#empressofcanada

[sandyhookhistory]

"Fratricide In The Fog Of War" Eighty Years Ago Today - The night of Saturday the 13th into Sunday the 14th, approximately 400 miles soutth of Cape Palmas, Liberia, Africa: The 21,500 ton "SS Empress Of Canada" is running south. A beautiful pre-war ocean liner, she's been pressed into service as a troop ship. Her primary route for the last three years has been hauling Australian and New Zealand ("ANZAC") Soldiers across the Indian Ocean, around Cape Horn, and allllll the way up the west coast of Africa to the combat zone in Europe and the Mediterranean. On the return voyage, available space is used efficiently. Specifically, there are 1,800 souls on board her. She's carrying refugees from Poland and Greece, along with a large number of Italian prisoners. If you're already thinking this can't be good, and something is about to go wrong, you're correct. Out of nowhere comes a torpedo spread, not from a German U-Boat, but the "Leonardo da Vinci," a Marconi-Class submarine of the Regia Marina, the Fascist Italian Navy. The hits are fatal... Empress Of Canada goes to the bottom in shark infested waters. The sinking and the sharks take their toll, but incredibly, for all those onboard, casualties are "relatively" light under the circumstances - only 392 dead. Sadly, in this act of fratricide, 149 of those are some of the Italian POWs. Just another day... 🇺🇲🇺🇲 ** Please Like & Follow "Sandy Hook History" on Facebook & Instagram for more amazing maritime and military histories of the Garden State and New York Harbor as well as a review of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle Of The Atlantic and World War 2** 🇺🇲🇺🇲 Photos: 1,nineteenkeys.blogspot.com; 2, sharkattackfile.net #visitmonmouth #newjerseybuzz #thejournalnj #locallivingnj #journeythroughjersey #centraljerseyexists #discovernj #yesnj #newjerseyhistory #newjerseyforyou #sandyhookbeach #sandyhooknj #sandyhookhistory #forthancockhistory #forthancock #battleoftheatlantic #empressofcanada #oceanliner #canadianpacificsteamships #canadianpacific #leonardodavinci #marconiclass #regiamarina #fascistitaly #fratricide #troopship #torpedoattack #sharkattack #lifeboat #lifeboats (at Fort Hancock, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpy37-Rtnar/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=