SS ''Umbria'' (formerly SS ''Bahia Blanca'') was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

built in 1912 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which plied the routes between Europe and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. In 1918 the ship was acquired by the Argentinean Government and transported various goods (notably coal and agriculture products) across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

until 1934. In 1935 she was purchased by the Italian Government and renamed ''Umbria''. On 3 June 1940 she arrived at

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

which was controlled by the British. She was secretly carrying 6,000 tons of

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

s, 600 cases of

detonator A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...

s, 100 tons of various weapons, over 2,000 tons of cement and three Fiat 1100 cars. Although expected to enter the war, Italy was still technically neutral, so on 6 June ''Umbria'' was allowed to continue her way. On 9 June the British warships and HMS ''Leander'' forced ''Umbria'' to anchor at Wingate reef near

Port Sudan Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

on the pretext for searching for

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

. Shortly after that ''Umbria''s captain, Lorenzo Muiesan, heard on the radio that Italy had joined the war with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. He asked the British guards for permission to do a muster drill and with the help of the crew scuttled the ship. ''Umbria'' lies on her

port side A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

at a maximum depth of . She is often visited by

scuba diver Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

s and is considered to be one of the best

wreck dives Wreck diving is recreational diving where the shipwreck, wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to Sinking ships for wreck diving s ...

in the world.Transporte A.R.A. "BAHIA BLANCA"
/ref> File:SS Umbria stern view.jpg, Stern view of the wreck File:SS Umbria electric panel.jpg, Electric panel in the engine room File:Bombs in SS Umbria.jpg, Bombs cargo in the wreck File:Ammunition in SS Umbria.jpg, Remains of ammunition cargo File:Cars in SS Umbria.jpg, Fiat 1100 cars

References

External links

The Umbria, the exciting story of one of the best wrecks in the world.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umbria Shipwrecks in the Red Sea World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Maritime incidents in June 1940 1911 ships