SINFRA, 4,470 grt, sailed from Souda Bay for Piraeus in the evening of 18 Oct. 1943, with 300 Germans and 2,300 Italians on board. Sunk during the night with bombs and torpedoes by aircraft. 182 Germans, 539 Italians and 13 Greeks were rescued, 2,200 people were lost.

I am very sorry to learn that the book on Italian submarines will not be seeing the light (too many pages, I suspect). You could very well, however, publish a small contribution on the subject (e.g. a single submarine or a pair) on the next AIDMEN Bollettino for 2022... I must confess I'm an interes...

March 1940 in French convoy 39.XS Verdon to Casablanca August 1943 in convoy MKS.21 Alexandria to Benghazi August 1943 in convoy MKS.23 Alexandria to Tripoli September/October 1943 in convoy UGS.17 Malta to Haifa November to December 1943 in convoys TX.7 (Nov.) and 11 (Dec.) Tripoli to Alexandria De...

ROSA MADRE R 164 of 39 grt/1937, a fishing motorschooner (motoveliero) was sunk with gunfire by HMS SICKLE on 18.7.1943 7 n.m. ESE of Gorgona island (off Leghorn) ROSA MADRE B 504, of 25 grt/1937, a fishing motorschooner (ketch), was sunk in Genoa by air raid after 8.9.1943 ROSA MADRE II B 667, of 2...

According to (a mix of) Reinhart Schmelzkopf, Byron Tesapsides and Brouard-Mercier-Saibène BERTA (with or without an H), 1,810 grt/Oct. 1922, built in Rotterdam as TRENT, was since 1934 BACCHUS of Soflumar, Rouen, under DTM control since 18 Nov. 1939. She was ceded to the Kriegsmarine on 25 Dec. 194...

One of five ships found sunk in Cartagena harbour at its occupation by Nationalist forces at the end of the Civil War. Later raised. The others were JOVEN PURA, POETA AROLAS, JULIO CASCIARO, VICENTE FERRER.

Alberto Santoni and Francesco Mattesini, in their well known "La partecipazione tedesca alla guerra aeronavale nel Mediterraneo (1940-1945)", old edition 1980, mention 14 Ju 87s of Fliegerfuehrer Afrika sinking off Tobruk THORBRYN and LCT-12.

For the Yalta Conference in February, 1945 a US naval contingent was made up of fleet flagship AGC 5 CATOCTIN, as communications and headquarters ship, in which President Roosevelt spent one night just after the end of the Conference. There were also the Liberty ship WILLIAM BLOUNT, which brought to...

In July 1936 the Compania de Navegaciòn Vizcaya of Bilbao owned the old coaler ABANDO, 2,206 grt & 2,704 dwt, which remained in the Republican zone at the start of the civil war and completed at least a trip to Ijmuiden and back to Bilbao with a cargo of minerals, then made more trips among the Cant...

Thanks Aris for noting the possible connection with that dreadful air raid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_on_Bari I wonder whether there are Italian sources that cover that from the civilian population point of view? There is "Poisonous Inferno. World War II Tragedy at Bari Harbour" by Geo...

The two passenger ships had brought thousands of Greek pilgrims to the sanctuary at Tinos island for the religious festivity of the Dormition of Theotokos (Saint Mary's, August 15) and HELLI was their escort. This is usually glossed over by the Italian sources, for obvious reasons.

From the Arnold Hague convoy database I gather that FORMIGNY went unescorted from the Clyde (where she had been since 19 Dec. 1943) to Liverpool on 26/29 July 1944 and from Liverpool to Cardiff on 22/24 Jan. 1945, so she was presumably scrapped there.

MARIA, a cargo steamer of 440 or 548 grt, built in 1903 (launch 26.3.1903 compl. 4.1903) as CAMERONIAN by the Blyth SB & DD Co. at Cowpen Quay for F.B. Cameron of London, in 1908 ALGOL for R.H. Penney & Sons of Shoreham, in 1923 MARIA for Gennaro Malinconico & Co. of Torre del Greco, from 1940 owner...

Could it be FRANZ OHLROGGE ? Completed 6.1917 by E. J. Smit at Hoogezand as the Dutch cargo ship SOESTERBERG of 481 grt, in 1917 Norwegian KRISTOFA then in 1920 JO, in 1928 ORION for the Atlantic-Rhederei GmbH of Hamburg, in 1938 FRANZ OHLROGGE for Karl Gross of Bremen/Brake, in 1939 lengthened, 647...

REZVYY was the name of an old torpedo-boat of the Baltic Fleet, ex VORON, 220 or 240 tons, built 1898-1901 at St. Petersburg, into Finnish hands 1918 as S-4, in 1922 again REZVYY, broken up 1925. ZAISHCTNIK (?!) was the name of a Baltic Fleet minesweeper, 190 tons, built 1915-17, also into Finnish h...