Italian ship Ramb I

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: A Naval History of World War II", p. 140]

Details

The "Ramb I" was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1937. It had a displacement of 3,667 tons, was oil powered, and was capable of 18½ knots. The "Ramb I" was the first of four ships of her design. The others were the . These ships were built for the Royal Banana Monopoly Business ("Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane") and originally intended to be "banana boats", transporting refrigerated bananas to Europe from Somaliland and Eritrea in Italian East Africa.

Operational history

The design of "Ramb I" enabled it to be refitted as an "auxiliary cruiser" for commerce raiding and, following Italy's declaration of war on 10 June 1940, she joined the Italian Royal Navy ("Regia Marina") as part of the Italian Navy's Red Sea Flotilla. The conversion of the "banana boat" to an armed auxiliary cruiser was done at the Eritrean port of Massawa, where she was armed with two 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns and eight 13.2 mm anti-aircraft guns.

While based at Massawa, "Ramb I" had an unsuccessful foray into the Red Sea.

By February 1941, the East African Campaign began to go badly for the Italians. Massawa, "Ramb I"'s home port, became threatened by advancing British and Commonwealth forces. On 20 February 1941, along with the Italian colonial ship "Eritrea" and the Auxiliary Cruiser "Ramb II", "Ramb I" slipped through the British blockade off Perim and sailed into the Indian Ocean. The commander of the "Ramb I" was intending to raid shipping off the Dutch East Indies.

Destruction in the Indian Ocean

Acting on reports of commerce raiders in the area, the Royal New Zealand Navy cruiser HMNZS "Leander" was sent to patrol the area of the Indian Ocean to the south and slightly west of India. On 27 February, "Leander" intercepted "Ramb I" off the Maldive Islands and challenged her. "Ramb I" attempted to bluff "Leander" with misleading signals but, although "Ramb I" was not flying Italian colours, "Leander" ordered her to stop. The Italian flag was raised and "Ramb I" simultaneously opened fire from convert|3000|yd|m|-3, splinters from her first salvo hitting the "Leander". "Leander" replied with five salvoes within the next minute, leaving "Ramb I" seriously damaged and on fire. She struck her colours and "Leander" ceased firing.

"Ramb I" had been badly damaged and, as "Leander" closed, the order to abandon ship was given. "Ramb I" was destroyed by an explosion after the majority of the crew had abandoned her. One-hundred-and-thirteen men, including her captain, were rescued by the "Leander", of whom one later died from burns. The survivors of "Ramb I" were disembarked at Addu Atoll and subsequently transported to prisoner of war camps in Colombo, Ceylon by the tanker "Pearleaf".

ee also

* Italian Royal Navy - "RN Ramb I"
* East African Campaign
* Armed merchantmen
* Merchant raider
* Commerce raider

ources

*

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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 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 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

  • List of World War II topics (I) — # I ll Remember April (film) # I Airborne Corps (United Kingdom) # I Armored Corps (United States) # I Canadian Corps # I Corps (Australia) # I Corps (France) # I Corps (Germany) # I Corps (United Kingdom) # I Corps (United States) # I Hua Huang… …   Wikipedia

  • History of the Maldives — The Maldives is a nation consisting of 26 natural atolls, comprising 1192 islands Historical setting Since very ancient times, the Maldives were ruled by kings (Radun) sultans and occasionally queens (Ranin) sultanas. Historically Maldives has… …   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

  • Regia Marina — Otheruses4|the Royal Navy of Italy|other Royal Navies|Royal Navy (disambiguation)Infobox Military Unit unit name=Regia Marina (RM) caption=Regia Marina Ensign. The Merchant Navy ships had a similar ensign, without the crown dates=1861 1946… …   Wikipedia

  • Armed merchantmen — has come to mean merchant ships equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long… …   Wikipedia

  • Red Sea Flotilla — The Red Sea Flotilla was a unit of the Italian Royal Navy ( Regia Marina ) based in Massawa, Eritria, when Massawa was part of Italian East Africa. During the early stages of World War II, the Red Sea Flotilla was active against the British Royal …   Wikipedia

  • HMS Turbulent (N98) — was a T class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched in May 1942.Career Turbulent spent most of her career serving in the Mediterranean. During her time in service, she sank the following ships:*… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

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