Refah Tragedy
Encyclopedia
The Refah tragedy refers to a maritime disaster during World War II
, when the cargo steamer Refah of neutral Turkey
, carrying Turkish military personnel from Mersin
in Turkey to Port Said
, Egypt
was sunk in eastern Mediterranean
waters by a torpedo fired from an unidentified submarine. Of the 200 passengers and crew aboard, only 32 survived.
and aircraft for four flight
s from United Kingdom
.
Delivery was delayed because of wartime difficulties. Nevertheless, the British decided to make the submarines and aircraft available, fearing a possible pro-German tendency among the Turkish statesmen. It was planned that both the delivery and the training of the military personnel would take place in England. The direct air route from Turkey and England would have meant travelling over Nazi German
controlled Europe
, so it was decided to go by sea to Egypt (under British control at the time), then to England by air. The British demanded that the Turkish mission should arrive by 25 June at the latest in Port Said to join a British convoy going home.
on 16 June 1941 and arrived five days later in the southeastern Turkish port of Mersin
.
Commander
Zeki Işın, appointed leader of the mission, inspected the 40-year old, coal cargo vessel and reported his findings to the authorities in Ankara
: the ship had insufficient cabin
s, beds and toilets for the around 170 passengers, and only two lifeboat
s were available, each for 24 people. He concluded that the cargo ship was not suitable for a journey of this kind across the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship underwent some minor modifications in great haste before the journey. She was fitted with additional toilets, cabins and beds brought from the naval school in Mersin. Turkish colours were painted on both sides of the steamer's hull
and also on the weather deck. In order to signal her identity as a neutral country's vessel even in the night, she was brightly lit.
that followed an invitation by Adolf Hitler
with his letter from 4 March 1941 to the Turkish president İsmet İnönü
. Meanwhile, Nazi German troops had already invaded the entire Balkans
, and stood at Turkey's doorstep. While this pact angered the British government, Nazi Germany, its allies and Finland
started an offensive
on 22 June against the Soviet Union
, relying on its secure southern front.
officers, 72 petty officer
s, 58 seamen, 20 Turkish Air Force Academy
cadets and two civilians. The ship had 28 crew members. A British liaison officer
boarded the vessel immediately before her departure, who gave the ship's captain İzzet Dalgakıran the necessary route details.
On 23 June at 17:30 hours local time, the Refah weighed anchor, and sailed towards Port Said in eastern Mediterranean waters with a total of 200 people aboard. Turkey was neutral so the voyage was considered safe and the steamer was not escorted by warships.
Around at 22:30 hours, while the passengers were eating their rations throughout the ship, an explosion occurred as the ship was about 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) east off the coast of Cyprus
. She was hit by a torpedo fired from an unidentified submarine. The vessel flooded and began to sink.
Nevzat Erül came alongside the second lifeboat with a pistol in the hand and directed a rescue operation for 24 passengers. However, the lifeboat could not be launched because the davit
did not operate. Meanwhile, some people already in the water climbed up the ship, as they did not expect her to sink immediately. People tried to dismount wooden toilet doors and hold
covers for use as rafts. Muhittin Darga, one of the survivors, told in an interview given in 1983 that they waited aboard until 02:00 hours as the ship slowly sank, and then jumped into the lifeboat, which touched the sea surface. Around four hours after the explosion, the ship snapped in two pieces and went down.
Darga added that the British officer wearing a lifejacket
could not get in the lifeboat. He learned later that the British officer was missing. Most of the people who jumped into the sea drowned. The people in the lifeboat rescued three or four victims from the sea. They used a lifeboat's oar as a mast and a blanket as a sail. Although only 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) away from Cyprus, a south wind drove them to the Turkish coast. Those clinging to the makeshift rafts were rescued by boats that came along, while others who left their rafts to swim away drowned. 28 people in the lifeboat landed after 20 hours on the Turkish coast near Karataş
lighthouse.
Only then did the tragedy become known. Military aircraft and motorboats were immediately deployed to the scene. A search was conducted all day long. However, only four more survivors could be rescued. Of the 200 people aboard, the disaster cost the lives of 168 people in total while only 32 survived.
stated that the attack was made by a Nazi German or Italian
submarine operating in the area. This allegation was denied by the Nazi German news agency, DNB. Another assertion that the Refah was sunk by a French warship, which mistook her for an Egyptian vessel, could not be verified because the passengers did not see any warship. Finally, the British were accused, either because they were not willing to deliver the military equipment ordered by Turkey, or to trigger Turkey's involvement in the war at the side of the Allies
.
According to Ret. Group Captain
Haydar Gürsan, one of the survivors, the ship was torpedoed twice by a French submarine. French reconnaissance aircraft
flew over the scene the next morning without reporting the incident to Turkish authorities. He added a French officer told him in Beirut
that the ship was sunk by the French, and this information was also recorded by military intelligence. After reports about Mediterranean marine activities poured in, it became clear that the anonymous submarine belonged to Vichy France
. In the summer of 1941, forces of Free France and Vichy France were fighting over Syria
. It was a submarine of Vichy France, which mistook Refah for a vessel of Free France. Later on, although not officially announced, it is believed that French government handed over two of her submarines to Turkey, as a compensation.
