SS Ancona

SS Ancona was an Italian passenger steamer, built in 1908 by Workman, Clark and Company of Belfast for the Societa di Navigazione a Vaporetti Italia of Genoa. The vessel was designed and served as an emigrant ship on the routes between Italy and the United States. The ship was sunk on 8 November 1915 by SM U-38 off the coast of Tunisia.

Front page of The Evening World. 10 November 1915
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name: Ancona
Owner: Italia Società di Navigazione a Vapore
Builder: Workman, Clark & Co, Belfast
Launched: 19 December 1907
Sponsored by: Miss Violet Ardill
Commissioned: February 1908
Homeport: Genoa
Identification:
Fate: Sunk, 8 November 1915
General characteristics
Type: Passenger Ship
Tonnage:
Length: 482 ft 3 in (146.99 m)
Beam: 58 ft 3 in (17.75 m)
Depth: 26 ft 2 in (7.98 m)
Installed power: 1,221 Nhp[2]
Propulsion: 2 x Workman, Clark & Co 3-cylinder triple expansion
Speed: 17.0 knots
The Italian Liner SS Ancona which was sunk by the German submarines, sailing from New York for Italy

Design and Construction

In 1907 Italia Società di Navigazione a Vapore placed an order with Workman, Clark & Co of Belfast to build two passenger ships for them (future SS Ancona and SS Verona) to operate on their Genoa and Naples to New York route. The ship was launched on 19 December 1907[3], with Miss Violet Ardill of Greystones being the sponsor on behalf of Duke d'Andria.[3] After successful speed trials, the vessel was commissioned in February 1908.[2] Accommodations were built for about 60 first-class passengers in state rooms in the promenade deck-house, and the ship had total capacity of around 2,500 passengers. To supply such large number of passengers, the space on the orlop deck was insulated and supplied with an acidic refrigeration system.[3] In 1909 accommodation for first class passengers was expanded to 120 and in September 1910 she was refitted to carry 60 first and 120 second class passengers.

As built, the ship was 482 feet 3 inches (146.99 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 58 feet 3 inches (17.75 m) abeam, a mean draft of 26 feet 2 inches (7.98 m).[2] Originally, Ancona was assessed at 8,885 GRT and 6,020 NRT[2], but after refitting she was reassessed at 8,210 GRT and 5,034 NRT.[1] The vessel had a steel hull, and two triple-expansion steam engines supplying combined 1,221 nhp power, with cylinders of 26-inch (66 cm), 43-inch (110 cm), and 71-inch (180 cm) diameter with a 48-inch (120 cm) stroke, that drove two screw propellers, and moved the ship at up to 17.0 knots (19.6 mph; 31.5 km/h).[2][3]

On 28 February 1908, after successful completion of her speed trials on the Skelmorlie Mile, Ancona, whilst coming up the Lough on her return trip from the Clyde to Liverpool, hit in the stern and sank Harbour Commissioners' twin screw tug Musgrave.[4]

Operational history

Upon delivery Ancona sailed to Italy. She departed for her maiden voyage from Genoa on 26 March 1908 with 59 passengers in steerage and 9 in cabin and proceeded to Naples. After reaching Naples, the vessel took 341 more passengers in steerage and 23 in cabin bringing the total number of people on board to 432. Ancona left Naples on 28 March and reached New York on 10 April. On her return journey on 23 April, Ancona boarded 910 people in New York and 1,343 in Philadelphia for a total of 2,253 passengers heading to Italy.

Ancona continued serving New York and Philadelphia from Italian ports of Genoa, Palermo and Naples throughout her career. Overall, she transported almost 100,000 people between the start of her service in 1908 and the outbreak of the World War I, most of them in steerage. When World War I broke out in August 1914, Italy initially stayed neutral, but many Italians travelled from America back to their home country, many of them on Ancona. After Italy's entry into the war in May 1915, there was another surge in the number of Italians returning home to take part in the hostilities. Ancona departed for her final eastward transatlantic voyage from New York for Naples on 16 October 1915 carrying 1,245 Italian reservists and about 5,000 tons of general cargo, including flour, beef and other provisions.[5]

The Sinking of the Ancona
Wreck location

In November 1915 Imperial Naval submarine SM U-38, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Max Valentiner, was raiding Allied shipping under the Austro-Hungarian flag as the German Empire was not then at war with Italy.

The Ancona had sailed from Naples for New York at 11.45 p.m. on Saturday, November 6th, 1915, under command of Capt. Massardo. The liner called at Messina on Sunday and embarked 130 more passengers, leaving again at 5 p.m. with a total of 446 on board of whom 163 were crew. On Monday, November 8th, when the Ancona was off Cape Carbonara, Tunisia she was sighted by the submarine at 38°14′N 10°08′E which gave chase and fired about 100 rounds at the liner. Later, at about 1 p.m., the liner was torpedoed. The boats were then hurriedly launched, but as the Ancona was still steaming slowly they capsized as soon as they reached the water. Several of the Ancona's boats were picked up by the French minelayer Pluton, which put out from Bizerta in the hope of rendering assistance.[6]

The death-toll was very heavy. The Ancona was fully booked. According to Hocking, one hundred and ninety-four persons, of whom 11 were American citizens, lost their lives. [6] In other versions as many as 300[lower-alpha 1] lives were lost, including twenty Americans.

Reaction to the Sinking

Coming as it did six months after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania off Ireland, the Ancona sinking added to a growing outrage in the US over unrestricted submarine warfare, and US Secretary of State Robert Lansing despatched a sternly-worded protest to Vienna. [8] After some delay the Austrians admitted that their submarine commander exceeded his instructions, but stated in extenuation of his action that he believed the Ancona to have been a transport. The shelling was admitted, but it was contended that only 16 rounds, and not 100 as stated by the Italians, were fired. The loss of life owing to the capsizing of the boats was due, not to any Austrian action, but to a foolhardy attempt to launch them whilst the liner was under way. [6]

After receiving no satisfactory response from Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Baron István Burián von Rajecz, in December 1915 the US demanded that the Habsburg government denounce the sinking and punish the U-boat commander responsible. Germany, then concerned to maintain American neutrality, advised Burián to accede to the US demands, and Vienna eventually agreed to pay an indemnity and assured Washington that the U-boat commander would be punished, although this was a meaningless promise since he was a German officer. Following the settlement of the affair, the Austro-Hungarian government requested that German submarines refrain from attacking passenger vessels while flying the Austrian flag.[8]

Burián's diplomatic accession to American demands angered Grand Admiral Anton Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, who had advocated taking a hard line following the sinking. Haus justified the sinking on the grounds that the Ancona could have been used on its return voyage from the US to transport armaments or Italian emigrants returning home to enlist in the Italian Army. Germany's decision in April 1916 to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare terminated the debate.[8]

Bibliography

Notes

  1. Sources differ on how many were killed. Messimer claims that 300 total were killed as well as 20 Americans[7] while The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia says that about 200 total died of which 9 of the dead were American.[8]
  1. Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motorships. London: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. 1911–1912.
  2. Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motorships. London: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. 1908–1909.
  3. Marine Engineer, v. 30, p.272 (1908)
  4. Marine Engineer, v. 30, p.377 (1908)
  5. The New York Times, 17 October 1915, p.16
  6. Charles Hocking (1969). Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. Messimer 2001, p. 194.
  8. Venzon & Miles 1999, p. 54.

References

  • Messimer, Dwight R. (2001). Find and Destroy: Antisubmarine Warfare in World War I. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781557504470.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Total pages: 298
  • Venzon, Anne Cipriano; Miles, Paul L. (1999). The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780815333531.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) - Total pages: 830
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