Small ships sunk in the northern Adriatic Sea, 1944

[LColombo]

These small ships were all lost in the northern Adriatic Sea in 1944. Perhaps KTB Adria has details on their loss?

Schooner Fratelli Barrera (137 GRT, built 1912) sunk "for unknown causes" on 27 May 1944 en route from Venice to Trieste
Schooner Maria P. (213 GRT, built 1941) sunk by aircraft off Porto Corsini on 18 June 1944
Schooner Mariella G. (99 GRT, built 1938) sunk "by explosion" on 1 July 1944, en route from Venice to Trieste
Trawler Addis Abeba (614 GRT, built 1921), sunk by mine on 25 August 1944, en route from Venice to Trieste
Schooner Nettuno 3° (343 GRT, built 1942) sunk by mine on 13 October 1944, off the mouth of the Po

[kalli]

Im Bestand der Mittelmeer-Reederei GmbH (Kriegsreederei) habe ich folgende Angaben gefunden:

Fratelli Barrera (1912) 137 BRT; M/Brigantino-Goletta, D. Barrera, Pozzalo (Ragusa); 23.2.1942 ital. Marine; 27.5.1944 + auf Fahrt Triest - Venedig
Maria P. (1941) 213 BRT; Bew.: 2/2, 2 RAG, 2 MG; M/Sg, Francesco Pericoli, Rimini; 24.10.1941 ital. Marine, V. 296; 12.8.1943 re; 16.6.1944 + v. Porto Corsini/Flibo

Addis Abeba (1921, La Rochelle: Cie. Générle de Matériel Naval) 613 BRT; 54,07 x 8,61 x 4,57 m; französ. S/tg Le Lutteur; 19.. S/fi Jean Hamonet; 1936 ital. Addis Abeba, Comp. Generale Italiana della Grande Pesca, Livorno; 6.12.1943 MMR; 25.8.1944 + zw. Venedig u. Triest/Mine

Nettuno 3 (1942) 343 BRT; Bew.: 1/2-Vierling; 2/2; 2 RAG; Nave-Goletta, S. A. Trasporti Marittimi Nettuno, Genua; 17.10.1942 ital. Marine, V. 328; 2. Transp.Fl.; 13.10.1944 + b. Punta di Mestre/Mine

Existieren von den angefragten Schiffen Fotos?

[LColombo]

Only one of Addis Abeba, belonging to the collection of the late Giorgio Spazzapan:



It is rather difficult to come across photos of such small vessels, especially as two of the schooners were very short-lived, built during the war and lost in it.

[kalli]

Vielen Dank für das Foto.

[TW]

https://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/projekte/mtb_mgb/ausgabe.php?where_value=593

MTB 373 (Lt. Cruise) versenkte zwischen Venedig und Triest einen Küstenfrachter (ca 1000 t) mit 1 Torpedo [1]. -- After a failed attack against two MFPs on August 21, the 20th MTB Flotilla attacks on August 24/25 and sinks the German deep-sea fishing boat ADDIS ABEBA (former French chalutier SACIP II, ex JEAN HAMONET, 614 tsl /*1921), enroute from Venice for Trieste, with a torpedo of the two launched by the 373 of Lt. Cruise...."[3].

Ausgewertete Quellen:    
1) Reynolds: Mediterranean. MTB's & MGB's at war, page 127
3) https://cfv.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=751#p3339

Gruß, Thomas

[LColombo]

I do not think that is correct. "Navi mercantili perdute" attributes the loss of Addis Abeba to a mine, and survivors also blamed the loss on a magnetic mine (https://web.archive.org/web/20101230085350/http://www.webalice.it/tanone/).

[Platon Alexiades]

Hello Lorenzo,

Addis Abeba was mined and sunk at 0500/26 August 1944 in 45°34' N, 12°58' E. S 629 picked up one survivor and one body (T1022/2552, NARA).

Best regards,

Platon

[Urs Heßling]

moin,

danke, Platon; ich habe es in den Lebenslauf des Bootes im HMA aufgenommen.

Im KTB der Flottille steht es nicht ...

Gruß, Urs

[t-geronimo]

Addis Abeba is an interesting case and a very good example for typos and misleading information in war diaries.

