This photograph brought back many memories.... It has appeared in numerous books, including the 1997
Kathimerini insert on ocean liners,
but it is rarely accompanied by the name of the ship (
Fiume) that Appia_1978 nicely presents here. In fact, the picture has accompanied articles about Greeks going to Australia. In the past, its caption has given the impression that these were traveling thousands of miles
with this ship!!
The book of Reginald Appleyard and John Yannakis
Greek Pioneers in Western Australia (Univ Western Australia Publishers, Perth, Australia 2002) has a wonderful description and discussion of how Castellorizians went to Perth and Fremantle, Australia, especially during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. And here is why
Fiume becomes important to us Greeks!
Fiume was a small vessel serving the Dodecanesos during the 1930s when the islands were under Italian occupation. She belonged to the Adriatica di navigazione S.p.a. (based in Venice, Italy). She was built in 1926 by Costiera of Fiume. [For those who do not remember the old Italian names, Fiume is today's Rijeka in Croatia]. She had 654 tons and only 14 cabins for passengers. Yet, she could accommodate more than 250. She had two propellers and dimensions of 48.2 m by 7.80 m by 3.70 m.
Originally assigned to short routes in Eastern Adriatica (mostly Venice, Trieste, Fiume (now Rijeka), Pola (now Pula), all the way down to Spalato (now Split)) she was moved to Rodos in 1937. A nice Web site has a summary of all the ships of this regional company (Adriatica) owned in teh Mediterranean sea
http://www.naviearmatori.net/html/ve...-ita-26-0.html
Between 1937 and June 1940
Fiume was running the routes No 61 (Rodos-Kos-Astypalaia every other week), No 62 (Rodos-Castelorizo weekly) and No 63 (Rodos-Kassos weekly or every other week). In July 1940 she starting running routes No 1 (Rodos-Kos-Kalymnos-Leros) and No 2 (Rodos-Carpathos). Clearly she was... the
Panormitis of that period!...
It was during that period that she carried many Greeks from Castellorizo to Rodos, thus becoming a popular feeder for Greek immigration to Australia
After August 15, 1940, Fiume was only running the most important military and civilian routes in Dodecanesos. The end of
Fiume is very well known to those who have read the Greek naval history. On September 24, 1942, while carrying 249 civilian and military passengers and 38 crew members on the way to Symi,
Fiume was torpedoed by the Greek submarine
Nereus (under Cdr Al. Rallis) in Punta Sabbia about 9 km from the port of Rodos. Eyewitness accounts indicated that she was lost "in 25 seconds" a rather unbelievably short time. A total of 214 person died according to Italian sources [There are numerous Italian sites about this event in
www.google.it] The official Greek Navy site
http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/dy_y4.asp indicates that the
Fiume was carrying mostly Italian soldiers that were replacing the Italian unit of Symi. The same site lists the vessel at 1500 tons, a number that is repeated in
http://enkripto.blogspot.com/2008/10...post_4955.html. The German site
http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-09.htm lists her at 662 tons and reports 333 dead.
It must be noted that Adriatica lost more than ten ships during that same period. They had the same fate as
Fiume due to Greek or British submarine activity from Thessaloniki to Rodos and Tainaron.
While
Fiume's routes and travels in Dodecanesos were relatively short lived she has left an important imprint to the Greek-Australians, some of whom are still alive (2009) in Perth and Fremantle, as she was their first step to a new world and a new life...
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 27921
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 27922
Συνημμένο Αρχείο 27923
Ναύτης
Castellorizo : French Occupation 1916
Αρχική Δημοσίευση από Gallos952
Δικαιώματα - Επιλογές
Απάντηση με παράθεση