Ships , anyone?

[christerd]

And just when you thought it was over.....

Yep ! two more ships in my collection! How many ship have been torpedoed?

The list seems to be endless.

Well here is an Local disaster , and the gulity one is a suprise maybe!

SS Hansa a swedish steamer built in 1899, she as going between the Island of Gotland and the Swedish mailnland

and the 24th november was an ordinarie evening. But for 84 of the 86 people ombord it would be their last evening

alive. at 05.57 in the morning on 25th Nov she was torpedoed by a Russian submarine! An everyone but two drowned in the cold water. A curiosity is that my father was meant to be ombord but his leave from the military was cancelled and he

had to stay on Gotland, 50 years after that he could still be angry..... for the cancelled leave

The next picture is of some Nordic interest to! SS Finland Bult in USA 1902 she was transporting troops to Europe in 1917 and in 28th October 1917 she was torpedoed by U-93 , 9 men killed but she was able to reach Brest and could be repaired.

So this was a ship which was torpedoed and didn?t sink !! First one !

Have a nice weekend all !

Christer

[christerd]

And here is the ill fated or should I say the opposite SS Finland!

Finnish people are tough and so are the ships with their name.

Christer

[christerd]

And the collection keeps on growing !

Thanks to a fellow collector who tip me of this card I now got another Torpedoed ship !

This is ATLANTIQUE built in 1900 for the line France-South America

Was torpedoed on the 9th of May 1918 between Malta and Bizerte , but managed to get to Bizerte, the captain got a French order Knight Legion of Honour!

And she survived the war and was at last scrapped in December 1933 in UK.

Christer

[christerd]

One more card in my collection !

Belive it or not , but it is not that easy to find theese ships, I bought 4 cards last week just to find that when the cards arrived

three of them was later built ships with the same name as thosse I was looking for

Sometimes its hard to be a nerdy collector.....

But here is one new at last!

Montrose from Canadian Pacific Line built in 1922 and converted in 1939 to armed merchant cruiser and renamed HMS Forfar

On 2nd December 1940 HMS Forfar was torpedoed and sunk by 5 torpedeos from the the German submarine U-99.

171 lives where lost that december day including the Captain.

Christer

[christerd]

Another card in my tiny collection !

This is the SS Caledonia built by D & W Henderson Ltd Glasgow in 1904-05 for the Anchor Line (Henderson Bros.), Glasgow

She was used on the line Glasgow- New York

August 1914 requisitioned as a troop ship. On December 4th, 1916 sunk by U65

125 miles East by South of Malta. Loss of 1 life

Christer

[Chuck In Oregon]

Here's one that I haven't seem mentioned yet. She is the Soviet passenger/cargo ship turned hospital ship Armenia. She was sunk in four minutes by a torpedo launched by an He-111 on Nov. 7, 1941, while evacuating casualties and refugees and medical staff from the Crimea. She was wearing large hospital markings on her sides and decks at the time. Estimated 7,000 deaths (said to be overloaded by at least 2,000) with only eight survivors. Supposedly the largest ship disaster of WW II. Don't know for sure, not my field.

This photo is obviously touched up, at least to the extent of adding a readable name on the bow. This was likely done by Pravda or TASS to make it more relevant to the printed story. The only other photo of Armenia that I could find was of her being built in dry dock. That one is in Wikepedia. I didn't try that hard, so maybe there are millions of them out there.

Chuck

[christerd]

Thanks Chuck !

That was acompletely new one for me , one of the worst disasters and I havent read about it

There is a lot the learn about ships for true.

Well here is two more, both really awful disasters and both caused by not "the usually suspects"

First what I think is the worst US sea loss in WW2 ? Correct me if I am wrong

The USS Indianapolis, a Heavy class cruiser from 1932. She was the flagship of the fifth fleet and was fighting at Iwo Jima.In March 1945 she was hit by a Kamikaze, but later in July 1945 she delivered parts for the first Atomic Bomb.

In July 30th 1945 she was torpedoed by Japanese sub I-58 and sunk. Only 317 of her 1200 men crew survived the sea and sharks.

This photo is signed by one of thosse survivors Ed Harell who was a U.S. Marine serving on USS Indianapolis.

A cruel story in the dawn of second world war.

Christer

[christerd]

And here another ship, an Italian for a change

SS Conte Rosso a beautiful ship built in Glasgow in early 1920s.

She first trafficed the route Italy-New York and later Italiy - South America

But in May 1941 she ran out of luck, she was transporting troops for the Italian Army when the british Submarine HMS Upholder torpedoed her outside Sicily

about 1300 people was killed when she sank.

Christer

[christerd]

:rolleyes:

I realize this photo is a little bit in the outskirts of my collecting area, but I thought i was such a interesting pic so

I wanted to show you this.

The photo shows some survivors from a "torpedoed" ship I cant be sure that the ship was indeed torpedoed, but

i might have been. and they are rescued by a German Sub !!

