DICTIONARY OF EGYPTIAN SHIPWRECKS-V

DICTIONARY OF EGYPTIAN SHIPWRECKS- V

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S.S. VELORE

The Vellore was a steel hulled steam powered cargo ship of 4,926 Grt. built at Russell & Co., Port Glasgow (Yard No. 564) for the Vellore Steam Ship Co., Ltd., (Gow, Harrison & Co.), Glasgow. The ship, which was launched 25 April 1907, and completed shortly thereafter, was 400 feet in length, 52 feet in beam, 27.3 feet in draught, and was propelled by triple expansion 3-cylinder engines (Rankin & Blackmore, Greenlock) providing an output of 369 nhp to a single propeller. Sister ship to the Brescia.

On 25 march 1917, the Vellore was sailing the Tyne-Alexandria route via Malta with a cargo of coal, when she was attacked, torpedoed and sunk by U-63 (Otto Schultze) approximately 20 miles Northwest-by-North of Alexandria and position 3.28N/29.37E in 400-450 meters of water. No casualties reported.
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S.S. VERIA

s. The Veria was a steel hulled steam cargo ship of 3,229 Grt built at Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd., Newcastle, England for the Cunard Steam Ship co., Ltd., Liverpool. She was launched 15 November 1898 and completed in April 1899 with a length of 100.8 meters, 13.8 meters in beam, powered by a a triple-expansion steam engine which provided 361 Nhp to a single screw. Cruising speed of 10.5 knots. The ship has a single funnel and 2 masts, and was able to carrying 2,150 tons in cargo. The ship was operated on the Mediterranean route in 1899 as a “Combi-cargo” vessel. In 1914 the ship was hired as a MOWT vessel, defensively armed, and used as a troop transport ship in WWI for the Royal Navy.

On 07 December 1915, while steaming in ballast on the Patras-Alexandria route, the Veria was captured by German submarine U-39 (Walter Forstmann) approximately 24 miles Northwest-byWest of Alexandria and was subsequently scuttled at position 31.30N/29.28E in approximately 800+ meters of water by the U-boat crew using four bombs attached to the ship’s hull. Master and Chief Engineer were taken prisoner.

 M.V. VIKI  K

A Greek general cargo vessel, built in 1952. The Viki K was a 5,936 GRT Cargo Ship originally built as the Poseidon at Flender Werken AG, Lübeck, Germany (Yard-No. 430) for Kohlen-Import & Poseidon Schiffahrt AG, Hamburg, Germany as the 39th ship of their fleet. Launched 18 December 1951 and completed in March of 1952, she had a length of 141.46 meters, beam of 18.27 meters, and draught of 6.99 meters. Propulsion was provided by a single 2-stroke 6-cylinder Howaldtswerke AG diesel engine and a single shaft for a speed of 13.5 knots. Normal crew compliment was 44 men, with accommodations for 10 passengers

Owned by the VIKKI Shipping Co. There are 3 reports of her sinking, the first puts her east of Tawilla Island, however the “official” report has her sinking east of Shadwan on the 2^nd Nov 1981 while on a voyage from Bilbao to Bandar Khomeini with a £4m cargo of steel and polyvinyl chloride. This report concludes that the crew of 15 was rescued by the bulk carrier Blue Danube, after abandoning the vessel in a “sinking condition”. As there was no further sighting of the vessel it was assumed sunk.

In Feb 1982 the vessel was reported to have discharged a cargo before entering the Suez Canal. The owner mysteriously disappeared owing some £4m with several of his other vessels under investigation for illegal discharging of cargo. He was convicted fined one million Drachmas and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in his absence. The other vessels of the fleet were also arrested.

M.V.VISION

The Admiralty tug Vision was attacked and sunk by gunfire on May 11^th 1942 off Marsa Matruh.

S.S. VOLO

The S.S. Volo was a cargo ship of 1,587 Grt. built at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Newcastle-upon-Tyne for Ellerman’s Wilson Line Ltd., Hull. The ship was launched 15 February 1938 and completed in April of that same year. She was 86.5 meters in length, 12.3 meters in beam, with a single propeller and a crew compliment of 38 personnel.

On 28 December 1941, under the command of Master George Ronald Whitfield (MBE),the S.S. Volo was sailing from Tobruk to Alexandria in ballast with convoy ME-8 under the escort of HMS Legion and HMS Kipling. The convoy was attacked in the early morning by the German submarine U-75 (Helmuth Ringelmann). The U-75 reported that two ships with 9000 Grt. had been sunk and another ship of the convoy had been damaged. However, on the S.S. Volo had been hit and sunk approximately 45 miles northwest of Mersa Matruh at position 31.45N/26.48E (Grid CO-92) with the loss of the ship’s master, 20 crew members, and three gunners. The remaining 9 crew members and five gunners were rescued by the British landing craft HMS LCT-11 and tran sported to Alexandria