SS City of Venice and the Mediterranean U-boat Attack of 1943
SS City of Venice was an ocean liner sunk by a U-boat attack in 1943, a loss that killed 22 crew and troops during the Second World War. Built in Belfast in 1924 for Ellerman Lines, she served as a troop transport before being torpedoed off the Algerian coast while carrying Canadian infantry and military supplies to support the invasion of Sicily.
Design and Service History
Workman, Clark and Company launched City of Venice on 6 February 1924 and completed her that April. The ship measured 455.2 feet long with a beam of 58.1 feet and a draught of 34 feet. Her original quadruple-expansion steam engine produced 819 nominal horsepower, giving her a modest cruising speed.
In 1933, Ellerman Lines upgraded the vessel with a steam turbine and electric transmission system. Exhaust steam from the piston engine drove the turbine, which powered an electric generator connected to an electric motor on the same shaft as the main engine. This hybrid arrangement improved fuel efficiency and raised total power to 972 nominal horsepower, an increase of 19 per cent, allowing the ship to reach 13.5 knots. The company also fitted her with wireless direction finding around 1933 and an echo sounding device by 1934.
Wartime Duties
During the Second World War, City of Venice transported troops and supplies across the Atlantic and through the Mediterranean to support British operations in Africa, India and Egypt. In 1941 she made a single voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, before returning to Liverpool as part of Convoy HX 146. After the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, she began regular runs between the Clyde and Mediterranean ports, often sailing with minimal escort protection.
The Torpedo Attack
On 24 June 1943, City of Venice departed the Clyde as part of Convoy KMS 18B, carrying 292 infantry from the 1st Canadian Division, ten naval personnel, and 700 tons of military equipment including the landing craft HMS LCE-14. Her mission was to support Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily scheduled for early July.
At 20.47 hours on 4 July, the convoy was steering a zigzag course at 7 knots off the Algerian coast, roughly 10 miles north of Cape Ténès. The German U-boat U-409 fired a single torpedo that struck the ship’s starboard side at number two hold. The impact blew open the hull, destroyed one lifeboat, and ignited fuel from military vehicles stored below. The explosion damaged the auxiliary pump and deck water service pipes, allowing water to flood into number three hold as well. The ship began to settle by the bow.
Abandonment and Rescue
Captain James Wyper ordered the crew to abandon ship using six lifeboats while he remained aboard with a skeleton crew of 25 to 30 men to fight the fire. Lifeboat number six was launched too hastily and swamped, drowning two lascar crew members. Nineteen rafts and two floats were also deployed, and by 21.30 hours all personnel except the skeleton crew had left the vessel.
Around 22.00 hours, lifeboat number eight attempted a rescue operation but then came alongside the River-class frigate HMS Teviot for evacuation. The lifeboat became fouled on Teviot’s starboard quarter, capsized and threw all 60 occupants into the sea. Among those killed were Captain Wyper, eight crew members, one DEMS gunner, and nine Canadian troops with their commanding officer. HMS Teviot rescued 204 survivors, while the Flower-class corvette HMS Rhododendron and the rescue tug Restive picked up the remainder. The survivors were landed at Algiers on 5 July. City of Venice sank at 05.30 hours that morning, burning from bow to stern.
Identification and Legacy
For many years, historians believed U-375 was responsible for sinking City of Venice. Later research showed this could not be correct based on the timing of the attack, and U-409 was confirmed as the attacking boat. U-409 herself was sunk a week later, with the loss of 11 of her 48 crew.
City of Venice was one of at least three ships that Ellerman Lines named after the Italian city. An earlier sailing ship built in 1867 was wrecked in 1871, and a steamship launched in 1875 was scrapped in 1912.
Further Reading
Wikipedia and maritime archives hold detailed records of wartime convoy operations, U-boat patrols and the losses sustained during the Mediterranean campaign of 1943.