Sorry to say I haven?t a clue to what ship they belonged to

One more to my "Torpedoed Ships 1914-1945" collection

Have a nice summer all

Christer

[christerd]

And what did the postman bring me today

Yep, another one, this is a never ending story.....

SS Salsette from the P & O Line built in 1908 a very nice ship. On this card in Aden Harbour.

She was transporting people from London to Amsterdam, St Petersburg, Stockholm all over.

And in July 1917 she was going for Egypt and Australia when she was torpedoed in Lyme bay by German Sub UB 40

15 people followed her down. The only positive is that the wreck now is a popular diving site.

Christer

[taucher]

Hey guys,

First the Lusitania

[taucher]

Second the HMS Maori sunk on the same date

Look at the flag of the sloops

Brit ship but German sloops!!

greets

Vince

[christerd]

:cheers:

Great Cards Vince!

Here is another new card in my growing collection

M. V Roxburgh Castle built 1937 by Harland and Wolff ltd Belfast. Her story ended at 08.28 hours on 22 Feb, 1943.

When she was hit by a torpedo from U-107 north of the Azores.

I don?t think anyone ombord was killed during the sinking and the crew got into lifeboats and reached the Azores.

The submarine u-107 was itself sunk by an aeroplane in 1944 and got down with all hands...

Christer

[christerd]

Here is another ship in my collection.

A beautiful Steamer SS Duchess of Atholl , built in 1928 by W. Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir.

She was a big ship 20.119 tons and one of the biggest ship sunk during WWII.

In October 1942 she was transporting 534 passengers including woman and children when she was hit by an torpedo from U-178 at 08.19 on 10th Oct.

She was in all hit by three torpedos and this could have been one of the worst disasters, but the casulities stopped at 5 crew members.

All others was saved by a British ship HMS Corinthian.

The German Submarine ? Well she ended up scuttled in Bordeux in 1944....

Christer

[Peter Orincsay]

Here?s a photo album fron 1938 of the "S/S Berlin?, built by Bremer Vulcan at Vegesack, Germany (Yard 614) and was completed in March of 1925. She was launched on March 25, 1925, and commissioned on September 17, 1925.

She originally operated the Bremen - Southampton - Cherbourg - New York City run for the Nord Deutsche Lloyd Line. The Berlin was one of eight German ships commissioned as hospital ships (Lazarettschiffe) at some point during World War II. Most, if not all, of these ships also served in other capacities during the war after being decommissioned as hospital ships, mainly as accommodation or transport ships for military personnel. By January 1945, the Berlin began taking part in Operation Hannibal, the transport of refugees and soldiers from the Eastern Baltic. On January 31, 1945, while forming up in convoy to head east, the Berlin struck a mine off Swinem?nde (today Świnoujście in Poland), and was put in tow for Kiel. She then hit another mine and was beached (23.53 hr*, at position 54?02.6 N/14?19 E, in shallow waters). There was one fatality. All usable equipment was salvaged by Feb 5, 1945, and the ship was abandoned.

The Berlin was sunk on February 1, 1945 but was later refloated and salvaged by the Soviets in 1949 and renamed Admiral Nakhimov. After her conversion, her size was increased to 17,053 gross tons. She entered passenger service for the Baltic Steamship Company in 1957.

During the peak summer travel season, the Admiral Nakhimov operated the Black Sea between Odessa and Batumi, a six-day round trip. She carried an average of 1,000 people per voyage. She was the flagship of the Black Sea passenger fleet for several years until more modern liners entered service. At 10:00 p.m. Moscow Time on August 31, 1986, the Admiral Nakhimov sailed from Novorossiysk en route to Sochi, its next stop. Just minutes into the voyage, the ship's pilot noticed that the large a Japanese-built bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev was on a collision course with the Admiral Nakhimov. At 11:12 p.m., the Admiral Nakhimov was struck by the Pyotr Vasev eight miles (15 km) from the port at Novorossiysk and two miles (4 km) from shore line. The Admiral Nakhimov immediately took on a list on her starboard side, and her lights went out upon impact. After a few seconds, the emergency diesel generator powered on, but the lights went out again two minutes later, plunging the sinking ship into darkness. People below decks found themselves lost in the dark and rapidly canting hallways.

There was no time to launch the lifeboats. Hundreds of people dove into the oily water, clinging to lifejackets, barrels and pieces of debris. The Admiral Nakhimov sank in only seven minutes. Rescue ships began arriving just 10 minutes after the ship went down. Passengers and crew had had little time to escape, and 423 of the 1,234 on board perished. Sixty-four of those killed were crew members and 359 were passengers.

[Peter Orincsay]

A photo from the 1938 S/S Berlin album.

[christerd]

Wow !

Great Album Peter

One of the few ships that had been sunk TWO times......

Super interesting story

Christer

[christerd]

A new Torpedoed ship in my collection

Sometimes its long between the new ones , but maybe that?s because I collect a lot of things and theese ships just now and then pass by me.

Here is the French Armored Cruiser Leon Gambretta launched 26 Oct 1901 and sunk 27 April 1915 by the Austrian Submarine U 5

SE of Italy in the Ionian Sea, of the 821 ombord only 137 survived.

