San Dimitrio
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The San Dimitrio was a 1879-built cargo - and passenger - steamer for inland - and coastal waters .
Immigrant ship
The ship was bought together with another ship by a Swedish businessman for the Marseilles company Ginesta & Co. In several cases, this company procured ships for the illegal immigration of Jews to Palestine .
The two coastal ships were actually unsuitable for the intended purpose, but due to the lack of better alternatives, they were taken over by the Hagana . On the voyage to the Mediterranean , the second ship ran aground and was lost, but the San Dimitrio reached Marseille , where the ship was converted to accommodate many passengers. The ship was operated by a Spanish crew led by Captain Albert Laimaz Carion. For the upcoming voyage, the ship was given the Hagana code name Latrun , after the British police station and internment camp in Latrun , where a large number of Jews had been imprisoned since Operation Agatha .
The press became aware of the ship on October 12, 1946, and despite British efforts to prevent this, the passengers were taken on board on October 19 under the supervision of the French police. The Jews came from Poland, Russia, Romania and Yugoslavia. To deceive the authorities, several passengers had visas for Ethiopia and Bolivia. However, the deception was unsuccessful, the British kept the ship under observation. With 1,252 passengers on board (other sources cite 1,275) and thus extremely overcrowded, the San Dimitrio cast off in Sete on October 19. Their maximum speed was 5 kn (9.26 km / h), which meant that the crossing to Palestine took more than twice as long as planned, and the food and water supplies ran out. As the coal supply in the bunkers decreased , the trim and stability of the ship deteriorated .
On October 29th, the San Dimitrio was located by a British maritime patrol officer. The next day, after dark, the ship was orbited by two planes belonging to the British destroyer Chivalrous . Since the San Dimitrio was still in international waters and sailed under the Panamanian flag, the British did not try to board the ship. With up to 45 ° flip side , strong rolling movements that put San Dimitrio their trip to Haifa on, constantly circling the Chivalrous and the two deminers Octavia and Providence . In the coastal waters of Palestine, the British navy then took hold of two ships wedging the San Dimitrio and forcing them to stop. The passengers of the San Dimitrio fought violently, but using water cannons and tear gas , the British soldiers fought to gain access to the navigating bridge . In this tumult several passengers of the San Dimitrio managed to jump into the water unnoticed and swim to the bank.
As a further resistance, the drive engine of the San Dimitrio was sabotaged and the steam was released so that the ship was without its own propulsion. In constant fear that the ship might capsize , the San Dimitrio was towed into the port of Haifa. The passengers were taken to the deportation ships Empire Haywood and Ocean Vigor and deported to the internment camp in Karaolos on Cyprus as part of Operation Igloo . A Palyamnik , who was on board as a supervisor and organizer, was able to hide between the spare parts shelves in the engine room and later escape undetected. The other Hagana and Palmach agents were also deported to Cyprus.
After the passengers had left the San Dimitrio , the ship was still listing at 30 ° in the port of Haifa.
literature
- Ninian Steward: The Royal Navy and the Palestine Patrol ; Routledge Chapman & Hall 2002; ISBN 0-7146-5210-5
Web links
- San Dimitrio at Palmach.org.il