KTB Marinegruppenkommando Süd (PG 45986, roll 2552) states the ship was mined west of Grado and sunk, presumably in an own minefield. I found no time and no hint on S 629.

KTB Admiral Adria:
- 26.09.1944 on of the document is a typo, it is 26.08.
- so the ship can't be sunk on 28.08., another typo. But what date then? time is given with 02:30.
- here we have the hint for S 629.

KTB 11. Sicherungsdivision:
- here it is S 659, which never existed. Another typo.
- according to this war diary Addis Abeba was sunk 25.08., 02:30, because when picked up by the e-boat the survivor was already swimming for 30 hours in the water.


But as a saying in Formula 1 says: stranger things have happened before...

[TW]

I do not think that is correct. ... survivors blamed the loss on a magnetic mine

Hello Lorenzo,
Addis Abeba was mined and sunk at 0500/26 in 45°34' N, 12°58' E. S 629 picked up one survivor.

KTB Admiral Adria:

"45°34'N, 12°58'O. Diese Position befindet sich weit entfernt von den nächsten Minensperren. 11. Sicherungsdivision wurde mit ... der Erkundung des Wracks beauftragt.

Wäre interessant, ob tatsächlich ein Minentreffer festgestellt wurde. Viele Überlebende, die sogar den Minentyp erkannten, gab es ja nicht.
Gruß, Thomas

[LColombo]

Thanks Platon.

It seems that there were at least two survivors, as besides the one picked up by S 629, another one - fireman Giuseppe Robel from Rovereto - managed to swim ashore near Caorle (east of Venice) on his own in the morning of 27 August. According to Robel the ship was sunk by a magnetic mine at 1:45 on 25 August. See the link I posted above.

The same source also mentions that Armando Sette, skipper of the Addis Abeba, "was one of the survivors of the crew". He can't have been the man picked up by S 629, as if I understand correctly, that survivor was a member of the German anti-aircraft crew. But the wording regarding Sette is a bit unclear, it is also possible that it means that he was not aboard when the ship was sunk. (Does KTB Adria mention how many crew were on Addis Abeba?)

[Platon Alexiades]

Hi Lorenzo,

Sorry, no mention of the number of crew.

Best regards,

Platon

[Urs Heßling]

moin,

Addis Abeba was mined and sunk at 0500/26 August 1944 in 45°34' N, 12°58' E.

Giuseppe Robel from Rovereto - managed to swim ashore near Caorle (east of Venice)

Zumindest diese beiden Informationen passen zusammen : Position ...
... und mehr als 5.000 m bei niedrigen Wassertemperaturen zu schwimmen ist eine ordentliche Leistung 

According to Robel the ship was sunk by a magnetic mine

Woran ein Überlebender den Minentyp (Magnetisch, Akustisch, Kontakt) erkannt haben will, ist mir allerdings ein Rätsel ...

Gruß, Urs

[Darius]

Hallo Urs,

gute Frage mit dem "Minentyp-Erkennen".

Kann es z.B. sein, dass eine Magnetmine (oder anderer Fernzündungstyp) ggf. nicht so dicht am Schiffsrumpf explodiert wie eine Kontaktmine und dies ein Indiz für Augenzeugen sein könnte?



Darius

[Darius]

Hallo zusammen,

zu "ADDIS-ABEBA":
KTB Seekommandant West-Adria vom 25.08.1944:

20.00 Uhr: Wasserschutzpolizei-Aussenposten Caorle meldet:
Dampfer Addis-Abeba am 25.8. etwa 0200 h vermutlich Nähe Punkt 8, Weg Lerche, nach Detonation gesunken. Totalverlust.

Schiffbrüchige werden durch Fischerboote von Caorle und S-Boot 156 aufgenommen. Vermisst werden 1 Deutscher und 5 Italiener. Der Dampfer ist am 24.8. um 2120 Uhr von Venedig ausgelaufen nach Triest.

Nach Vernehmung des Superkargo, des ital. Kapitäns und des Bordflak-Führers muss angenommen werden, dass der Dampfer auf eigene Sperre AR 1 gelaufen ist.

Die Vermutung, dass die Sperre weiter nordwestlich liegt als angegeben, wird von der 11. Sich.Div. nicht geteilt. Weitere Untersuchungen laufen.

Darius