The shipwreck of Sperchios, a ship that sank in May 1945 off the island of Hydra, Greece, and claimed the lives of 98 passengers and crew, was discovered recently.
The shipwreck was located by the underwater research team of Kostas Thoktaridis at a depth of 153 meters northeast of Hydra.
“The wreck is located on the seabed bearing 2 degrees to the left and at a depth of 153 meters northeast of Hydra in international territorial waters,” Thoktaridis said.
He said that a 20mm gun the ship carried before its conversion from minesweeper to passenger vessel is still visible in the bow. The left anchor chain is absent, while the right is in place. A small vertical crack was found on the left side. There is also an open door around the middle of the ship.
The fateful journey that resulted in a shipwreck in Greece
On Holy Wednesday, May 2, 1945, at 17:00, Sperchios sailed from Piraeus bound for the Aegean islands of Syros, Samos, Chios and Lesvos.
Due to a lack of passenger ships the ship was used to transport military personnel and private citizens who planned to visit their homelands to celebrate Easter with their families.
The Piraeus Port Authority said there were 75 passengers on the ship but investigations which followed proved that dozens more were allowed to board.
Three hours into the journey it started to rain and passengers who were not in sheltered areas began to move to the left, against the crew’s advice.
The skipper was not on the bridge and when he realized that the helmsman had taken a dangerous course bringing the ship close to a WWII minefield, he turned the rudder to the right.
Sperchios lost its stability, banked to the left, and overturned. Within minutes the sea covered the overturned ship, which sank with its bow, taking with it those onboard who who did not have time to react.
The ship’s radio operator did not have time to send a distress signal, there were no ships in the wider area and those who managed to stay afloat swam for hours without life jackets fighting to stay alive.
The Akropolis newspaper of the time reported: “20 castaways held on to a barrel for hours until the cold and exhaustion paralyzed their hands . . . only 7 finally managed to survive and were rescued.”
After the disaster, the Maritime Court of Piraeus sentenced the captain of the ship to six months in prison with a three-year suspension while the rest of the defendants were acquitted.
The Sperchios was built in 1912 at Smith’s Dock in Middlesbrough, England as a whaler. It was originally named Noble Nora and measured 32 meters long and 6.4 meters wide.
In June 1917 she was commissioned by the British Navy and fitted out as a patrol boat. In April 1941 she received the designator FY.189. In September 1943 she was handed over to the Hellenic Navy.
Related: 19th Century Shipwreck in Greece Identified as the Italian Ship “Taormina”