Sudi

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Ssudi in a German colonial atlas from 1906 (excerpt)

Sudi (also Ssudi ) is a sea ​​bay and town of the same name in southeastern Tanzania on the Indian Ocean .

geography

The bay is shallow, reaching far into the country and overgrown with mangroves . It is considered a creek in the local, morphological sense . The Sudi Bay is winding and characterized by sandbanks . A land-based water inlet is through the Mambi (formerly Liteo ), which flows into the Sudi Bay from the direction of the Makonde plateau . The access to the sea consists only of a fairway that is difficult or impossible for large ships to pass. At the entrance there are striking rocks, which are sometimes called mushrooms because of their shape .

Significant coastal towns in the area are Lindi in the northwest and Mikindani in the southeast. Smaller places nearby are Kiswa and Mgao .

history

At the time of German East Africa , Sudi was one of the landing sites in the southern part of the colony alongside Lindi, Kionga and Mikindani. At that time about 2,000 people lived on the coastal place. According to the German Colonial Handbook, the founding of the place here goes back to a wealthy Arab. He is said to have settled in Sudi in the second half of the 19th century, coming from Zanzibar. The coastal sections in the area offered no natural harbors and also Sudi could not be reached by all ships. Nevertheless, the German administration set up a customs office here .

The Sudi Bay acquired military historical importance through the voyage of the German auxiliary ship Marie , which broke through the British naval blockade off German East Africa during the First World War , after which the bay served as a place of refuge from March to April 1916. The fairway was mined and until it was discovered by the British naval forces, all supplies for the German protection forces were unloaded. For this purpose, a temporary wooden pier was built. Despite damage from artillery fire, the Marie was able to escape from Sudi Bay to the open sea. On September 15, 1916, Sudi was occupied by British colonial troops and the Germans were pushed off the coast.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rudolf Fitzner: German Colonial Handbook , Volume 1, 2nd exp. Ed., Hermann Paetel, Berlin 1901, p. 310.
  2. ^ Rochus Schmidt: Germany's colonies . Volume 1, Berlin: Verlag des Verein der Bücherfreunde Schall & Grund, 1898, p. 142. (Reprint by Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0301-0 )
  3. ↑ According to information in the Great German Colonial Atlas, published by the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office, edited by Paul Sprigade and Max Moisel , Berlin 1901–1915.
  4. ↑ Reinhard K. Lochner: Battle in the Rufiji Delta . Munich, 1987, p. 356, ISBN 3-453-02420-6

Web links

Coordinates: 10 ° 9 ′ 0 ″  S , 39 ° 58 ′ 0 ″  E