Orazio (ship)
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
The Orazio was an ocean liner put into service in 1927 by the Italian shipping company Società Italia Flotte Reuniti, which burned out and sank on January 21, 1940 near Toulon after an explosion . 106 passengers were killed.
The ship
The 11,669 GRT motor ship Orazio was built in 1927 at the Cantieri ed Officine Meridionali shipyard in Baia, a district of the Italian port city of Bacoli . The ship was built for Navigazione Generale Italiana , founded in 1835 , which was one of the largest shipping companies in Italy. She had a sister ship , the Virgilio (built in 1928, 11,718 GRT).
It was 154.23 meters long and 18.86 meters wide and was powered by two diesel engines from Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino , which made 6600 bhp (Brake Horsepower). The average cruising speed was 14 knots. The Orazio had a chimney, two masts and two propellers . On board there was space for 110 passengers in the first, 190 in the second and 340 in the third class. The team consisted of 200 people.
In 1932 the Navigazione Generale Italiana was merged with the shipping companies Lloyd Sabaudo and Cosulich Societa Triestina di Navigazione (Cosulich Line) to create the state-controlled Società Italia fleet Reuniti. The Orazio was henceforth used in passenger and freight traffic from Genoa to the west coast of South America .
On January 21, 1940, the ship, which still belonged to a neutral state, was stopped and searched by the French Navy on the way from Genoa to Barcelona before Toulon . There were 645 people on board the Orazio . Among the passengers were many Jews who fled Europe from National Socialism . The French took some German citizens off board. After a four-hour delay, the Orazio was able to continue her voyage in rough seas and a growing mistral .
At 05.12 a.m., an explosion occurred in the crankcase of the port diesel engine, causing diesel fuel to ignite from the burst pipes. A resulting fire spread very quickly on the ship. Although help was quickly on site, 106 people were killed in the fire . The Orazio sank 40 nautical miles southwest of Toulon on the night of January 21st to January 22nd. The survivors were picked up by the Italian passenger liners Colombo , Cellina and Conte Biancamano , the French destroyer Kersaint and a number of other ships.
Photos of the Orazio fire by Annemarie Schwarzenbach
Sailors with life jackets on the deck of the Conte Biancamano
Part of the crew on the bridge
Sailors in a dinghy next to the Conte Biancamano
The burning wreck
