NEMEA



Name : NEMEA
Griechischer Name : ΝΕΜΕΑ
Schiffstyp : Frachter
Internat. Rufzeichen : SVPP
Hafenamt : Ithaca 60
Frühere Namen : 1919 SILARUS
1931 NEMEA
Erste Handelsflagge :
Besitzer : 1919 Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, London, England
1931-41 G.N. Stathatos, Insel Ithaka (heute Ithaki), Griechenland
Bauwerft : Charles Connell & Co, Scotstoun, Glasgow, England
Baunummer : 391
Baujahr : 1919


Stapellauf : 26.08.1919
Indienststellung : 00.11.1919
Größe (BRT) : 5.101
Größe (NRT) : 3.237
Länge (m) : 121,9
Breite (m) : 15,9
Tiefgang (m) : 8,5
Besatzung : 32
Maschine : Dampfmaschine/Dreifach-Expansion/3 Zylinder/Dunsmuir & Jackson Ld
Leistung : 517 NHP
Propeller : 1
Geschwindigkeit (kn) : 10,5
1919 als SILARUS für die Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, London, England, fertig gestellt.
1931 abgekauft von Gerasimos N. Stathatos, Insel Ithaka (heute Ithaki), Griechenland, und in NEMEA umbenannt.
15.1.41, 21:20, mit Kohlen beladen im Geleit OB 272 unterwegs von Barry, Nähe Cardiff, England, nach Thessaloniki, Griechenland, von dem ital. U-Boot LUIGI TORELLI (C.F. Primo Longobardo) mit Torpedo angegriffen und versenkt. Fünf Besatzungsmitglieder starben bei der Explosion. Etwas später dasselbe U-Boot torpedierte den in der Nähe von NEMEA führenden norwegischen Dampfer BRASK der innerhalb drei Minuten versank.
Die Überlebenden der NEMEA-Besatzung stiegen in zwei Rettungsboote und verließen den Dampfer. Eins der Boote ging mit 13 Besatzungsmitgliedern verloren, das andere mit 14 Mitgliedern der Besatzung erreichte Irland.
Die NEMEA versank nicht sofort sondern erst am 17.1.41. Die Überlebenden der norw. BRASK fanden Obdach auf der NEMEA bis sie von dem brit. Zerstörer HMS HIGHLANDER gerettet wurden. Der nachfolgende Bericht informiert über das Schickschal der NEMEA und die Überlebenden der BRASK nach der Torpedierung:
"Brask headed south together with the Greek Nemea, but both ships were torpedoed that same evening by the Italian submarine Luigi Torelli (Longobardo), Brask in position 52 45N 23 59W. She was struck on the port side near No. 2 hatch, resulting in the entire forepart being torn up, and she sank in 3 minutes.
The lifeboats were freed but there was no time to put them on the water so everyone jumped overboard, then clung to misc. debris as well as one of the rafts that had floated free. 9 men had come across the capsized starboard boat and climbed up on its keel. It was later righted, and others were picked up from the water, until there were 20 men in all in the boat.
After having gotten in the lifeboat Brask's survivors saw a spot against the horizon. They maneuvered towards it, thinking it might be one of the rafts with more survivors, but as they got closer it turned out to be the abandoned Nemea. They boarded her, but fearing that the ship might be attacked again they soon returned to the boat (this was about midnight on Jan. 15). At dawn on the 16th they again boarded the Greek ship where they found dry clothes and some food, while the radio operator was sent to the radio station and was able to get the radio in order. In the meantime, a lifeboat carrying about 18 Greek survivors also came alongside. Some of them came on board, among them the 1st mate and 2 radio operators who sent out an SOS that was received by Valentia Radio, so the men from Brask decided to remain on the Greek vessel. They managed to get the engine going then hoisted both lifeboats on board. The Greeks insisted on trying to reach the Azores, while the others wanted to head for Ireland, but they set course for the Azores for about an hour. However, due to the wind being against them it was agreed that afternoon to head towards Ireland.
Fearing that the ship might be attacked in the course of the night, the engine was stopped that evening, whereupon they went back to the lifeboats again, tied to the ship with a long line. Early the next morning, Jan. 17 they saw rockets in the horizon and responded with their own rockets and flares. Before dawn they reboarded the Greek ship, then sent up 2 large rockets, seen by 2 British destroyers which came to. The shipwrecked men offered to remain on Nemea and take her to port, escorted by the destroyers, but due to lack of fuel this was not considered a good idea, so at 09:00 on Jan. 17 they were all transferred to HMS Highlander which landed them in Londonderry in the morning of Jan. 20. The following morning they continued to Glasgow with arrival Jan. 22." [B]
Verlustdatum : 15.01.1941
Konvoi : OB 272 Von Gourock, Schottland, Vereinigtes Königreich, nach Durban, Südafrika.
Route : Von Barry, Nähe Cardiff, England, nach Thessaloniki, Griechenland.
Ladung : Kohle
Verlustort : West Irland, 52.33 N / 24.13 W
Verlustart : Torpedierung
Verlustursache : Versenkung/Torpedo
Gegner-Typ : Italienisches U-Boot
Gegner-Name : LUIGI TORELLI (C.F. Primo Longobardo)
Mannschafts-Schicksal : 18 Verluste, 14 gerettet [A]
Von der Explosion: Argyrios Peloponnisios,
Ioannis Georgiou, Gerasimos Dalesis,
Efstratios Zervas, Georgios Koukoulas.
Rettungsboot, am Meer verschollen: Eleftherios Metaxas, Dimitris Kallinikos, Konstantinos Melas, Evangelos Petrakis, Vasilios Romais, Stylianos Rusketos, Stylianos Kalligeros, Spyridon Zervos, Georgios Saranoglou, Anastasios Aliferis, Dimitris Artemis, Dionisios Dorizas, Gerasimos Romais.
1. Lloyds Register of Shipping.
2. Melissinos, Ioannis: Die Marine im Zweiten Weltkrieg – Der gesamte Beitrag der griechischen Handelsmarine (Motorsegler und Dampfer) 1940-1945, Band I und II, Universität Ioannina 1995 (gr.)
3. O'Hara, Vincent; Cernuschi, Enrico; Hood, Jean: Dark Navy - The Italian Regia Marina and the Armistice of 8 September 1943, Nimble Books, 2009 (engl.)
4. [A] Dounis, Christos: Die nautische Insel Ithaka und ihre Verluste in den Kriegen, Athen 1988 (gr.)
5. http://www.regiamarina.net
6. [B] http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/brask.html
Eingefügt am : 30.12.2010
Eingefügt von : Dimitris Galon
Letzte Änderung : 08.06.2014
Geändert von : Thorsten Reich
Änderungen : - 08.01.2011 T. Reich Bild 1 + Dokument 1 eingefügt
- 26.01.2011 T. Reich Bild 2 eingefügt
- 02.02.2011 T. Reich Dokument 2 eingefügt
- 08.06.2014 T. Reich Bild 3 eingefügt