However recently disclosed documents from Italian and German archives support an alternative story. According to a report published by the Italian Navy gives coordinates where the Italian submarine Ondina attacked vessels. The site of Refah' s sinking matches this information.
Saffet Arıkan resigned from the cabinet on 12 November 1941. The parliamentary investigation, concluded on 18 December found these ministers free of guilt. A further investigation found the responsible civil servants not guilty.
Turkish government paid as compensation 4,000 Turkish lira
(TL) to each legal inheritor of the people killed in the disaster, 800 TL to each naval officer, 400 TL to each petty officer and cadet, and 100 TL to each seaman who survived the incident.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when the cargo steamer Refah of neutral Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, carrying Turkish military personnel from Mersin
Mersin
-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
in Turkey to Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
was sunk in eastern Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
waters by a torpedo fired from an unidentified submarine. Of the 200 passengers and crew aboard, only 32 survived.
Background
Turkey remained neutral until the last year of World War II but decided to mobilize a large army due to its proximity to the fighting. Already in the early stage of the war, Turkish government ordered four submarines, four destroyers, twelve landing craftLanding craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
and aircraft for four flight
Flight (military unit)
A flight is a military unit in an air force, naval air service, or army air corps. It usually comprises three to six aircraft, with their aircrews and ground staff; or, in the case of a non-flying ground flight, no aircraft and a roughly equivalent number of support personnel. In most usages,...
s from United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Delivery was delayed because of wartime difficulties. Nevertheless, the British decided to make the submarines and aircraft available, fearing a possible pro-German tendency among the Turkish statesmen. It was planned that both the delivery and the training of the military personnel would take place in England. The direct air route from Turkey and England would have meant travelling over Nazi German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
controlled Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, so it was decided to go by sea to Egypt (under British control at the time), then to England by air. The British demanded that the Turkish mission should arrive by 25 June at the latest in Port Said to join a British convoy going home.
Ship
The Turkish government chartered the steamer Refah, a cargo ship owned by the Berzilay & Benjamen Company. It was built in 1901 at Sunderland, England and sailed under the name Perseveranza until renamed Refah (literally: Prosperity) in 1931 by the Turkish owner. The 3,805-ton vessel was 102.2 m (335.3 ft) long with 14.8 m (48.6 ft) beam and 7 m (23 ft) draught, and 8.5 knots (5 m/s) maximum speed. The ship departed from IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
on 16 June 1941 and arrived five days later in the southeastern Turkish port of Mersin
Port of Mersin
The Port of Mersin , aka Mersin International Port , is a major port located on the north-eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea at Mersin in southern Turkey. It is the country's largest port...
.
Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Zeki Işın, appointed leader of the mission, inspected the 40-year old, coal cargo vessel and reported his findings to the authorities in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
: the ship had insufficient cabin
Cabin (ship)
A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
s, beds and toilets for the around 170 passengers, and only two lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
s were available, each for 24 people. He concluded that the cargo ship was not suitable for a journey of this kind across the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship underwent some minor modifications in great haste before the journey. She was fitted with additional toilets, cabins and beds brought from the naval school in Mersin. Turkish colours were painted on both sides of the steamer's hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
and also on the weather deck. In order to signal her identity as a neutral country's vessel even in the night, she was brightly lit.
Unexpected political developments
On 18 June 1941, Nazi Germany and Turkey signed the German–Turkish Non-Aggression PactGerman–Turkish Non-Aggression Pact
The German-Turkish Non-Aggression Pact was signed between Nazi Germany and Turkey on June 18, 1941 in Ankara by German ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen and Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Şükrü Saracoğlu...
that followed an invitation by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
with his letter from 4 March 1941 to the Turkish president İsmet İnönü
Ismet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
. Meanwhile, Nazi German troops had already invaded the entire Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, and stood at Turkey's doorstep. While this pact angered the British government, Nazi Germany, its allies and Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
started an offensive
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
on 22 June against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, relying on its secure southern front.
Incident
The Turkish military mission came to 171 people, comprising 19 Turkish NavyTurkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
officers, 72 petty officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
s, 58 seamen, 20 Turkish Air Force Academy
Turkish Air Force Academy
The Turkish Air Force Academy was founded in 1951, replacing the Army Flight School and with the mandate to train the officers of the Turkish Air Force. Today it is a four-year institution of higher learning, providing an engineering education to Air Force cadets from Turkey as well as a number of...
cadets and two civilians. The ship had 28 crew members. A British liaison officer
Liaison officer
A liaison officer or LNO is a person that liaises between two organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities. Generally, they are used to achieve the best utilization of resources or employment of services of one organization by another. In the military, liaison officers may...
boarded the vessel immediately before her departure, who gave the ship's captain İzzet Dalgakıran the necessary route details.
On 23 June at 17:30 hours local time, the Refah weighed anchor, and sailed towards Port Said in eastern Mediterranean waters with a total of 200 people aboard. Turkey was neutral so the voyage was considered safe and the steamer was not escorted by warships.
