Agios Antonios (A.A. Kal 89)
SHIP PARTICULARS
FIRST NAME: "Agios Antonios"
TYPE: Small motor/sail ship (caique)
YEAR: N/A
COUNTRY: Greece
FIRST OWNER: N/A
SUBSEQUENT NAMES/OWNERS:
09/09/1943: "A.A. Kal 89" - Mittelmeerreederei GmbH, Hamburg (Germany)
Note: The ship's "new" name originated from the initials of the ship's original name (Agios Antonios), port of registry (Kalamata) and registry number (No. 89).
BUILDER: N/A
LOCATION OF YARD: N/A
YARD No: N/A
DATE OF LAUNCH: N/A
DATE OF COMPLETION: N/A
WEIGHT: 70 GRT
LENGTH: N/A
BEAM: N/A
HEIGHT: N/A
SCREWS: 1
ENGINE: MEK Diesel (90 NHP)
SPEED: N/A
FATE
Sank by torpedo explosion (November 19, 1943).
DETAILS
On November 19, 1943 the Agios Antonios departed from the island of Karpathos (Scarpanto) bound for the city of Agios Nikolaos, on the island of Crete, with 208 Italian POWs and a crew of 11 (7 Germans, 4 Greeks). The small ship approached the norhern coast of Crete and sailed passed Cape Sidero at dawn. In the area between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia the Agios Antonios came under gunfire by the Polish submarine ORP Sokol (N97), commanded by Kpt. Mar. Jerzy Koziolkowski. The surfacing submarine fired a total of 9 shots from a distance of 2 nautical miles, forcing the crew of the Agios Antonios to run aground intentionally in order to seek safety on land. Then the submarine surfaced completely and fired a torpedo which missed its target and exploded on the coast. A second torpedo was fired and exploded near the grounded vessel, causing its sinking and many human casualties.
LOSS OF LIFE
a) According to the archives of the German Naval Command of Crete aprox. 80 Italians lost their lives and one German was seriously wounded.
b) The battle report of the Agios Antonios gives more specific figures: Italians (208): 110 dead/60 wounded (most of them seriously), Germans (4): 4 wounded (1 seriously), Greeks (7): 2 wounded.
c) The archives of the German Admiralty of the Aegean state aprox. 100 Italian casualties in total at the conclusion of the report of the sinking of both the Agios Antonios and the Constantinos, without more clarifications. This may have caused the error in Gehrard Scheiber's book, discussed below.
d) According to the book written by Gehrard Schreiber there were no Italian fatalities. However, it also reports 100 dead Italians from the sinking of the Constantinos (C. Sa. 38), which was also a victim of the OPR Sokol and sank in the same area on the same day with no casualties, according to the German Naval Command of Crete. Most probably this error was caused due to the vague report of the German Admiralty of the Aegean.
LOCATION OF WRECK
Unknown.
FIRST NAME: "Agios Antonios"
TYPE: Small motor/sail ship (caique)
YEAR: N/A
COUNTRY: Greece
FIRST OWNER: N/A
SUBSEQUENT NAMES/OWNERS:
09/09/1943: "A.A. Kal 89" - Mittelmeerreederei GmbH, Hamburg (Germany)
Note: The ship's "new" name originated from the initials of the ship's original name (Agios Antonios), port of registry (Kalamata) and registry number (No. 89).
BUILDER: N/A
LOCATION OF YARD: N/A
YARD No: N/A
DATE OF LAUNCH: N/A
DATE OF COMPLETION: N/A
WEIGHT: 70 GRT
LENGTH: N/A
BEAM: N/A
HEIGHT: N/A
SCREWS: 1
ENGINE: MEK Diesel (90 NHP)
SPEED: N/A
FATE
Sank by torpedo explosion (November 19, 1943).
DETAILS
On November 19, 1943 the Agios Antonios departed from the island of Karpathos (Scarpanto) bound for the city of Agios Nikolaos, on the island of Crete, with 208 Italian POWs and a crew of 11 (7 Germans, 4 Greeks). The small ship approached the norhern coast of Crete and sailed passed Cape Sidero at dawn. In the area between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia the Agios Antonios came under gunfire by the Polish submarine ORP Sokol (N97), commanded by Kpt. Mar. Jerzy Koziolkowski. The surfacing submarine fired a total of 9 shots from a distance of 2 nautical miles, forcing the crew of the Agios Antonios to run aground intentionally in order to seek safety on land. Then the submarine surfaced completely and fired a torpedo which missed its target and exploded on the coast. A second torpedo was fired and exploded near the grounded vessel, causing its sinking and many human casualties.
LOSS OF LIFE
a) According to the archives of the German Naval Command of Crete aprox. 80 Italians lost their lives and one German was seriously wounded.
b) The battle report of the Agios Antonios gives more specific figures: Italians (208): 110 dead/60 wounded (most of them seriously), Germans (4): 4 wounded (1 seriously), Greeks (7): 2 wounded.
c) The archives of the German Admiralty of the Aegean state aprox. 100 Italian casualties in total at the conclusion of the report of the sinking of both the Agios Antonios and the Constantinos, without more clarifications. This may have caused the error in Gehrard Scheiber's book, discussed below.
d) According to the book written by Gehrard Schreiber there were no Italian fatalities. However, it also reports 100 dead Italians from the sinking of the Constantinos (C. Sa. 38), which was also a victim of the OPR Sokol and sank in the same area on the same day with no casualties, according to the German Naval Command of Crete. Most probably this error was caused due to the vague report of the German Admiralty of the Aegean.
LOCATION OF WRECK
Unknown.
The crew of the ORP SOKOL (N 97) with their "Jolly Roger" flag reporting their victories. On the left there are white (sunk enemy ship) and red (sunk enemy warship) stripes. The stripe with the swastika indicates a ship sank before the Italian Armistice. On the right there are red stars positioned around a pair of white guns (each star indicates a gunfire battle), then a white net (indicating the forcing of an antisubmarine net) and finally the white pairs of swords (successful abordages). [Wikipedia]
SOURCES
Primary sources (German archives) and original research by Dimitris Galon.
Additional information by Michail Michailakis.
1. KTB Admiral Ägäis (German)
2. KTB Seeko Kreta (German)
3. Battle report of Kal. 89 (German)
4. Uboat.net
5. www.polishnavy.pl/PMW/ships/submarines/sokol/operational.html
Primary sources (German archives) and original research by Dimitris Galon.
Additional information by Michail Michailakis.
1. KTB Admiral Ägäis (German)
2. KTB Seeko Kreta (German)
3. Battle report of Kal. 89 (German)
4. Uboat.net
5. www.polishnavy.pl/PMW/ships/submarines/sokol/operational.html