| History | |
|---|---|
| The Netherlands, Italy | |
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Ordered | 1939 |
| Builder | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CRDA) |
| Yard number | 1,233 |
| Launched | 7 March 1940 |
| Completed | May 1940 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 449 ft 6 in (137.01 m)p/p471 ft (143.5 m)o/a |
| Beam | 60 ft 11 in (18.6 m) |
| Depth | 26 ft (8 m) |
| Installed power | 1,320NHP, 5,500bhp |
| Propulsion | FIATdiesel engine |
MVSebastiano Veniero, formerlyMVJason, was a 6,310 GRT cargo and passengermotor ship that was built inMonfalcone,Italy in 1940. In 1941 she was requisitioned by Germany.[1] On 9 December, 1941 she was damaged by aRoyal Navy submarine in theMediterranean Sea, killing at least 300UK andDominionprisoners of war, and possibly many more. She did not sink but was beached on the coast of thePeloponnese, where she was torpedoed again a week later and became a total loss.
Lloyd Triestino ordered the ship in 1939 fromCantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CRDA) of Fiume.
She had a six cylinderFIATdiesel engine and a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h).[2]
Lloyd Triestino could not afford to pay for the ship, so CRDA sold her to Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij Oceaan (NSMO), the Dutch subsidiary of the UK shipping companyBlue Funnel Line.[3] NSMO followed Blue Funnel's policy of naming its ships after figures fromGreek antiquity andmythology.Sebastiano Veniero was renamedJason after themythological character of the same name.
Jason began hersea trials on 9 May 1940, before Italy entered the Second World War. But the next dayGermany invaded the Netherlands, and Italian authorities seized her and assigned her to the Italian shipping company Società Italiana di Armamento (Sidarma). She was renamedSebastiano Veniero after a 16th-centuryVenetian admiral andDoge,Sebastiano Venier (1496–1578). Her NSMO crew travelled toMarseille, whence the Blue Funnel shipPerseus repatriated them to the UK.[3]
On 9 December 1941 the ship was carrying about 2,000 UK and Dominion PoWs from North Africa tooccupied Europe when the Royal NavyGrampus-classsubmarineHMS Porpoise torpedoed her off the south coast of thePeloponnese about 5 nautical miles (9 km) south ofPylos. Many of the PoWs were in her cargo holds, two of which were quickly flooded by the torpedo explosion.[4] One source gives different figures for the total number of prisoners killed: either 300 or 450–500.[5]
The holds were opened to release trapped PoWs and the damaged ship was beached close toMethoni Castle on CapeMethoni.[6] Many PoWs jumped into the sea and took their chance to swim to the rocky shore. ASouth Africanlance corporal, Bernard Friedlander of the 3rd Battalion,Transvaal Scottish Regiment, swam ashore with a rope, which took him 90 minutes. The rope was then used to haul a cable ashore, which was made fast on land. Nearly 1,600 survivors then used the cable to reach safety.[5]
Sebastiano Veniero remained stranded at Methoni, and on 15 December theBritish T-classsubmarineHMS Torbay hit her with another torpedo.[5]
A German officer saw Friedlander's heroism on 9 December and recommended the lance corporal for a UK bravery award.[5] In July 1945 Friedlander was awarded theGeorge Medal.[7] In 1947King George VI toured South Africa, and at a ceremony inJohannesburg on 31 March personally decorated Friedlander with the medal.[5]
Accounts of the sinking of theSebastiano Veniero were recorded by several POWs on board. A book on the topic was published in 1983 entitledNo Honour No Glory by Spence Edge and Jim Henderson.
Loreto,Nino Bixio andScillin, Italian merchant ships sunk in similar circumstances, also killing many British and Empire PoWs.
36°49′N21°42′E / 36.817°N 21.700°E /36.817; 21.700
My Interesting Four years 1940 -1944 L.J. Read, Auckland Museum, NZ Army Museum
No Honour No Glory, The tragic Deaths of 162 Kiwi prisoners of War by Spence Edge & Jim Henderson ISBN 0 00 217208 9 Collins Publication
Fighting with the Enemy New Zealand POWs and the Italian Resistance by Susan Jacobs . ISBN O 14 301862 0 Penguin Publication
Prisoners Of War New Zealand In The Second World War, Official History by W. Wynne Mason Published by R.E. Owen Government Printer
