SS Portugal (1886)

The SS Portugal (Russian: госпитальное судно "Португаль") was a steam ship originally built by a French shipping company, but requisitioned for use as a Russian hospital ship during the First World War. On March 30 [O.S. March 17] 1916 she was sunk by a torpedo from the German U-boat U-33.[2]

Russian hospital ship Portugal
Russian hospital ship Portugal
History
Imperial Russia
NamePortugal
OwnerBrazil and River Plate Line
OperatorImperial Russian Navy
BuilderMessageries Maritimes Company, La Ciotat
Yard number63
LaunchedJuly 1886
FateSunk by a torpedo from the U-boat U-33 on March 30 [O.S. March 17] 1916.[1]
General characteristics
TypeCruise liner
Tonnage5357 tons
Displacement7720 tons
Length460 ft (140 m)
Beam46 ft (14 m)
Installed power4800 HP
PropulsionTriple expansion engine
Speed16.5 knots
Capacity

History

She was originally built in 1886 for the Brazil and River Plate Line of the Messageries Maritimes Company. She was chartered or purchased by the Russians for use as a hospital ship in the Black Sea.[3] The ship, serviced to take up wounded soldiers along the sea shore Ardeshen, Rize Port, Fakhtia, Tiribon and Of, the ship could have the chance to make only 5 voyages, beginning on 27 February, 1916.[4]

Sinking
The sinking of the HS Portugal


Georgian princess Aneta Andronnikova, one of the Red Cross nurses who died in the Portugal incident.

March 30 [O.S. March 17] 1916, 1916, Portugal was towing a string of small flat-bottomed boats to ferry wounded from the shore to the ship. Off Rizeh, on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea, she had stopped as one of the small boats was sinking and repairs were being made. The ship was not carrying wounded at the time, but had a staff of Red Cross physicians and nurses on board, as well as her usual crew.[5]

The ship's crew saw a periscope approaching the vessel but as the ship was a hospital ship and protected by the Hague conventions no evasive actions were taken. Without warning the submarine fired a torpedo which missed. The U-boat, U-33, came around again fired a torpedo from a distance of 30 feet, which hit near the engine room, breaking the ship into two pieces.[5]

Vperiod

On July 8 [O.S. June 25] 1916, another Russian hospital ship, named Vperiod (Вперёд; also transcribed, French-style, as Vperiode) was sunk between Rizeh and Batum, allegedly by German U-boat U-38. The boat was not carrying wounded, as she was on her trip to the frontline. Seven people died, the rest were saved.[6]

The Russian government claimed that Turkish forces sank Portugal,[7] and Vperiod.[8] The Turkish government replied that both ships were sunk by mines.[7]

See also

References
  1. NY Times article directly after incident, retrieved Dec 31, 2009
  2. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Portugal". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
  3. TURAN, RESUL (2018-11-13). "I. DÜNYA SAVAŞINDA KARADENİZ'DE BATIRILAN BİR KIZILHAÇ GEMİSİ: PORTUGAL". Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi: 185–202. doi:10.18220/kid.482227. ISSN 2146-4642.
  4. TURAN, RESUL (2018-11-13). "I. DÜNYA SAVAŞINDA KARADENİZ'DE BATIRILAN BİR KIZILHAÇ GEMİSİ: PORTUGAL". Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi: 185–202. doi:10.18220/kid.482227. ISSN 2146-4642.
  5. The War on hospital ships, from the narratives of eye-witnesses (1917) (1917 ed.). London : T. Fisher Unwin. 1917. p. 1. - Call number: SRLF_UCLA:LAGE-3563453
  6. П.Г.Усенко (P.G.Usenko), IСТОРIЇ ВЕЛИКОЇ ВIЙНИ 1914–1917 рр. НА ЧОРНОМУ МОРI (From the history of the Great War of the 1914-1917 on the Black Sea). Page 80. (in Ukrainian)
  7. Cemalettin Taskiran (1 March 2003). "Allied Attacks On Turkish Patients & Wounded". The Journal of the Turkish Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  8. "Peace Movement Diverts Attention at Year's End from Battlefields to Chancelleries of Belligerents and Principal Neutral Capitals" (PDF). The New York Times. December 31, 1916. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
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