Sinking of the SS Tanais

SS Tanais (Greek: Τάναϊς), mistakenly referred to as Danae or Danais (Δανάη / Δαναΐς), was a British-built, Greek-owned cargo ship that German occupation forces in Greece requisitioned in WWII. In 1944 a Royal Navy submarine sank her off Heraklion, Crete, killing several hundred deported Cretan Jews, Cretan Christian civilians and Italian POWs aboard. Sources differ as to the number killed; estimates vary between 425 and 1,000.[1]

History
Name:
  • Holywood (1907–35)
  • Tanais (1935–44)
Namesake: Tanais (1935–44)
Owner:
  • Wm France, Fenwick & Co (1907–35)
  • Stefanos Synodinos (1935–41)
  • Mittelmeer-Reederei (1942–44)
Operator:
  • Wm France, Fenwick & Co (1907–35)
  • Stefanos Synodinos (1935–41)
  • Mittelmeer-Reederei (1942–44)
Port of registry:
Builder: John Blumer & Co, Sunderland
Yard number: 193
Launched: 14 December 1906
Completed: January 1907
Identification:
Fate:
  • sunk by air attack 26 May 1941
  • torpedoed 9 June 1944
General characteristics
Type: cargo ship
Tonnage:

1,545 GRT

965 NRT
Length: 244.4 ft (74.5 m)
Beam: 38.0 ft (11.6 m)
Draught: 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m)
Depth: 15.8 ft (4.8 m)
Decks: 1
Installed power: 214 NHP
Propulsion: 3-cylinder triple-expansion engine
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h)
Crew: 12 + 14 anti-aircraft gunners

The ship

John Blumer and Co Ltd of Sunderland, England built the ship as Holywood for William France, Fenwick and Company of London. She was launched on 14 December 1906 and completed in January 1907.[2] She was a cargo steamship, and France, Fenwick operated her in the tramp trade.

A Greek shipowner, Stefanos Synodinos, bought her in 1935, renamed her Tanais[3] after the ancient Greek city of Tanais in the Don delta and registered her in Piraeus.

On 26 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete the Luftwaffe sank Tanais in Souda Bay. She was raised, repaired and taken over by Mittelmeer-Reederei (MMR), a company controlled by the German government that operated merchant ships in the Mediterranean theatre of the war. MMR used her to carry cargo and people between the Aegean Islands and Greek mainland.[4][5]

Sinking

On late 8 or early 9 June 1944 Tanais, escorted by the submarine hunter UJ 2142 and guard ships GK 05 and GK 06, sailed from Heraklion bound for Piraeus.[6] In her holds were three groups of prisoners: about 265 Jews deported from Chania[7] who had been rounded up a few days before, up to 400 Cretan gentiles linked with the Cretan resistance, and between 100 and 300 pro-Badoglio Italian prisoners of war who had been arrested after the Armistice of Cassibile.[1] Sources differ as to the numbers of Cretan and Italian prisoners.

On the morning of 9 June the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vivid sighted Tanais 14 nautical miles (26 km) northwest of the islet of Dia at 35°35′N 25°11′E. Vivid fired a spread of four torpedoes at a range of 2,400 yards (2,200 m). Two hit Tanais, sinking her in just 12 seconds.[6][8][9] The number of victims is unknown, but it is believed to include most of the people aboard. One source says only 14 people survived;[4] another puts the total rescued at 51.[6]

References
  1. Spector, Shmuel (2001). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust. I: A–J. Yad Vashem; New York University Press. p. 282. ISBN 0814793762.
  2. "Holywood". Sunderland Built Ships. North East Maritime Forum. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. "Steamers & Motorships". Lloyd's Register (PDF). II. London: Lloyd's Register. 1936. Retrieved 11 November 2020 – via Plimsoll Ship Data.
  4. "Tanais". Griechische Schiffsverluste (in German). Das Historische Marinearchiv.
  5. "Deutsche Mittelmeer-Reederei 1943–1944, Schiffe über 1000 BRT". Mittelmeer-Reederei (in German). Württembergische Landesbibliothek. 21 February 2016.
  6. Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Vivid (P 77)". Uboat.net.
  7. "1944 Juni". Chronik des Seekrieges 1939–1945 (in German). Württembergische Landesbibliothek. 15 March 2019.
  8. Tarrant, VE (1994). The Last Year of the Kriegsmarine: May 1944 – May 1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 117. ISBN 1557505101.
  9. Lettens, Jan (31 December 2018). "SS Tanais (Vivid) (+1944)". Retrieved 12 November 2020.

See also

SS Petrella

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