I dont know how many ships Austrian Submarines sank during WW1 ?

Christer

Edited October 7, 2008 by christerd

[christerd]

Another Postcard in my collection arrived yesterday.

This time a Life Boat !

Anglo Saxon was a 5 596 tons Merchant ship which left Newport, Wales 6th August 1940 loaded with coal.

On the night of 21th Aug 1940 she met her destiny in form of the German Armed Cruiser Widder.

The Anglo Saxon was no match for the German ship and soon she was sinking after been torpedoed in the last minute.

Of the crew of 41 only seven eas ably to get into this boat and escape, only two of them lived to be rescued after incredably 70 days at sea....

The most tragic thing was that one of the survivors was killed when the he was on was torpedoed going back to England.

The last and sole survivir of Anglo Saxon died only 42 years old in 1963.

A most tragic story of men fighting against all odds.

Christer

[christerd]

Another Great ship goes to bottom .... The year is 1918 and her name is USS Covington

But when she was launched in 1909 she was named Cincinatti but after being seized in Boston 1914 she was turned over to US Navy and renamed Covington.

She was transportiong troop from US to France between 1917 and 1918. Her last trip began in 10th of May 1918, and in 1st July 1918 she met her fate.

The German Sub U-86 hit her with a torpedo that sunk her on the next day 2nd July 1918. All ombord (776 people) was resued by destroyers exept for six that was killed by the explosion.

The irony of war, a German sub sinks an ex German ship just four months before the war was to end.

Christer

[nesredep]

Hello!

Very interesting storry and good album. :jumping:

All the best

Nesredep

[christerd]

Thank you Nesredep

Here is another unlucky ship , the SS Ontario built in 1904 for the Merchants and Miners Transportation Co.

But in May 8th 1942 she was spotted by the German submarine U 507. the submarine fired one torpedo and SS Onatrio sank.

45 of her crew survived.

January 13th 1943 the luck went out for U-507 she was sank by an Catalina Airplane and all 55 aboard died.

Christer

[Theodor]

Hi Chuck, Armenia is not the largest ship disaster of WW2. The largest one /not only of the war, but of all times/ is the sinking of the German passenger liner KdF Wilhelm Gustlov. In 1945 the vessel was used for refugees and troops evacuation from East Prussia. Hit by Soviet submarine torpedoes on 30 January 1945, the huge ship sank, killing from 8 to over 10 000 people.

At that time and in similar conditions Soviet submarines sank the German ships Goya /6000+ victims/ and Steuben ~4000 victims/.

Right before the end of the war, on 3 May 1945 British aviation sank the German ship Kap Arkona. It was hit with bombs, then aircraft flew low and shot the crowds onboard with machineguns. Survivors say the ship was sprayed with Napalm /more likely British aircraft rockets, which had quite the same result/. It was a real hell, taking down over 4500 people. The big and sad irony is, these were KZ inmates, which Himmler was moving from KZs in the East to the West!

The freighter Thielbek was destroyed nearby, together with the Kap Ankona, in the same way. Over 2700 lives were lost. Again KZ inmates!

Nearby was the floating hospital Deutschland, which was also attack, despite the Red Cross signs! Fortunately at that time the vessel was empty, with only crew and medical staff onboard. Most managed to escape.

Here's one that I haven't seem mentioned yet. She is the Soviet passenger/cargo ship turned hospital ship Armenia. She was sunk in four minutes by a torpedo launched by an He-111 on Nov. 7, 1941, while evacuating casualties and refugees and medical staff from the Crimea. She was wearing large hospital markings on her sides and decks at the time. Estimated 7,000 deaths (said to be overloaded by at least 2,000) with only eight survivors. Supposedly the largest ship disaster of WW II. Don't know for sure, not my field.

This photo is obviously touched up, at least to the extent of adding a readable name on the bow. This was likely done by Pravda or TASS to make it more relevant to the printed story. The only other photo of Armenia that I could find was of her being built in dry dock. That one is in Wikepedia. I didn't try that hard, so maybe there are millions of them out there.

Chuck

Edited October 24, 2008 by Theodor

[Chuck In Oregon]

I stand corrected.

I've begun to suspect that Pravda does not always get its facts straight. Could it be? Nah.

[christerd]

One more "lucky" lady

SS Minnetonka from the Atlantic Transport Line

Build at Harland & Wolff Belfast ( yep, the Titanic Builders) launched 1901

She made a stunning 144 voyages to New York between 1902 and 1915

In 1915 she become a British war transport and on February 2nd 1917 she escaped from a attack from German sub U-35, September 24th she again escaped her destiny from the sub UC 34 but 30th January 1918 she ran out of luck and the German submarine U-64 commanded by Kptlt Morath and

UC 67 commanded by ObLt z S Neumann catch her on the way to Malta.

First a torpedo from U-64 hit her and damaged the ship, then after about fifteen minutes U-64 hit her with a second torpedo and finally UC-67 surfaced and

put some cannon shells in the now sinking ship. four people died in the attack.

Christer