Eritrea (ship)

Eritrea (ship)

The Italian colonial ship "Eritrea" was constructed in the Castellammare Shipyards. Construction started in 1935 and she was commissioned in 1937.

Design

"Eritrea" was constructed for duties as a typical "colonial ship" and was sometimes referred to as a "sloop." She had a novel diesel-electric machinery outfit designed to maximise range.

She was armed with four 120 mm guns, two 40 mm guns, and two 13.2 mm machine guns. The ship also had an extensive engineering workshop on board and could provide repair support to Italian submarines based in East Africa.

A modified sister ship to be called "Etiopia" was planned, but cancelled on the outbreak of war.

ervice

Following Italy's declaration of war on 10 June 1940, colonial ship "Eritrea" became part of the Italian Royal Navy ("Regia Marina"). "Eritrea" was part of the Italian Navy's Red Sea Flotilla located at the port of Massawa in Eritrea.

In February 1941, as the East African Campaign started to go badly for the Italians, Massawa, the home port for "Eritrea" became more endangered. Along with . The submarine had just arrived from occupied France after a long and difficult voyage. As soon as the Reuters message about the surrender of Italy was picked up by the crew of "Eritrea", the vessel changed course at once and headed at full speed to Colombo in Ceylon to surrender when it was intercepted and escorted to Colombo by units of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force. "Eritrea" passed by Sumatra and escaped despite the presence of the Japanese aerial and naval units.

After the war, "Eritrea" was turned over to France. The French Navy used "Eritrea" in colonial service with the name "Francis Garnier". "Francis Garnier" was then declassed to become a target ship. She was sunk during an air attack drill in Pacific Ocean in 1966.

ee also

* Italian Royal Navy - "Eritrea"
* French Navy - "Francis Garnier"
* East African Campaign
* Armed merchantmen
* Merchant raider
* Commerce raider
* Francis Garnier - French Explorer
* "Francis Garnier" - French Light Ferry Ship launched in 1973

References

Conway's "All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946"

External links

* [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-503.htm Sesuikan]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Economy of Eritrea — Eritrean nakfa Rank 153rd Currency 1 nakfa (ERN) = 100 cent …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of Eritrea — …   Wikipedia

  • Transport in Eritrea — This article summarizes characteristics of a number of forms of transport in the coastal African nation of Eritrea. Railways . Rehabilitation of the remainder and of the rolling stock has occurred in recent years. By 2003 the line had been… …   Wikipedia

  • Italian ship Ramb I — The Italian ship Ramb I was a pre war banana boat that was converted to be an auxiliary cruiser during World War II. The Ramb I operated in the area around the Horn of Africa. It was sunk before it could take a single prize. [Miller, War at Sea:… …   Wikipedia

  • Italian ship Ramb IV — The Ramb IV was an Italian hospital ship, built at Monfalcone by the Re United Yards of the Adriatic ( Cantieri Riuniti dell Adriatico , CRDA) in 1938. Ramb IV was the last of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were… …   Wikipedia

  • Italian ship Ramb II — The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb II was built at Monfalcone by the Re United Yards of the Adriatic ( Cantieri Riuniti dell Adriatico , CRDA) in 1937. Ramb II was the second of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were …   Wikipedia

  • Italian ship Ramb III — The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb III was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1938. Ramb III was the third of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were the . The four ships were built for the Royal Banana Monopoly Business (… …   Wikipedia

  • Military Affairs — ▪ 2009 Introduction        Russia and Georgia fought a short, intense war in 2008, fueling global fears of a new Cold War. On August 7 Georgia launched an aerial bombardment and ground attacks against its breakaway province of South Ossetia.… …   Universalium

  • Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — The official emblem of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as designed by Rishi Suresh. Dates of operation May 5, 1976 – present Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran Motives The cr …   Wikipedia

  • East African Campaign (World War II) — Warbox conflict=East African Campaign partof=African Campaigns, World War II campaign= caption=Personnel from the King s African Rifles (KAR) collect weapons (mostly Carcano 1891 rifles) captured from Italian forces at Wolchefit Pass, Ethiopia,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”