Diving the Mendi: Courtesy of Keith RimesIn today’s South Africa the story of the Mendi has a prominent role in reconciliation and is used a symbol of reconciliation. In Britain this significance is largely unknown, and her story is obscure. Around the world the roles of the various Foreign Labour Corps in the First World War has been little explored.

Archaeology provides a way to rediscover a part of the story of the Mendi that has been lost. It is hoped that scientific surveys of the wreck can be made later in 2007. Hi-tech geophysical surveys and Remotely Operated Vehicles with cameras can allow us to see beneath the sea and at last discover a ship that history forgot.

A preliminary study of the Mendi was commissioned by English Heritage in 2006.

The future? A Remotely Operated Vehicle.: Operated from a boat, these machines can carry more equipment than divers and stay down for longer