The sinking of the steamship "Heimarra" on January 19, 1947 in the South Euboea is the deadliest maritime accident in the history of our country. It went down in history as "The Titanic of Greek Shipping".
The passenger steamer "Heimarra", previously owned by Germany under the name "Herta", was given to our country as war reparations and was operated by the State. It set sail at 8:30 in the morning of January 18, 1947, from Thessaloniki for Piraeus, with 544 passengers and 86 crew members. We are in the middle of the Civil War and the country's road network was in poor condition, if not non-existent. Thus, an alternative route from Thessaloniki to Athens was by sea.
As reported by San Today, at 4:10 a.m. on January 19th, the "Chimarra" while sailing in the South Euboea collided due to the thick fog on the rock islands "Verdougia", between Nea Styron and Agia Marina. It is the prevailing version of the wreck, because other opinions are also supported, such as that it hit a magnetic sea mine or that it was sabotaged. The British in their investigation claimed that the ship was hit by a mine that was dragged due to the rough seas from the minefields adjacent to the shipping channel.
History frame from the ship menu:
Castaways of the "Heimarra"
The severe impact caused an inflow of water and a serious problem with the ship's rudder, causing it to remain unruly. The crew of the "Heimarra" did not take care to maintain order during the abandonment of the vessel, which became completely uncontrolled.
Although the passenger ship sank an hour and a half later and at a distance of only one mile from Agia Marina, the panic that prevailed when the ship was abandoned, the terrible cold and the strong sea currents in the area, resulted in the loss of their lives at least 383 people. Among them many women and children, political prisoners and gendarme escorts.
At the trial that followed, Second Master Bertols, who was on duty at the time of the wreck, was sentenced to 20 months in prison and Master Belesis to 15 months in prison with a suspended sentence. For the loss of the ship, the Greek State collected 70,000 British pounds from the insurance.
Many soldiers were also on board the ship, who fell into the sea with their clothes on, as a result of which they immediately drowned in the icy waters. From the interrogations it also emerged that the armed gendarmes and hoplites on board the "Heimarra" - 203 in number - did not obey the captain's orders and seized the lifeboats first, leaving helpless women and children on board.
Years later, the diver Kostas Thoktaridis and his team carried out investigations at the wreck site and recovered valuable objects. They were exhibited together with relics from the Titanic wreck in early 2006 at Zappeion.
The political dimension of the tragedy
As mentioned by Rizospastis, the search for the wrecks started after 10 hours. Minesweepers and ships spent two days collecting floating corpses in the Euboecus. Finally, out of the 620 on board, 246 people were able to be saved after fighting the waves.
Among the passengers were and 36 political prisoners who were transported to various places of exile. Only ten of them could be saved. The list of victims includes many executives of the KKE's KO Thessaloniki, trade unionists from all over Macedonia, progressive journalists, etc.
Investigations over the next few days showed that the ship's radio did not work to signal and broadcast an SOS , as the transmitter's lights were destroyed by the explosion. The mine was swept away by rough seas from the minefields adjacent to the shipping channel. It was also claimed that the ship did not pass through the shipping channel but to the left. There was great confusion and panic. Boats and rafts were being sunk by the great number of people on board or capsized before the castaways even got on board. Many soldiers were also on board the ship, who fell into the sea with their clothes on, as a result of which they immediately drowned in the icy waters. The interrogations also revealed that the armed gendarmes and soldiers on board the "Heimarra" - 203 in number - did not obey the captain's orders and were the first to seize the lifeboats, leaving helpless women and children on board.
In the newspapers of the time it was written in the following days that the 550 passengers were piled into a ship - a walnut shell in which inseparability prevailed. The boat was old. It was built in England in 1905 and had a displacement of 1,221 tons. As they also complained, two years after the departure of the Nazi occupiers, there were still minefields on almost all sides of the maritime transport. Even Thermaikos had not been cleared of mines.
Two days after the shipwreck, the Executive Committee of the Panhellenic Maritime Federation issued a statement denouncing the inaction of the state, both for the collection of the bodies and for the treatment of the rescued.
One of the survivors of the shipwreck, Alekos Xylakis, who was being transported with his 35 other comrades into exile, reported in 1997 to Rizospastis:
"We boarded the "Chimarra" at the port of Thessaloniki at 7 in the morning. As soon as the ship started, we political prisoners protested because they had tied us up. After our stubborn attitude, the captain came and told the policemen to untie us. The problems they began as soon as the ship left Thermaikos. Damage was sustained and for some time we were unruly. At 1 o'clock Sunday morning we arrived at Chalkida, and in a little while the "Chimarra" sailed. After a few hours the ship was rocked by a terrible explosion. What followed panic. Nothing was working. Total darkness prevailed. The "Heimarra" was ungovernable. All the political exiles had gathered on deck. A comrade of mine, Aristides, had a storm lamp and lit it. Panagiotis Tarpoglou comes and tells us that the holds filled with water. From a box we take life jackets. I take off my clothes, put them on and ask my other prisoners to do the same. Mr arabi abruptly tilts to the left and begins to sink. I climbed the railing and fell into the sea. Meanwhile, many lifeboats began to capsize because they were overloaded. The moments were nightmarish. Heartbreaking cries for help could be heard from all directions. I swim a few meters and see the light flickering and just then the ship disappears. As I swam towards the shore I felt every now and then the bodies of the drowned rising to the surface of the water. After hours I reached the shore. At ten in the morning a boat passed by and as the sailors saw me standing naked on the shore, they came to me".
The eight political exiles were quickly located by the Security at the ports or in the hospitals and arrested. Only two were able to escape. The S. Kontostathis and Al. Xylakis, who quickly came into contact with the Party in Athens. This lasted until August '47. Until...
"One day in August, Kontostathis and I went to visit a relative's house in Agios Meletios. There they set the table for us. But someone was watching me from top to bottom. What an appetite to eat after that. We thanked them and left. On the way I say to my companion:"Stathi, I didn't like something about this man. I'm afraid we've run into trouble." I used to frequent a pharmacy at 101 Aiolou Street. I saw in a moment the man we had met at Kontostathis's relative's house passing in front of the shop. In two minutes and before I could react, he immobilized me with his pistol".
"They kept me in solitary confinement for twenty days. "We beat you" they told me "because you didn't drown". 12 years of exile and prison followed." "Nearly 400 people drowned. The families of the tragic victims did not receive any compensation," said Al. Xylakis.
Read the News from Greece and the world, with the reliability and validity of News247.gr