The torpedo attack by PAPANIKOLIS in Alimia

The ELVIRA VASELLI shipwreck was caused by a British aircraft attack on Alimnias Bay (Alimia island, in the Dodecanese) on July 28, 1943. It was built at the British shipyard C.H. Walker & Co. in 1912 under the name B.A.H.W. No.11. In 1917, it was sold and renamed the ALUMINE. In 1930, when it was acquired by Christos Vlasias, it became known as the ALUMINUM. In 1936, it was purchased by S.A. Italiana Lavori Edilie Marittimi (S.A.I.L.E.M.) and given its final name, the ELVIRA VASELLI. During WWII, the ship was commandeered by the Italian government and used as an auxiliary cargo vessel until it sank.

On November 30, 1942, the submarine PAPANIKOLIS (Y-2) launched a torpedo attack on shipping in Alimnias Bay, which led to the belief that an Italian cargo steamship had been sunk.

Η τορπιλική επίθεση του ΠΑΠΑΝΙΚΟΛΗΣ στην Αλιμνιά

The PAPANIKOLIS

The submarine PAPANIKOLIS, skippered by Lieutenant-Colonel Nikolaos Roussen, had sailed from Beirut on November 21, 1942, to undertake operation ‘Oxford’ – the disembarkation of seven Greek and British operatives before continuing on to patrol the Dodecanese. It was Roussen’s first combat mission as a submarine commander – he had taken command on October 9, 1942, after the submarine had undergone repairs in Suez. PAPANIKOLIS arrived on November 27 in a deserted area near Agia Galini [on the southern coast of Crete] and under cover of darkness, the agents disembarked in three dinghies and paddled 200 meters to land.

Η τορπιλική επίθεση του ΠΑΠΑΝΙΚΟΛΗΣ στην Αλιμνιά

Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas Roussen

The submarine then proceeded to the Kasos-Crete Strait in the Italian-occupied Dodecanese. According to information received by the Allies, there were hostile concentrations in the Halikia Islands [1]. Indeed, on November 30, at 10:15 hrs, the commander located enemy vessels inside the large bay of St. George on the island of Alimnia. Three vessels were moored, along with a small sailboat [2]. A large steamship was also anchored. The commander estimated that the steamship had a displacement of 8,000 tons and a length of 130 meters. He described it as camouflaged “with grey and black triangles and a funnel amidships.” A direct attack was not possible due to the position of the ships inside the bay. Moreover, the PAPANIKOLIS was experiencing abnormalities in the control system for his rudders, making it difficult to handle. These factors, combined with the shallow depth of the area, compounded the difficulty of the attack. So, the commander decided to wait for a target to leave the bay. At 13:30 hrs, fog which had rolled in earlier moved south and it was observed that the steamship remained stationary, despite the smoke emanating from its funnel. So, it was decided to attempt an attack before nightfall. Taking advantage of the favorable sea conditions (calm and glassy), Lieutenant Roussen made a series of careful maneuvers to bring the submarine to a point along the axis of the bay entrance. Then, at 16:35 hrs, he fired two torpedoes with an interval of ten seconds. As they rushed toward the steamship, there was nothing the anxious commander or his crew could do but wait. A full minute and thirty-five seconds ticked by before an explosion was finally heard. A quick check through the periscope confirmed a column of water still rising in the air as smoke began billowing from the target. Over the next few minutes, the vessel listed badly. By 16.45 hrs, it had gone under. As Roussen delineates in his report, the steamship had been hit amidships, then listed to the right until it had rolled a full ninety degrees. After the attack, the submarine safely slipped away and travelled north. It continued its patrol in the Dodecanese until December 5 when it arrived at Beirut. Submarine Commander P. Constanta expressed his delight in a 9th December report, saying, among other things, that the attack “immediately avenged the loss of the [Greek submarine] TRITON by sinking an eight thousand ton vessel in an enemy occupied bay.” Alimnia had a garrison of 120 men who could have fired on the PAPANIKOLIS, had they located it.

Η τορπιλική επίθεση του ΠΑΠΑΝΙΚΟΛΗΣ στην Αλιμνιά

The island of Alimnia

According to Italian reports of the attack, PAPANIKOLI’s target was the BUCINTORO [3], a steamship which had a total tonnage of 1,273 and a length of 72.5 meters. The steamship which was anchored that day at Alimnia Bay (known as Legnano by the Italians) was not damaged during the attack and both Greek torpedoes failed. One torpedo exploded on the west side of the bay on Cape Mermika and the other had gone to the opposite east shore, where it was found at a depth of 2.8 meters. It had not exploded. Besides the BUCINTORO, the Italian reports only mention the existence of a sailing boat and no other shipping.

