I found, in many literature, that a sentence has been started with "Use was made of". The complete sentence is like this: "Use was made of something"
What does it actually mean?
It's just another way of saying
Something was used ...
In the above sentence, "used" is used as a verb. This sentence is in the active voice.
Whereas in the sentence in the question,
Use was made of something ...
"use" is used as a noun and the sentence is in the passive voice.
For a more elaborate explanation on active and passive voice, you can look up this guide from British Council.
Make use of is a transitive multi-word verb of the verbo-nominal class, is commonly used, and is often a more formal replacement for 'use'. It does also carry the sense of 'find something helpful / useful / convenient / fitting'.
We made good use of the money you gave us.
Make sense of is a similar MWV, but is resistant to passivisation
(??/* Sense was made of the instructions.)
Here,
Use was made of the ropes from the wreck in the building of a raft.
is far more acceptable.