SS Jebba

SS Jebba was a steam ship that ran aground near Bolt Tail, off the coast of Devon, England in 1907.[1] Built by Sir Raylton Dixon & Company, Middlesbrough, she was launched in 1896 as the SS Albertville for the Cie. Belge-Maritime du Congo, Antwerp. They sold her in 1898 to Elder Dempster & Co, Liverpool, who renamed her Jebba.[1]

SS Jebba aground
History
Name	SS Albertville (1896-1898) SS Jebba (1898-1907)
Owner	Cie. Belge-Maritime du Congo, Antwerp (1896-1898) Elder Dempster & Co, Liverpool (1898-1907)
Builder	Sir Raylton Dixon & Company, Middlesbrough
Yard number	421
Launched	16 April 1896
Completed	June 1896
Fate	Wrecked on 18 March 1907
General characteristics
Tonnage	3,953 gross register tons (GRT) 2,460 net register tons (NRT)
Length	352 ft (107 m)
Beam	44.2 ft (13.5 m)
Depth	23.4 ft (7.1 m)
Installed power	419 nhp
Propulsion	T3cyl (27, 43, 72 x 48in), 1 screw

On 18 March 1907 she ran aground near Bolt Tail, while inbound from West Africa for Plymouth and Liverpool with a cargo of ivory, rubber, palm oil, pineapples, bananas and the mail from Nigeria and the Gold Coast. Her 76 crew and 79 passengers were taken off by bosun's chair, with the two fishermen who had organised the rescue, Isaac Jarvis and John Argeat, being awarded the Albert Medal for Lifesaving. The cargo was salvaged after her loss, with the mail she was carrying later the subject of philatelic study. Some salvage of valuable materials and components from the wreck was carried out, but most of the ship was gradually broken up by the waves, and now there are only traces of the ship on the seabed.[1]

By coincidence, another larger liner, SS Suevic of the White Star Line, had also run aground earlier the same night along the same coastline, almost within sight of Jebba, its crew and passengers also requiring rescue. Unlike Jebba, the Suevic was salvaged.[2]

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  SS Jebba succumbing to the waves
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  Registered envelope from Old Calabar, Southern Nigeria, salvaged from the SS Jebba