Around at 22:30 hours, while the passengers were eating their rations throughout the ship, an explosion occurred as the ship was about 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) east off the coast of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. She was hit by a torpedo fired from an unidentified submarine. The vessel flooded and began to sink.
Details of the incident (as told by the survivors)
One of the lifeboats fell into the sea with people sleeping inside. The ship's electrical system went dead and her radio became disabled, so that no distress call could be transmitted. Some passengers fell and some jumped into the water. Lt.Lieutenant (naval)
LieutenantThe pronunciation of lieutenant is generally split between or , generally in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries, and or , generally associated with the United States. See lieutenant. is a commissioned officer rank in many nations' navies...
Nevzat Erül came alongside the second lifeboat with a pistol in the hand and directed a rescue operation for 24 passengers. However, the lifeboat could not be launched because the davit
Davit
A davit is a structure, usually made of steel, which is used to lower things over an edge of a long drop off such as lowering a maintenance trapeze down a building or launching a lifeboat over the side of a ship....
did not operate. Meanwhile, some people already in the water climbed up the ship, as they did not expect her to sink immediately. People tried to dismount wooden toilet doors and hold
Hold (ship)
thumb|right|120px|View of the hold of a container shipA ship's hold is a space for carrying cargo. Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged . Access to holds is by a large hatch at the top...
covers for use as rafts. Muhittin Darga, one of the survivors, told in an interview given in 1983 that they waited aboard until 02:00 hours as the ship slowly sank, and then jumped into the lifeboat, which touched the sea surface. Around four hours after the explosion, the ship snapped in two pieces and went down.
Darga added that the British officer wearing a lifejacket
Personal flotation device
A personal flotation device is a device designed to assist a wearer, either conscious or unconscious, to keep afloat.Devices designed and approved by authorities for use by...
could not get in the lifeboat. He learned later that the British officer was missing. Most of the people who jumped into the sea drowned. The people in the lifeboat rescued three or four victims from the sea. They used a lifeboat's oar as a mast and a blanket as a sail. Although only 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) away from Cyprus, a south wind drove them to the Turkish coast. Those clinging to the makeshift rafts were rescued by boats that came along, while others who left their rafts to swim away drowned. 28 people in the lifeboat landed after 20 hours on the Turkish coast near Karataş
Karatas
Karataş is a small city and a district in Adana Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 47 km from the city of Adana, between the rivers of Seyhan and Ceyhan, the Pyramos of Antiquity...
lighthouse.
Only then did the tragedy become known. Military aircraft and motorboats were immediately deployed to the scene. A search was conducted all day long. However, only four more survivors could be rescued. Of the 200 people aboard, the disaster cost the lives of 168 people in total while only 32 survived.
Aftermath
Turkey had declared its neutrality in the war eleven times before and no country claimed responsibility for the attack on the Turkish ship. Britain's ambassador to Turkey, Sir Hughe Knatchbull-HugessenHughe Knatchbull-Hugessen
Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen KCMG was a British diplomat, civil servant and author.-Background and education:...
stated that the attack was made by a Nazi German or Italian
Italian Navy
Italian Navy may refer to:* Pre-unitarian navies of the Italian states* Regia Marina, the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy * Italian Navy , the navy of the Italian Republic...
submarine operating in the area. This allegation was denied by the Nazi German news agency, DNB. Another assertion that the Refah was sunk by a French warship, which mistook her for an Egyptian vessel, could not be verified because the passengers did not see any warship. Finally, the British were accused, either because they were not willing to deliver the military equipment ordered by Turkey, or to trigger Turkey's involvement in the war at the side of the Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
.
According to Ret. Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Haydar Gürsan, one of the survivors, the ship was torpedoed twice by a French submarine. French reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
flew over the scene the next morning without reporting the incident to Turkish authorities. He added a French officer told him in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
that the ship was sunk by the French, and this information was also recorded by military intelligence. After reports about Mediterranean marine activities poured in, it became clear that the anonymous submarine belonged to Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. In the summer of 1941, forces of Free France and Vichy France were fighting over Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. It was a submarine of Vichy France, which mistook Refah for a vessel of Free France. Later on, although not officially announced, it is believed that French government handed over two of her submarines to Turkey, as a compensation.
However recently disclosed documents from Italian and German archives support an alternative story. According to a report published by the Italian Navy gives coordinates where the Italian submarine Ondina attacked vessels. The site of Refah
Political consequences and compensation
After the disaster became generally known, discussions in the Turkish parliament led to the opening of an investigation into the case. Minister of Transport Cevdet Kerim İncedayı and Minister of National DefenceMinistry of National Defence (Turkey)
The Ministry of National Defense is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for defense affairs in Turkey.- Central :Following departments and plants are subordinated to the Ministry of National Defense:...
Saffet Arıkan resigned from the cabinet on 12 November 1941. The parliamentary investigation, concluded on 18 December found these ministers free of guilt. A further investigation found the responsible civil servants not guilty.
Turkish government paid as compensation 4,000 Turkish lira
Turkish lira
The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş...
(TL) to each legal inheritor of the people killed in the disaster, 800 TL to each naval officer, 400 TL to each petty officer and cadet, and 100 TL to each seaman who survived the incident.