View source for SS Oria (1920)

{{Other ships|SS Oria}}
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|Ship country= Norway
|Ship flag= {{Shipboxflag|Norway|civil}}
|Ship name= SS ''Oria''
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|Ship owner=[[Thomas Fearnley (shipping magnate born 1841)|Fearnley & Eger]], Oslo
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|Ship builder=Osbourne, Graham & Co., Ltd., Sunderland
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|Ship yard number=222
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|Ship launched=17 June 1920
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|Ship identification=*[[Code letters]]: LCUS
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|Ship fate=Sank, 12 February 1944
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|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|2127}}
*{{DWT|3,540}}
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|Ship length= {{Convert|86.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
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'''SS ''Oria''''' was a [[Norway|Norwegian]] steamer that sank on 12 February 1944, causing the death of some 4,095 [[Italian military internees|Italian prisoners of war]], 21 Greeks and 15 Germans. It was one of the worst maritime disasters in history, and the worst maritime disaster caused by the sinking of a single ship in the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?160435 |title=SS Oria (II) (+1944) |work=wrecksite.eu |year=2011 |accessdate=19 January 2020}}</ref>

== Ship ==
The ''Oria'' was built in 1920 by Osbourne, Graham & Co in [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]]. It had a tonnage of {{GRT|2127|link=off}}, and was the property of the Norwegian company Fearnley & Eger of [[Oslo]].<ref name="warsailors.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/oria.html | title=D/S Oria | work=warsailors.com | accessdate=30 November 2012 | author=Lawson, Siri}}</ref> At the beginning of World War II, it was part of a convoy sent to North Africa, and was in [[Casablanca]] when interned in June 1940, shortly after the [[German occupation of Norway]]. One year later the ship was requisitioned by the [[Vichy French]], renamed ''Sainte Julienne'', and used in the Mediterranean. In November 1942 it was formally returned to its former owner and therefore renamed ''Oria'', but soon after it was assigned to the German company {{Interlanguage link multi|Mittelmeer-Reederei|de|lt=Mittelmeer-Reederei GmbH}} of Hamburg.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

== Sinking ==
{{See also|Weather events during wars#World War II}}
In the fall of 1943, after the [[Dodecanese Campaign|German invasion of the Dodecanese]], the Germans transferred tens of thousands of [[Italian military internees|Italian prisoners]] to mainland Greece. These transfers were made often using unseaworthy vessels, cramming prisoners onboard without any safety standard. Several ships were sunk, either by Allied attack or by accident, causing the death of thousands of prisoners.
[[File:Diving the 'ORIA'.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Greek diver [[Aristotelis Zervoudis]] at the SS ''Oria'' wreck near [[Cape Sounion]]]]
''Oria'' was one of the vessels used to carry Italian prisoners. On 11 February 1944, it sailed from [[Rhodes]] bound for [[Piraeus]], carrying 4,116 Italian prisoners (43 officers, 118 non-commissioned officers and 3,955 enlisted men),<ref name="Seekrieg">[http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/44-02.htm ''Chronik des Seekrieges 1939-1945'', Württembergische Landesbibliothek, entry on February 1944]</ref><ref name="dodecaneso.org">{{cite web | url=http://www.dodecaneso.org/tragedie.htm | title=IL NAUFRAGIO DELL'ORIA | trans-title=THE WRECK OF ORIA | work=dodecaneso.org | accessdate=30 November 2012 | language=it | archive-date=7 January 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107204455/http://www.dodecaneso.org/tragedie.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> 21 German soldiers (part of whom were tasked with guarding the prisoners, while others were on passage to Greece),<ref name="warsailors.com"/> and a crew of 22 Greeks. The next day the ship was caught by a storm and sank off [[Cape Sounion]] on the South East rocks of [[Patroklos island]]. Some tugs, arriving the next day on the scene, could only save 21 Italians, 6 Germans, the Norwegian captain and one Greek. The remains of the wreck were discovered in 1999 by Greek pro diver [[Aristotelis Zervoudis]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

== See also ==
*[[Battle of Rhodes (1943)|Battle of Rhodes]]
*[[Battle of Kos]]
*[[SS Petrella]]
*[[Italian military internees]]
*[[Italian ship Gaetano Donizetti]]
*[[Italian ship Mario Roselli]]
*[[Massacre of the Acqui Division]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Coord|37|39|N|23|59|E|region:GR_type:event|display=title}} 
{{February 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oria}}
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1944]]
[[Category:1920 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Wear]]
[[Category:Steamships of Norway]]
[[Category:Ships of Nortraship]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of France]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea]]
[[Category:Troop ships of Germany]]