SS Commissaire Ramel
Encyclopedia
SS Commissaire Ramel was a French passenger ship
sunk during the Second World War.
She was built in 1921 at La Ciotat
in France
where the ship was used to transport goods to Australia. She continued in this role until 1940, when she was seized by the Australian authorities in harbour following the fall of France.
Loaded with cargo
, mainly wool
, she left Fremantle
, Western Australia
between 1 and 3 September 1939 and on 9 September 1940 she was sunk by the German
raider
Atlantis
. When she tried to signal her position, the Germans opened fire and three men on board died in the resulting fire; the ship was then evacuated and sunk.
Survivors of the attack boarded the ship Durmitor, and some died in difficult, overly hot conditions.
A survivor of the Ramel alleges that there was a German sailor on board who had helped to guide the Atlantis to the Ramel; the German may have used torches and lights to signal to the German vessel during the night. Before the beginning of the attack, he was said to have been unfindable on board the Ramel, with the suspicion being that he somehow fled the ship.
It is not known whether the man playing the piano was the suspected German sailor.
Passenger ship
A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...
sunk during the Second World War.
She was built in 1921 at La Ciotat
La Ciotat
La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where the ship was used to transport goods to Australia. She continued in this role until 1940, when she was seized by the Australian authorities in harbour following the fall of France.
Loaded with cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
, mainly wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, she left Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
between 1 and 3 September 1939 and on 9 September 1940 she was sunk by the 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...
raider
Commerce raiding
Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt the logistics of an enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them.Commerce raiding was heavily criticised by...
Atlantis
German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis
The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis , known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 16 and to the Royal Navy as Raider-C, was a converted German Hilfskreuzer of the Kriegsmarine, which, during World War II, travelled more than in 602 days, and sank or captured 22 ships totaling...
. When she tried to signal her position, the Germans opened fire and three men on board died in the resulting fire; the ship was then evacuated and sunk.
Survivors of the attack boarded the ship Durmitor, and some died in difficult, overly hot conditions.
A survivor of the Ramel alleges that there was a German sailor on board who had helped to guide the Atlantis to the Ramel; the German may have used torches and lights to signal to the German vessel during the night. Before the beginning of the attack, he was said to have been unfindable on board the Ramel, with the suspicion being that he somehow fled the ship.
Testimony
Survivor Bruce Logan gives the follow account of coming on board the Ramel:It is not known whether the man playing the piano was the suspected German sailor.