Liuli

Liuli  ni jina la kata ya Wilaya ya Nyasa katika Mkoa wa Ruvuma, Tanzania. Kwa mujibu wa sensa iliyofanyika mwaka wa 2012, kata ilikuwa na wakazi wapatao 12,611 waishio humo.

Hadi 2012 ilikuwa sehemu ya wilaya ya Mbinga.

Liuli ni kijiji kilichopo kwenye mwambao wa ziwa Nyassa. Inajulikana hasa kutokana hospitali ya St. Anne ya kanisa Anglikana inayohudumia wagonjwa wa eneo kubwa sana.

Wakati wa koloni ya Kijerumani Liuli iliitwa "Sphinxhafen" yaani bandari ya sfinksi kwa sababu hapa kuna miamba mikubwa inayofanana na sanamu mashuhuri kwenye piramidi za Giza (Misri).

Mapigano ya mwaka 1914
Tar. 13 Agosti 1914 mwanzoni wa Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Dunia Waingereza walishambulia hapa meli ya pekee ya Wajerumani kwenye ziwa hili.

Uingereza iliwahi kuingia katika vita hii tarehe 4 Agosti 1914. Siku chache baadaye nahodha Mwingereza Edmund Rhoades katika Nkhata Bay (Nyassaland - leo Malawi) alipokea amri ya kushika au kuzamisha meli Hermann von Wissmann iliyokuwa meli ya pekee ya Wajerumani kwenye ziwa hili. Meli hii ilikuwa chini ya nahodha Berndt.

Rhoades aliendesha meli yake HMS Gwendolyn kuelekea Sphinxhafen (Liuli) kwa sababu alijua meli ilikuwa wapi. Hali halisi manahodha wote wawili walikuwa marafiki waliowahi kutembeleana mara kwa mara na kukaa pamoja. HMS Gwendolyn ilipokaribia bandari mpiganaji wa mzinga wa pekee la meli - mfanyabiashara mmoja Mskoti aliyekuwa pia mtu wa pekee mwenye kujua matumizi yake- alianza kufyatulia risasi dhidi ya Hermann von Wissmann.

Dakika chache baadaye boti ndogi ilikaribia haraka HMS Gwendolyn. Nahodha Berndt akapanda meli na kumwuliza mwenzake kwa hasira kwa nini ameshalewa wakati wa mchana. Hakujua bado ya kwamba vita ilianza tayari katika Ulaya. Rhoades alimwarifu na kumtangaza mfungwa wa vita. Habari ya ushindi huu ulipelekwa London kwa simu na tarehe 16 Agosti gazeti la Times ilitangaza "Naval victory on Lake Nyasa" .

Wakati ule Waingereza waliondoa mzinga mdogo wa meli na vipuli kadhaa ili meli isitumike tena bila kuiharibu. Mwaka 1915 Wajerumani walikuwa wameleta tena vipuli na kutengeneza meli na hapo Waingereza walirudi Liuli na kuzamisha Hermann von Wissmann. Baada ya vita meli ilifufushwa tena na kufanya kazi kwa Wiangereza.

Marejeo

 http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Hermann_von_Wissmann_%28steamship%29
Perraudin, Michael; Zimmerer, Jürgen (2009). German Colonialism and National Identity. p. 127. "...the menacing storm of war would reach the colonies. 6 On 13 August 1914, British warships bombarded the port of Sphinx Hafen on Lake Nyassa. In the days that followed, German troops entered the territory of British East Africa."
 Briggs, Philip. Tanzania: With Zanzibar, Pemba & Mafia. Bradt. p. 559. "The Gwendolyn's captain, Commander Rhoades, was informed at Nkhata Bay the Wissmann was docked for repairs at Sphinx Hafen. He sailed into the harbor under the cover of dawn with a nervous crew. The only gunner was a Scotsman.."
 Briggs, Philip (2010). Malawi (5th ed.). p. 299. "Rhoades was then startled to see his enraged German counterpart and old drinking partner, Captain Berndt, leap into a dinghy and climb aboard the Gwendolyn screaming curses and questioning Rhoades's sanity. It transpired that news of the war had not reached Liuli. Rhoades sat Berndt down with a whisky, explained the situation, then led away his angry prisoner of war – who was by now loudly berating the German officials at Songea for not..."
 Tanzania Society. 1962. p. not cited. "At Nkhata the most recent information was that three weeks previously the Wissmann was at Sphinx Hafen,* due east of Nkhata across the Lake, hauled out of the water on a slipway having some new plates fitted."
 Baer, Casimir Hermann (1916). Der Völkerkrieg: eine Chronik der Ereignisse seit dem 1. Juli 1914. 9 & 10. p. not cited. "Mai 1915 eine Marineabteilung unter Kommandeur Dennistoun, unterstützt von einer Landungs-truppe unter Hauptmann Collins und dem ersten Bataillon der King's African Rifles, Sphinxhafen am deutschen Ostufer des Nuassa-Sees an."

Mkoa wa Ruvuma
Wilaya ya Nyasa