Η τορπιλική επίθεση του ΠΑΠΑΝΙΚΟΛΗΣ στην Αλιμνιά

The BUCINTORO (Giorgio Spazzapan)

The sinking of the Italian steamship remained an issue for the submarine crew for a long time as they sought to confirm their success. Nine months later, on August 31, 1943, Midshipman A. Baltatzis sent a report to the commander of the PAPANIKOLIS, stating that he had been in contact with a Dodecanese sponge diver who was aware of the incident. The sponge diver, called Xipolitas, stated that: “Five months ago (in March 1943), while passing through Alimnia bay, there was a large cargo ship partially sunk, laying on her starboard side. The ship had a funnel and was marked with fuzzy black and grey streaks.” The Midshipman presented a sketch of the bay to the sponge diver, who placed the wreckage at precisely the same location as the commander of the PAPANIKOLI had done after the November 30 1942 attack. The sponge diver was informed that the ship had been torpedoed nine months earlier by an Allied submarine. Having studied what the Italian archives record, it turns out that the Baltatzis reference requires examination.

Captain N. Petropoulos states in his book [4] that the selective promotion and the conferment of medals on the commanders who had sunk an enemy ship during the Greek-Italian war had created a precedent. Thus, some felt that any commander who reported a success should be considered for promotion or honours, even if it had not been fully verified. This seems to be confirmed by Captain D. Fokas in his book [5]. He criticizes the administration for not honoring the PAPANIKOLIS crew and comments that “honours and promotions, which were abundant during the Greek-Italian war, ceased to be awarded in the Middle East [by the British administration in Beirut]. It seems that a sensible compromise was impossible to find.”

The proposition that the PAPANIKOLIS sank its target was reinforced after the discovery of an Italian shipwreck at Alimnia. It was immediately linked to the PAPANIKOLIS attack, and Commander Roussen’s claim was regarded as ‘confirmed’.

Captain Elias Tsoukalas mentions in his article [6] that the PAPANIKOLIS sank a former Italian steamship which had been commandeered by the Germans and renamed the “BERGER”. However, the attack took place ten months before Italy capitulated, so the Germans proceeded to seize the Italian vessels. In addition, an investigation showed that there was no ship of this name (or similar) in German service in the Mediterranean.

In fact, the shipwreck found in Alimnia bay was the victim of a British Beaufighter aircraft attack on July 28, 1943. It was ELVIRA VASELLI, a small steamer of 647 tons, measuring 53.9 metres in length and 9.1 metres in beam. It was built in 1912 at the British shipyard C.H. Walker & Co. which also owned the ship. Originally named B.A.H.W. No.11 (the acronym meaning Buenos Aires Harbor Works). In 1917, it was sold to the French Societe Miniere et Metallurgique de Penarroya which had its headquarters in Rouen and was renamed the ALUMINE. This company had a number of coal mines in Spain and elsewhere (such as in Lavrio) and the ship was apparently used to transport coal from them. In December 1930, the ship hoisted a Greek flag after being acquired by Christos Vlasi [7]. It was registered in Piraeus as the ALUMINUM, but the following November it was sold to the Italian company Dani & C. of Genoa and renamed PAOLO BEVERINI. In 1936, it was bought by S.A. Italiana Lavori Edilie Marittimi (S.A.I.L.E.M.) and was renamed ELVIRA VASELLI and registered in Palermo. During World War II, the ship was requisitioned by the Italian government as an auxiliary. As such, it carried supplies for the needs of the Italian army in Albania and Greece, until it was sunk by Allied aircraft at Alimnia. The shipwreck of ELVIRA VASELLI remained on the bottom of the northern shore of the bay and is named in a 1950 Wreck Recovery Organization (O.A.N.) document. It was eventually awarded by the O.A.N. to the contractor Elias Angelakos, who dismantled the wreck in situ. Only scant remnants of it are visible today on the sea floor.

Η τορπιλική επίθεση του ΠΑΠΑΝΙΚΟΛΗΣ στην Αλιμνιά

The ELVIRA VASELLI (Giorgio Spazzapan)

The sponge diver’s description does not relate to the demise of the ELVIRA VASSELI, which sank four months after the diver allegedly passed through Alimnia. Investigation so far does not reveal the sinking of any ship during the PAPANIKOLI’s attack at Alimnia. However, this inherently difficult attack was perceived as a major success at the time as it boosted the morale of the Greek crews which had suffered severely after the loss of the TRITON. To them, the PAPANIKOLI’s attack proved that Greek submarines, despite their age, could make important contributions to Allied combat operations thanks to the persistence and ability of their crews. This was also proved by their subsequent successes during the war.

