SS Citta Di Palermo

[the gunners dream]

Hi there,

Can anyone give me any more info on this ship which was sunk in Jan 16? The info below came from the CWGC site.

SS Citta Di Palermo, an Italian transport carrying Commonwealth troops, sunk by mine off Brindisi on 8 January 1916. In rescuing survivors, two Royal Naval Otranto drifters were themselves mined and blown up.

Many thanks,

Steve

[Terence Munson]

Steve - This for starters. From Disasters at Sea:

CITTA DI PALERMO

Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways}; 1910; Cant. Nav.

Riuniti; 3,415 tons; 363-6x42-1x18-9; 20 knots; turbine

engines.

The Cittd di Palermo left Brindisi on the morning of January 8th,

1916, with a number of troops for Durazzo, including a British

contingent of four officers and 139 other ranks. At 8.30 a.m., when

six miles N.E. of Brindisi, the vessel ran into a small minefield. She

struck one of the mines and foundered almost at once. Fortunately a

number of minesweepers were in the vicinity and they came to the

rescue with great promptitude.

The number on board the Cittd di Palermo was just over 200, of

whom about half were saved including 84 British.

Cheers, Terry

[the gunners dream]

Thanks Terry.

Steve

[Terence Munson]

Steve - The two Drifters were:

H. M. Drifter Morning Star - Nine casualties including Skipper Peter Buchan and his son age 16 also called Peter.

and

H. M. Drifter Freunchy (as spelled by J.J. Colledge) or Freuchny or Frenchny - Eight casualties. CWGC also has variations of this drifter's name.

Cheers, Terry

[Mark Hone]

There have been a couple of previous threads about the sinking of this vessel, so try the search facility. This is the entry on my Bury Virtual war memorial in respect of Bury Grammar School old boy Herbert Hartley. The information on the sinking was kindly provided by our own John Hartley (apparently no relation):

Corporal H. Hartley (22), late of Walmersley Road, Bury, of 605 Motor Transport Company, A.S.C., lost his life in the sinking of the S.S. Città-de-Palermo in the Lower Adriatic on January 8th, 1916. He was a Grammar School old boy, and his name is on the roll of honour at St Marks Church, Bury.

NOTE: SS Citta di Palermo was an Italian ship carrying 143 British troops from Brindisi, thought to be heading for the Salonika theatre of war in northern Greece. No-one knew that weeks before, on 10 December 1915, mines had been laid outside the harbour by a small German minelaying submarine, UC14, under the command of Oblt. S Casar Bauer. As the Citta di Palermo left harbour, bound initially for Durazzo in Albania, it hit a mine and sank. Several Royal Navy drifters went to help survivors and three also hit mines. They were the Frenchy, Cravenwood and Morning Star. 57 lives were lost on the troopship.

Commemorated on Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton.

[the gunners dream]

Thanks Mark,

Funnily enough my man was also 605 MTC. This one:

Name: QUANTRELL, HARRY NORMAN VICTOR

Initials: H N V

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: Army Service Corps

Unit Text: 605th M.T. Coy.

Age: 19

Date of Death: 08/01/1916

Service No: M2/035276

Additional information: Son of James and Eliza M. A. Quantrell, of Britannia Cottage, Woodman Road, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Memorial: HOLLYBROOK MEMORIAL, SOUTHAMPTON

Steve

[Mark Hone]

A quick glance at 'Soldiers Died...' indicates that almost all the soldiers who died in the sinking of the Citta Di Palermo were ASC.

[the gunners dream]

I had a quick glance at SDGW and the CWGC database, most of the men I looked at were either 259, 273 or 605 MTC. The largest number coming from 605.

Steve