Themes

Article Highlights

• Introduction - Driving Out the Slavers

• The East African Slave Trade - A Background

• Continued Presence in the 1900s and The Royal Navy Today

• Removing the Shackles - HMS Sphinx in 1907

Continued Presence in the 1900s

At the turn of the century there were still reports of fears of increases in the slave trade. Below are some examples of activity off the East Coast of Africa after the effective end of the trade.

• 1904 - HMS Forte and HMS Barracouta stationed off the East Coast of Africa involved with boarding suspected Arab sailing ships called ‘dhows’ for slave trade violations.

• WW1 - Still involved in anti-slave trade operations.

• 1922 - HMS Cornflower captured a dhow carrying 29 slaves in the Red Sea.

• 1925 - The government considered aerial observation against slave dhows after a proposal from the Commanding officer of HMS Clematis.

• 1928 - Reported activity of three HM Ships – Clematis, Waterhen and Vendetta – boarding and examining 34 dhows suspected of slave trade involvement.

The Royal Navy Today

The Royal Navy is still involved with anti-people trafficking operations. People trafficking is similar to slavery in that those who the traffickers are transporting are coerced into a type of enslavement.

The traffickers exploit and force many victims into the illegal sex industry or into hard labour. The main victims of such activity are women and children from poverty stricken families. Traffickers also exploit men for hard labour.

To learn about the experience of HMS Sphinx on the East Indies Station in 1907, select Next