Liuli, formerly known as Sphinx Hafen (), is a settlement on the

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

n shore of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

in the Mbinga District of Ruvuma province. It is notable for being the site of the first naval action of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

The sphinx rocks

The settlement is distinguished on the lake shore by a

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

-like series of 7 rocks lying offshore. The rocks indicate deep water, leading to its development by the Germans as a ship repair base. The Anglican missionary William Percival Johnson described the rocks as follows:

1914–18: Sphinxhafen in the war on Lake Nyasa

On 13 August 1914, in the first naval action of World War I, the British lake steamer gunboat HMS ''Gwendolen'' caught the German armed steamer on a slipway at Sphinxhafen. The German steamship was named after the explorer Hermann von Wissmann who raised funds for the vessel as an anti-slavery gunboat in 1890. HMS ''Gwendolen'' commenced bombarding the German port. The

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

later attacked Sphinxhafen in May 1915.

The Liuli mission

Liuli was originally, as Sphinxhafen, a German mission. After World War I it became a mission station for the Universities' Mission to Central Africa. William Johnson is buried in the church there and regarded locally as a saint. The mission hospital, founded by the German mission, continues as St. Anne's Hospital, still the major health facility on the eastern lakeshore.

Liuli today

Liuli is today a stop on the lake ferry from Mbamba Bay, up the lakeshore as far as Liuli, and then across to the Malawi side of the lake.Philip Briggs ''Bradt Tanzania: With Zanzibar, Pemba & Mafia'' - 2006 - p555 "The MV Songea leaves Itungi at around 07.00 on Monday and Thursday and arrives at Mbamba Bay at midnight the same day, after stopping at Lupingu, Manda, Lundu, Nindai, njambe and Liuli. After arriving at Mbamba Bay, the Monday ferry returns"

References

{{reflist

External links

The German charity behind St. Anne's Hospital Liuli

The UK charity behind St. Anne's Hospital Liuli
Wards of Ruvuma Region Church of England missions