RMS Nova Scotia (1926)
RMS Nova Scotia
| |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Namesake | Nova Scotia, Canada |
Owner | Johnston Warren Lines (1926–41)[1] Ministry of War Transport (1941–42) |
Operator | Furness, Withy & Co[1] |
Port of registry | Liverpool[1] |
Route | Halifax, Nova Scotia – Boston, MA (1926–41)[4] |
Builder | Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Ltd[1] |
Yard number | 623[3] |
Launched | May 1926[1] |
Out of service | 28 November 1942[5] |
Identification |
|
Fate | Sunk by U-177, 28 November 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Type | |
Tonnage | |
Length | 406.1 ft (123.8 m) p/p[1] |
Beam | 55.4 ft (16.9 m)[1] |
Draught | 34 ft 4 in (10.46 m)[1] |
Depth | 31.8 ft (9.7 m)[1] |
Installed power | 1,047 NHP[1] |
Propulsion | quadruple expansion steam engine[1] |
Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
Crew | 113 (1942) |
Notes | sister ship: RMS Newfoundland |
RMS Nova Scotia was a 6,796 GRT UK transatlantic ocean liner and Royal Mail Ship. In World War II she was requisitioned as a troopship. In 1942 a German submarine sank her in the Indian Ocean with the loss of 858 of the 1,052 people aboard.[5]
Building
Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness built Nova Scotia for Furness, Withy & Co of Liverpool.[1] She was the sister ship of RMS Newfoundland, which Vickers had launched for the same owner 11 months previously.[6]
Nova Scotia's 1,047
Civilian service
Nova Scotia joined Newfoundland on Furness, Withy's regular
After the UK entered World War II in September 1939, the ship at first remained in civilian service. On 21 September 1940 she sailed from Liverpool bound for Canada, carrying passengers including the final 29 children to leave Britain under the Children's Overseas Reception Board (CORB) evacuation scheme.[9] The CORB scheme was then discontinued because of the great loss of life when German submarine U-48 sank Ellerman Lines' City of Benares on 17 September.[10]
Troop ship
Early in 1941 the Ministry of War Transport requisitioned Nova Scotia as a troop ship, and on 3 February she embarked 1,200 troops.[11] She joined a convoy from Britain to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she arrived on 2 March.[11] Nova Scotia continued south, crossing the Equator on 12 March and reaching Cape Town, South Africa, on 22 March.[11]
In the autumn of 1942 Nova Scotia left
Nova Scotia had passed through the
In order to identify which ship it had just sunk, U-177 recovered two survivors.[5][12] They were interned Italian merchant sailors who explained that most of those aboard had been Italian internees.[5] Because of the Laconia Order that Admiral Dönitz had issued two months previously, the submarine's commander, Robert Gysae, withdrew U-177 from the area and radioed the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) for orders.[5] The BdU ordered him to leave survivors in the water and continue on patrol.[5] The BdU requested help from Portugal, which sent the frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque from Lourenço Marques[5] in neighbouring Mozambique.
Afonso de Albuquerque reached the area on 29 November.
Two further survivors reached safety. One was rescued on the third day after the attack; the other was an Italian who drifted on a liferaft for a fortnight until he came ashore at Mtunzini in Natal.[12]
Monuments
Many corpses were washed ashore in Natal.[13] The bodies of 120 Italian prisoners of war and internees were buried in a mass grave in the Hillary suburb of Durban, forming the nucleus of what became the Italian Military Cemetery there.[12] In 1982 a substantial monument was erected on the grave.[12]
In 2008, the bodies were moved to the Pietermaritzburg Italian P.O.W. Church cemetery.
Nova Scotia's Italian dead are commemorated also in a monument at the Italian church at Adi Quala, Eritrea.[12]
See also
- Arandora Star — torpedoed in July 1940 while carrying interned Italian civilians
- Shuntien — torpedoed in December 1941 while carrying Italian prisoners of war
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1941–42. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
- ^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1933–34. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
- ^ Watson, Brian. "Furness Withy". The Allen Collection. Brian Watson. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Furness, Withy & Co". Maritime Timetable Images. Björn Larsson. 2001–2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013). "Nova Scotia". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1935–36. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
- ^ "Welin-Maclachlan Davits advertisement featuring RMS Nova Scotia". Great Ships. Jeff Newman. 1999–2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ a b Sturrock 2010, p. 93.
- ^ Mann 2005, p. 130.
- ^ Mann 2005, p. 120.
- ^ a b c Hulland, Christopher (2011). "Nova Scotia". 757792 Hulland G L All at Sea with the Maritime Royal Artillery. Christopher Hulland. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Colao, Alex (28 November 2011). "Anniversary of Nova Scotia – Alessandro Cerrato". Alex Colao Blog.
- ^ a b c d e Bezuidenhout 2008, p. 10.
- ^ Bezuidenhout 2008, p. 13.
Sources and further reading
- Bezuidenhout, Leon (March 2008). Pieter Snyman, Springbok–soldier 1940–43 (PDF). translated from Afrikaans by JC Hough & MJ Conradie. pp. 11–15.
- Burrell, David (1992). Furness Withy, 1891–1991. Kendal: ISBN 0905617703.
- Haws, Duncan (2000). Furness Withy. Merchant Fleets. Vol. 37. Crowborough: Travel Creatours Ltd. ISBN 094637838X.
- Isacchini, Valeria (2008). L'Onda Gridava Forte (in Italian). Rome: Ugo Mursia Editore. ISBN 978-88-425-3949-0.
- ISBN 0-7553-1138-8.
- Mascellari, Tullio. 28 Novembre 1942 una Tragedia in Mare (in Italian).
- Sturrock, Donald (2010). Storyteller: The Authorised Biography of Roald Dahl. London: ISBN 978-0007254767.
External links
- "70 years after the sinking of the RMS Nova Scotia". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 November 2012. – interview with survivor Thomas Goodyear
- Jackson, Allan (17 June 2008). "Nova Scotia". Facts About Durban. FAD Publishing.
- "Nova Scotia tragedy". The Ridge online. Media24. 17 April 2011.
- Zampieri, Antonio; Zampieri, Fiorenzo (28 November 2010). "L'Ultimo Giorno del Nova Scotia La tragedia dimenticata..." (in Italian). Blogger.com. — includes German photographs of the sinking of the ship and Portuguese photos of the rescue of survivors