Canaria](/source/Gran_Canaria) to [Plymouth](/source/Plymouth) and [Liverpool](/source/Port_of_Liverpool). She was carrying 79 passengers, many of whom were British troops being invalided home from being stationed in West Africa.[10] She was also carrying mail, and a cargo that included rubber, [palm oil](/source/Palm_oil), [palm kernels](/source/Palm_kernel), coffee, cocoa, fruit, and at least a small amount of ivory.[11] In fog on the night of 18 March her crew overshot the [Eddystone Lighthouse](/source/Eddystone_Lighthouse), and she struck rocks under the cliffs at [Bolt Tail](/source/Bolt_Tail).

*Jebba* was the second liner to run aground in that part of the [English Channel](/source/English_Channel) that night. A few hours earlier, the [White Star Liner](/source/White_Star_Line) [SS *Suevic*](/source/SS_Suevic) had run aground on Stag Rock, off [Lizard Point, Cornwall](/source/Lizard_Point,_Cornwall), about 54 nautical miles (100 km) west of where *Jebba* had hit Bolt Tail.[12]

*Jebba**s [Master](/source/Master_mariner), [Captain](/source/Sea_captain) JJC Mills, [RNR](/source/Royal_Naval_Reserve), ordered distress [flares](/source/Flare) to be fired, and had the ship's furnaces extinguished to prevent a boiler explosion. The [Hope Cove Life Boat](/source/Hope_Cove_Life_Boat) soon reached*****Jebba*, which was broadside on to the rocks at the foot of the cliff. But there was no room for the [lifeboat](/source/Lifeboat_(rescue)) to reach*Jebba**s leeward side, and it was unsafe to effect a rescue from her windward side.[6]

Two local men, Isaac Jarvis and John Argeat (some sources say Argeant, others Argent), climbed down the 200-foot (61-metre) cliffs. Accounts differ as to whether members of *Jebba'*s crew fired a line ashore by means of a rocket,[6] or Jarvis and Argeat threw a line to the ship, weighted with a rock on the end.[11] Either way, a line was secured between ship and shore, and either a [bosun's chair](/source/Bosun's_chair)[6] or a [breeches buoy](/source/Breeches_buoy)[11] was attached to the line (again, accounts differ). By this means all 79 passengers and 76 crew were then safely winched ashore, one at a time. Once ashore, all 155 survivors were then helped to reach the top of the cliffs. Two [HM Coastguard](/source/HM_Coastguard) men and an [HM Customs](/source/HM_Customs) man worked with Jarvis and Argeat in the rescue.[11] Also safely brought ashore were a chimpanzee, three monkeys, and numerous parrots.[6]

*Jebba* flooded soon after the rescue, but most of her mail and cargo was eventually salvaged, and so were such valuable components as could be safely removed. The [General Post Office](/source/General_Post_Office) stamped the words "SALVED FROM SS JEBBA" in purple ink on each surviving item, before forwarding it to its addressee. These envelopes are now valued [philatelic](/source/Philately) collector's items.[13][14][15]

At [Edward VII](/source/Edward_VII)'s personal behest, the [Board of Trade](/source/Board_of_Trade) awarded its [Bronze Medal](/source/Sea_Gallantry_Medal) to five men: Jarvis and Argeat, plus HM Coastguard men Edwin Purslow and Robin Hayter, and HM Customs officer William Day.[11] The Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society awarded Jarvis and Argeat its Silver Marine Medal. On 7 May 1907 a Board of Trade inquiry found Captain Mills at fault for the loss of his ship, and suspended his Master's certificate for six months.[6]

## Wreck

The sea broke up those parts of *Jebba'*s wreck that were not salvaged, but parts were still visible in the 2000s. Her bow, stern, rudder, one of her boilers, and some of the frame members of her hull could all be identified among the rocks.[6] Recreational divers have visited the wreck, which is under less than 30 feet (9 m) of water. In 1971 a diver recovered from the wreck a dinner plate bearing the ship's original name *Albertville*.[16]

## References

1. Swiggum, Susan & Kohli, Marjorie (4 May 2006). ["Compagnie Maritime Belge (Lloyd Royal) / Compagnie Maritime Belge du Congo"](https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cmb.shtml). *TheShipsList*. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. Swiggum, Susan & Kohli, Marjorie (3 October 2016). ["Elder Dempster & Company / African Steam Ship Company"](https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/Elder_Dempster.shtml). *TheShipsList*. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. ["Léopoldville"](http://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/view.php?&ref=168748). *Tees Built Ships*. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. ["Albertville"](http://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/view.php?&ref=169364). *Tees Built Ships*. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. *Lloyd's Register* 1897, pp. ALB–ALC.

1. ["SS Jebba \[+1907\]"](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?1718). *Wrecksite*. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. *Lloyd's Register* 1899, pp. JEA–JEN.

1. *Mercantile Navy List*, 1899, p. 189.

1. *Lloyd's Register* 1904, Supplementary Sections.

1. ["Passengers saved from the Suevic"](https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/community/threads/news-from-1907-suevics-grounding.25789/). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. 19 March 1907. Retrieved 1 May 2023. – via Encyclopedia Titanica.

1. Brine, ME (13 November 2014). ["The Wrecking of the Jebba"](https://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Malborough/ThewreckingoftheJebba.htm). *Devon Heritage*. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. ["White Star Liner Suevic is Ashore"](https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/community/threads/news-from-1907-suevics-grounding.25789/). *The New York Times*. 18 March 1907. Retrieved 30 December 2020. – via Encyclopedia Titanica.

1. ["Wreck/train fire covers – 1907 SS Jebba Gold Coast to London"](https://www.barnebys.com/auctions/lot/wreck-train-fire-covers-1907-ss-jebba-gold-coast-to-lon-c1xpe7nre6p). Barnebys. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. ["Lagos 1907 SG45 Cover from Calabar to England salvaged from the wreck of the SS Jebba"](https://www.stanleygibbons.com/products/lagos-1907-sg45-cover-calabar-england-salvaged-wreck-ss-jebba). Stanley Gibbons. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. ["Shipwreck – 1907 'SS Jebba'"](https://www.forpostalhistory.com/post/shipwreck-1907-s-s-jebba/A1342). D. Morrison Ltd. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

1. Mitchell, Peter & Mitchell, Chris. ["The Wreck of the Jebba"](https://www.submerged.co.uk/jebba/). *Submerged*. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

## Bibliography

- [*Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping*](https://archive.org/details/HECROS1898ST/page/n66/mode/1up). Vol. I.–Steamers. London: [Lloyd's Register](/source/Lloyd's_Register). 1897. – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)
- [*Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping*](https://archive.org/details/HECROS1900ST/page/n389/mode/1up). Vol. I.–Steamers. London: Lloyd's Register. 1899. – via Internet Archive.
- ["List of vessels fitted with refrigerating appliances"](https://archive.org/details/HECROS1905ST/page/n962/mode/1up). *Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping*. Vol. I.–Steamers. London: Lloyd's Register. 1904. – via Internet Archive.
- [*Mercantile Navy List*](https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?&name=Jebba&steamsail=Steam&submit=Enter&year=1899). London. 1899. – via Crew List Index Project.

## External links

- ["The Marine Medal"](https://liverpoolshipwreckandhumanesoc.org.uk/2022/06/08/the-marine-medal/). The Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SS Jebba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Jebba) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Jebba?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.