[1] They consist of the Halki Islands, Alimnia and five smaller islands.

[2] N. Russen mentions it in his report as a corvette boat.

[3] The vessel was in 1909 to J. Priestman & Co. in Southwick, England under the name FERNANDE on behalf of the French company Fernand Bouet, Caen. In 1923 it was sold to the English Buck Steam Shipping & Co., Coal Exports Ltd, Goole and in 1932 to the Italian SAN Salvagno in Venice was named BUCINTORO. On August 22, 1943, BUCINTORO collided with the UGO FIORELLI tanker west of Kalymnos, causing severe disturbances and leaks. BUCINTORO was unleashed by the CRISPI destroyer in Lakki where it crashed to avoid sinking. He entered the large floating tank on September 8 to be repaired, but on October 5 he arrived during a German air tank. Despite the slope of the tank, BUCINTORO was able to pull out of the tank. However, they were again hit by bombings in the following days and sank on October 12. The ship was discovered, probably in 1947, and returned to its Italian owners. In 1952 it was sold and renamed to CARLO GARRE to regain the name BUCINTORO in 1956. It was finally dismantled in 1959 in La Spezia.

[4] Memories and thoughts of an old sailor…

[5] Report on the action of the Navy during the 1940-44 war.

[6] Honor and glory to the heroes of our submarines, Naval Greece, July 1998.

[7]The Vlasi family based in Lavrio has been in shipbuilding for more than three decades and was marked by the loss of ROSE VLASSI south of Macronis on the eve of Christmas in 1959 with 13 dead.

References

Thoktaridis Costas – Bilalis Aris, Lifting History, ed. Kyriakidis, Thessaloniki, 2016

Kavvadias Epaminondas, The Nautical War of 1940 as I Live It, ed. Pyrsos, Athens, 1950.

Madonis Alexandros – Mastrogeorgiou Georgios, Greek Submarine 1885-2010, ed.

Massouras Timotheos – Katopodis Thomas, The Greek Submarine, published by the Maritime Museum of Greece, Piraeus 2010.

Petropoulos Nikolaos, Memories and Thoughts of an Old Navy, Athens, 1970.

Tsoukalas Elias, Honor and Glory to the Heroes of Our Submarines, Maritime Greece, July 1998

Fokas Dimitrios, Report on the action of the Navy during the war 1940-44, ed. BN Historical Service, Athens, 1953.

British Archives, Costas Chectaridis Research

Italian archives, Platon Alexiades research

Navy History Service Archive


[*] Ross J. Robertson is an Australian who has lived in Greece for the past thirty years. He has a BSc (Biology) and is an EFL teacher. He is the co-owner of two private English Language Schools and instructs students studying for Michigan and Cambridge University English Language examinations. He has written various English Language Teaching books for the Hellenic American Union (Greece), Longman-Pearson (UK) and Macmillan Education (UK). He published his debut novel (fiction/humour) entitled ‘Spiked! Read Responsibly’ in 2016. Moreover, he has written several spec screenplays and a number of newspaper articles, including an extensive series on the 75th anniversary of the WWII Liberation of Greece. A keen AOW and Nitrox diver, he is also a shipwreck and research enthusiast and has written features for UK Diver Magazine, US Diver and the Australian newspaper, Neos Kosmos. Ross continues to combine his expertise in English with his love of storytelling and local WWII history to produce exciting materials.

Author: Ομάδα Εναλίων Αποτυπώσεων

Η Ομάδα Εναλίων Αποτυπώσεων (ΟΕΑ) του Εργαστηρίου Τοπογραφίας, στο Τμήμα Αγρονόμων και Τοπογράφων Μηχανικών, συνεργάζεται με τα μέλη της καταδυτικής κοινότητας για την αναζήτηση, την τεκμηρίωση, την μελέτη και την ανάδειξη των ιδιαιτεροτήτων του θαλασσίου περιβάλλοντος, αναλαμβάνοντας συγχρόνως την σχετική ενημέρωση και ευαισθητοποίηση του κοινού. Μέσω εξειδικευμένων προγραμμάτων εκπαίδευσης και ενάλιων δραστηριοτήτων που συντονίζουν ή συμμετέχουν τα μέλη της ΟΕΑ επιδιώκεται η ασφαλής και υπεύθυνη προσέγγιση στα βυθισμένα τεκμήρια της φυσικής και πολιτιστικής μας κληρονομιάς.