Constantinos (C. Sa 38)
SHIP PARTICULARS
FIRST NAME: "Constantinos"
TYPE: Small motor/sail ship (caique)
YEAR: 1919
COUNTRY: Greece
FIRST OWNER: G. Karmiris
SUBSEQUENT NAMES/OWNERS:
Date/Year of requsition N/A: "C. Sa 38" - Mittelmeerreederei GmbH, Hamburg (Germany)
Note: The ship's "new" name originated from the initials of the ship's original name (Constantinos), port of registry (Samos) and registry number (No. 38).
BUILDER: N/A
LOCATION OF YARD: N/A
YARD No: N/A
DATE OF LAUNCH: N/A
DATE OF COMPLETION: N/A
WEIGHT: 85 GRT (200 GRT/140 LDT according to the German archives)
LENGTH: N/A
BEAM: N/A
HEIGHT: N/A
SCREWS: 1
ENGINE: Diesel
SPEED: N/A
FATE
Sank by torpedo (November 19, 1943).
DETAILS
On November 19, 1943 the Constantinos departed from the island of Karpathos (Scarpanto) bound for the city of Agios Nikolaos, on the island of Crete, with 286 Italian POWs and an unknown number of crew members and German guards. At 15:08 the ship was at 35.17N 25.55E, off Cape Mohlos, when it came under gunfire by the Polish submarine ORP Sokol (N97), commanded by Kpt. Mar. Jerzy Koziolkowski. The surfacing submarine fired 4-5 shots from a distance of 3 nautical miles and then submerged, as the German auxiliary submarine chaser Möwe (110 GRT) arrived at the scene. When the German ship approached the Constantinos the submarine submerged and fired 3 torpedoes from 300m, while the crew of the Möwe responded by firing its Örlikon (naval gun) and machine guns. All torpedoes missed and the gunfire forced the ORP Sokol to submerge again and to fire another torpedo.The fourth torpedo found its target, causing severe damages to both ships, which were in parallel positions and very close to each other. The Constantinos sank first, soon followed by the Möwe.
LOSS OF LIFE
a) According to the archives of the German Naval Command of Crete there were no casualties onboard the two ships.
b) 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.
c) According to the book written by Gehrard Schreiber there were 100 Italian fatalities. However, it also reports no dead Italians from the sinking of the Agios Antonios (A.A. Kal. 89), which was also a victim of the OPR Sokol and sank in the same area on the same day with 80-110 casualties according to the the German Naval Command of Crete and the battle report of the lost vessel. Most probably this error was caused due to the vague report of the German Admiralty of the Aegean.
LOCATION OF WRECK
Unknown.
FIRST NAME: "Constantinos"
TYPE: Small motor/sail ship (caique)
YEAR: 1919
COUNTRY: Greece
FIRST OWNER: G. Karmiris
SUBSEQUENT NAMES/OWNERS:
Date/Year of requsition N/A: "C. Sa 38" - Mittelmeerreederei GmbH, Hamburg (Germany)
Note: The ship's "new" name originated from the initials of the ship's original name (Constantinos), port of registry (Samos) and registry number (No. 38).
BUILDER: N/A
LOCATION OF YARD: N/A
YARD No: N/A
DATE OF LAUNCH: N/A
DATE OF COMPLETION: N/A
WEIGHT: 85 GRT (200 GRT/140 LDT according to the German archives)
LENGTH: N/A
BEAM: N/A
HEIGHT: N/A
SCREWS: 1
ENGINE: Diesel
SPEED: N/A
FATE
Sank by torpedo (November 19, 1943).
DETAILS
On November 19, 1943 the Constantinos departed from the island of Karpathos (Scarpanto) bound for the city of Agios Nikolaos, on the island of Crete, with 286 Italian POWs and an unknown number of crew members and German guards. At 15:08 the ship was at 35.17N 25.55E, off Cape Mohlos, when it came under gunfire by the Polish submarine ORP Sokol (N97), commanded by Kpt. Mar. Jerzy Koziolkowski. The surfacing submarine fired 4-5 shots from a distance of 3 nautical miles and then submerged, as the German auxiliary submarine chaser Möwe (110 GRT) arrived at the scene. When the German ship approached the Constantinos the submarine submerged and fired 3 torpedoes from 300m, while the crew of the Möwe responded by firing its Örlikon (naval gun) and machine guns. All torpedoes missed and the gunfire forced the ORP Sokol to submerge again and to fire another torpedo.The fourth torpedo found its target, causing severe damages to both ships, which were in parallel positions and very close to each other. The Constantinos sank first, soon followed by the Möwe.
LOSS OF LIFE
a) According to the archives of the German Naval Command of Crete there were no casualties onboard the two ships.
b) 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.
c) According to the book written by Gehrard Schreiber there were 100 Italian fatalities. However, it also reports no dead Italians from the sinking of the Agios Antonios (A.A. Kal. 89), which was also a victim of the OPR Sokol and sank in the same area on the same day with 80-110 casualties according to the the German Naval Command of Crete and the battle report of the lost vessel. 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, Aris Bilalis
1. KTB Admiral Ägäis (German)
2. KTB Seeko Kreta (German)
3. Uboat.net
4. www.historisches-marinearchiv.de (File No: 20419a and 20420b)
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, Aris Bilalis
1. KTB Admiral Ägäis (German)
2. KTB Seeko Kreta (German)
3. Uboat.net
4. www.historisches-marinearchiv.de (File No: 20419a and 20420b)
5. www.polishnavy.pl/PMW/ships/submarines/sokol/operational.html