Donizetti
SHIP PARTICULARS
FIRST NAME: "Gaetano Donizetti"
TYPE: Passenger/Cargo ship
YEAR: 1928
COUNTRY: Italy
FIRST OWNER: Tirrenia (Societa' Anonima Di Navigazione Tirrenia), Rijeka, Fiume, Italy
SUBSEQUENT NAMES/OWNERS:
1943: "Donizetti" / German Government
BUILDER: Cantieri Navali Triestino
LOCATION OF YARD: Monfalcone, Italy
YARD No: 195
DATE OF LAUNCH: 17-10-1928
DATE OF COMPLETION: December 1928
WEIGHT: 2424 GRT
LENGTH: 85.7 m
BEAM: 12.3 m
HEIGHT: 6.4 m
SCREWS: 1
ENGINE: Diesel
SPEED: 12 knots
FATE
Sank by gunfire from British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Fury (September 23, 1943).
DETAILS
On September 19, 1943 the Donizetti entered the harbour at Rhodes, in order to embark a large number of Italians (mostly sailors and Officers of the Italian Navy and some men of the Italian Air Force) who had to be evacuated from the island as Military Internees. The embarkation was prepared by Commander Andriano Arcangioli and started at noon, three days later (September 22). One of the Italian Navy Officers who were observing the operation, Captain Giovanni Marabotto, soon noticed that the number of the embarked men was very high. In fact, the Donizzeti had been used as troop transport by the Italian Navy in the past, so he knew that the ship could carry about 700 men with safety. Captain Marabotto protested to the German Officer on duty, stating that it would be inhuman to let the ship sail in this conditions. The German Officer made a phone call and the embarkation stopped when more than 1500 men were already onboard. At 21:00 the Donizetti sailed for Pireaus escorted by the destroyer TA 10, commanded by Oberleutnant Jobst Hahndorff.
The two ships followed a southwestern course, sailing near the coastline of Rhodes. During the first hours of September 23 two British destroyers, the HMS Eclipse and the HMS Fury were patrolling the strait between the islands of Rhodes and Karpathos (a.k.a Scarpanto), when their radars captured the profiles of the Donizetti and of her escort. The British ships attacked immediately their slow-moving targets inflicting massive damages. Not being able to defend, since she was not armed, the Donizetti sank in minutes with no survivors. Although the TA 10 was armed with two 100mm guns she was unable to provide serious resistance and was badly damaged by the gunfire. However, the crew managed to beach her near the islet of Prassonisi and many men of her crew were saved.
The LA POMONE was a La Melpomène-class destroyer of the French Navy, launched on Jan.25, 1935.She was captured by the Italians on Dec. 8, 1942 at Bizerte (Tunisia) and was renamed FR 42. On Apr. 6, 1943 she was transferred to the German Navy and was renamed TA 10. She was heavily damaged by enemy gunfire from the British dstroyer HMS ECLIPLSE, while escorting the DONIZETTI off the island of Rhodes. The crew managed to beach the ship but she was eventually scuttled on Sep.27, 1943. [www.schlachtschiffe.de]
LOSS OF LIFE
a) The book written by Gehrard Schreiber gives 1584 dead internees and no survivors.
Victims: 1584 (internees) + Survivors: 0 (internees) = Total: 1584 (internees)
b) George Duncan's website gives 1796 people (1576 internees plus 220 German soldiers and crew) on the Donizetti and no survivors after the sinking.
Victims: 1796 + Survivors: 0 = Total: 1796 (crew & Internees)
c) According to a well-researched article written by Luciano Alberghini Maltoni, the Donizetti was carrying 1835 Italians (1110 sailors, 600 airmen, 114 non-commisioned Officers and 11 Officers). No survivors were found.
Victims: 1835 (internees) + Survivors: 0 (internees) = Total: 1835 (internees)
It seems that the Donizetti and the men she was carrying in her holds were lost without leaving any trace. However, there is a reference to the possible existence of at least 30 survivors. In the personal archive of Kostas Thoctarides, a Greek diver and reseacher, there is a report by Colonel Italo Felici containing a statement by Sailor Cristoforo Luciano who was interned at the Sidi Bel Abis prison camp (Algeria) in October 1943. There he met two Italian sailors who claimed that they were survivors from the Donizetti and that they had been rescued by a British destroyer with another 30 survivors. This information was never officially confirmed by the British.
Since the Germans had not kept any records during the embarkation, the names of the Italian internees lost in the disaster remained unknown. During his research Kostas Thoctarides' found that the Italian authorities managed to provide a list with the names of 122 airmen and 28 men of the Italian Navy. The names were:
ITALIAN NAVY:
Ten. Art. Papa Giovanni
Ten. Art. Keller Mario
Secondo capo mecc. Lora Giuseppe
Secondo capo mecc. Gargiolli Ubaldo
Sergente Meazza Bruno-Marinaio Pitoni ?
