''Mario Roselli'' was an Italian cargo ship, confiscated by
Nazi Germany, which was sunk by Allied aircraft on 11 October 1943 in
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
Bay, killing 1,302 Italian
POWs.
Ship history
The ''Mario Roselli'' was built by
Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico in 1940. Launched on 25 April 1941, the ship was delivered to the customer on 22 April 1942 and seized the next day in Trieste by the
Italian Navy
"Fatherland and Honour"
, patron =
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
which incorporated it in its auxiliary war fleet.
Her first mission was the supply of Italian troops stationed in Libya, sailing between
Brindisi
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histo ...
and
Benghazi
Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...
. On 12 June 1942, on passage to Benghazi, the ship was substantially damaged by Allied aircraft and towed to
Taranto for repairs. On 19 December she returned to service on the route Naples - Palermo - Bizerte.
On 9 September 1943, the day after the
Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...
, ''Mario Roselli'' was confiscated by the Germans and used to transport Italian POWs to Venice and Trieste.
The disaster in Corfu Bay
On 9 October 1943 the ship arrived in Corfu to take some 5,500 Italian prisoners on board. They were transferred from shore to ship using small boats. At 7:15 on 10 October, when the boarding was almost finished, an Allied aircraft appeared and immediately attacked the ship and motorboats. One bomb hit a motorboat crammed with prisoners. Another fell directly through an open hatch into the hold of the ship crowded with Italians, and exploded, causing terrible carnage. The ship leaned towards starboard and took water. Surviving prisoners tried to escape by jumping into the sea, but many drowned. In total there were 1,302 victims.
The German guards opened fire on prisoners still on land who tried to escape.
The ''Mario Roselli'' was abandoned in the harbor, but was attacked again the next day and sank.
Recovery and reconstruction
In 1952 the wreck of the ''Mario Roselli'' was salvaged and towed to
Monfalcone for reconstruction. She had a second career between 1952 and 1972, when she was sold to be scrapped in England.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Roselli
Maritime incidents in October 1943
Maritime disasters
1941 ships
Ships sunk by aircraft
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
Troop ships of Germany
Captured ships