S.D.T. Bevilacqua
Furiere Bresaan Romano
Sergente Dell’ Omarino Alfredo
Sottonocchiere Nunziante Francesco
Ten. Art. Clerici-Sottotenente art. Massina Adolo
Secondo capo fur. Scarpa Giovanni
Secondo capo cann. Mattini Giovanni
Capo cann. Filoni Pietro
Marinaio Piunti Giovanni
Marinaio Fratta Carmine
Cann. Bernardi Luigi
Marinaio Scialoni Cesare
Fuochista Verde Angelo
Marinaio Iacolacci Valerio
Marinaio Saberti Antonio
Marinaio Lancellotto Mario
Telefonista Settembre Domenico.
ITALIAN AIR FORCE [incomplete]:
Av. elettr. Casal Riccardo
Primo av. elettr. Cetica Giorgio.
LOCATION OF WRECK
The wreck of the Donizetti is located off the western coast of Rhodes. Greek diver Kostas Thoctarides has side-scan sonar images showing that the ship is broken in two pieces (depth 105 m).
a) The book written by Gehrard Schreiber gives 1584 dead internees and no survivors.
Victims: 1584 (internees) + Survivors: 0 (internees) = Total: 1584 (internees)
b) George Duncan's website gives 1796 people (1576 internees plus 220 German soldiers and crew) on the Donizetti and no survivors after the sinking.
Victims: 1796 + Survivors: 0 = Total: 1796 (crew & Internees)
c) According to a well-researched article written by Luciano Alberghini Maltoni, the Donizetti was carrying 1835 Italians (1110 sailors, 600 airmen, 114 non-commisioned Officers and 11 Officers). No survivors were found.
Victims: 1835 (internees) + Survivors: 0 (internees) = Total: 1835 (internees)
It seems that the Donizetti and the men she was carrying in her holds were lost without leaving any trace. However, there is a reference to the possible existence of at least 30 survivors. In the personal archive of Kostas Thoctarides, a Greek diver and reseacher, there is a report by Colonel Italo Felici containing a statement by Sailor Cristoforo Luciano who was interned at the Sidi Bel Abis prison camp (Algeria) in October 1943. There he met two Italian sailors who claimed that they were survivors from the Donizetti and that they had been rescued by a British destroyer with another 30 survivors. This information was never officially confirmed by the British.
Since the Germans had not kept any records during the embarkation, the names of the Italian internees lost in the disaster remained unknown. During his research Kostas Thoctarides' found that the Italian authorities managed to provide a list with the names of 122 airmen and 28 men of the Italian Navy. The names were:
ITALIAN NAVY:
Ten. Art. Papa Giovanni
Ten. Art. Keller Mario
Secondo capo mecc. Lora Giuseppe
Secondo capo mecc. Gargiolli Ubaldo
Sergente Meazza Bruno-Marinaio Pitoni ?
S.D.T. Bevilacqua
Furiere Bresaan Romano
Sergente Dell’ Omarino Alfredo
Sottonocchiere Nunziante Francesco
Ten. Art. Clerici-Sottotenente art. Massina Adolo
Secondo capo fur. Scarpa Giovanni
Secondo capo cann. Mattini Giovanni
Capo cann. Filoni Pietro
Marinaio Piunti Giovanni
Marinaio Fratta Carmine
Cann. Bernardi Luigi
Marinaio Scialoni Cesare
Fuochista Verde Angelo
Marinaio Iacolacci Valerio
Marinaio Saberti Antonio
Marinaio Lancellotto Mario
Telefonista Settembre Domenico.
ITALIAN AIR FORCE [incomplete]:
Av. elettr. Casal Riccardo
Primo av. elettr. Cetica Giorgio.
LOCATION OF WRECK
The wreck of the Donizetti is located off the western coast of Rhodes. Greek diver Kostas Thoctarides has side-scan sonar images showing that the ship is broken in two pieces (depth 105 m).
SOURCES
I MILITARI
ITALIANI INTERNATI NEI CAMPI DI CONCENTRAMENTO DEL TERZO REICH 1943-1945: TRADITI, DISPREZZATI, DIMENTICATI - Gehrard Schreiber [Uff.Storico SME, Roma, 1992]
Personal archive of Kostas Thoctarides [Report by Colonel Italo Felici (Jan.3, 1946), Report by Captain Andriano Arcangioli (16/6/1945), Report signed by Captain Giovanni Marabotto]
STORIA MILITARE Magazine - Article by Luciano Alberghini Maltoni. [June 2002 issue]
HISTORICAL FACTS OF WWII by George Duncan
www.miramarshipindex.org.nz - Online ship index
www.wrecksite.eu - Online wreck index
I MILITARI
ITALIANI INTERNATI NEI CAMPI DI CONCENTRAMENTO DEL TERZO REICH 1943-1945: TRADITI, DISPREZZATI, DIMENTICATI - Gehrard Schreiber [Uff.Storico SME, Roma, 1992]
Personal archive of Kostas Thoctarides [Report by Colonel Italo Felici (Jan.3, 1946), Report by Captain Andriano Arcangioli (16/6/1945), Report signed by Captain Giovanni Marabotto]
STORIA MILITARE Magazine - Article by Luciano Alberghini Maltoni. [June 2002 issue]
HISTORICAL FACTS OF WWII by George Duncan
www.miramarshipindex.org.nz - Online ship index
www.wrecksite.eu - Online wreck index