Editing SS Commissaire Ramel

{{Short description|French cargo liner sunk in World War II}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:StateLibQld 1 127603 Commissaire Ramel (ship).jpg|300px|SS Commissaire Ramel]]
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= France
|Ship flag= {{Shipboxflag|France|civil}}
|Ship name= ''Commissaire Ramel''
|Ship namesake= Paul Ramel
|Ship owner= Compagnie des [[Messageries Maritimes]]
|Ship operator= 
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder= Société Provençale de Construction Navale, [[La Ciotat]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=20 March 1920<ref name="maritimes">{{cite web |url= http://www.messageries-maritimes.org/comram.htm |title=Le paquebot COMMISSAIRE RAMEL des Messageries maritimes |work=messageries-maritimes.org |year=2011 |accessdate=12 November 2012|language=fr}}</ref>
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=24 April 1921<ref name="maritimes"/>
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=1926 and 1931
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=* [[code letters]] OEXC (until 1933)
*{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Echo}}{{ICS|X-ray}}{{ICS|Charlie}}
*[[Maritime call sign|call sign]] FOAR (1934 onward)
*{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Alpha}}{{ICS|Romeo}}
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Sunk 19 September 1940
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= 
|Ship type=* ''As built'': 
* [[cargo liner]]
* ''From 1926''
* [[ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage=* ''As built'':<ref name="maritimes"/>
* {{GRT|8,814}}, {{DWT|11,500}}
* ''From 1926''
* {{GRT|10,092}}, {{DWT|8,021}}
|Ship displacement=* ''As built'':<ref name="maritimes"/>
* {{cvt|16620|t|LT|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} 
* ''From 1926''
* {{cvt|20,323|t|LT|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{cvt|152.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="alamer">{{cite web |url= http://www.alamer.fr/index.php?NIUpage=35&Param1=493 |title=Commissaire Ramel |work=alamer.fr |year=2012 |accessdate=12 November 2012|language=fr}}</ref>
|Ship beam= {{cvt|18.06|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="alamer"/>
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= {{cvt|10.13|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="alamer"/>
|Ship depth= {{cvt|33.4|ft|m|disp=flip|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth= 
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=* ''As built'':<ref name="maritimes"/>
* 2 coal-fired boilers (3 from 1926)
* [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion engine]], {{cvt|4450|hp|0|abbr=on}} ({{cvt|5000|hp|0|abbr=on}} from 1926)
* 1 shaft
* ''From 1931''
* boilers oil-fuelled, exhaust [[Steam turbine|turbine]] added, total {{cvt|6250|hp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed=* ''As built'':<ref name="maritimes"/>
* {{cvt|12|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
* ''From 1931''
* {{cvt|14|km/h|kn}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=* ''From 1926''<ref name="alamer"/>
* 552 passengers:
* 58 × 1st class
* 78 × 2nd class
* 416 × [[steerage]]
|Ship crew=
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''SS ''Commissaire Ramel''''' was a French [[cargo liner]] that was launched in 1920 and sunk in the Indian Ocean by the German [[Commerce raiding|merchant raider]] {{Ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Atlantis||2|up=yes}} in [[World War II]].

==Ship history==
===Building===
The ''Société Provençale de Construction Navale'' built the ship in [[La Ciotat]] as ''General Duchesne''.<ref name="frenchlines">{{cite web |url= http://www.frenchlines.com/ship_en_1090.php |title=Cargo ship Commissaire Ramel |work=frenchlines.com |year=2012 |accessdate=12 November 2012}}</ref> Before she was launched she was renamed ''Commissaire Ramel'' in honour of Paul Ramel,<ref name="maritimes"/> the [[purser]] of the ship {{SS|Athos||2}}, who was lost when his ship was torpedoed on 11 February 1917,<ref name="frenchlines"/> and posthumously awarded the [[légion d'honneur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.netmarine.net/tradi/marins14-18/Q-Z.htm |title=Les héros maritimes français de la première guerre mondiale (Q-Z) |work=netmarine.net |year=2012 |accessdate=12 November 2012|language=fr}}</ref>

The ship was {{cvt|152.5|m}} long, with a beam of {{cvt|18.06|m}}.<ref name="alamer"/> As built, her [[tonnage]]s were 16,620 [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]]<ref name="maritimes"/> and {{GRT|8814}}. She was powered by a three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion engine]] with coal-fired boilers<ref name="alamer"/> that delivered 4,450 hp,{{clarification needed|Reason=Which type of horsepower?|date=February 2021}} driving a single propeller and giving her a speed of {{cvt|12|kn|km/h}}.<ref name="maritimes"/>

===Service history===
''Commissaire Ramel'' was launched on 20 March 1920, and entered service with the Compagnie des [[Messageries Maritimes]] on 24 April 1921, as a [[cargo liner]], sailing between France and the [[Far East]].<ref name="frenchlines"/>

In 1926 she was refitted in La Ciotat as an [[ocean liner]], receiving a promenade deck, lifeboat deck, and an additional boiler.<ref name="frenchlines"/> This gave her the capacity to carry up to 552 passengers, and increased her tonnages to 20,323 tonnes displacement and 10,092 GRT. The additional boiler increased her power to 5,000 hp,{{clarification needed|Reason=Which type of horsepower?|date=February 2021}} giving her a speed to {{cvt|14|kn|km/h}}.<ref name="maritimes"/> On 19 January 1927 she returned to service, sailing between France and Australia.<ref name="frenchlines"/>

In 1931 she was refitted again. Her boilers were converted from coal to oil fuel, and a low-pressure [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]] was added alongside her triple-expansion engine.<ref name=LR31>{{cite book |year=1931 |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=II |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b0282.pdf |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref> Exhaust steam from the low-pressure cylinder of her piston engine powered the turbine, which was geared onto the same propeller shaft as her piston engine. The addition of the turbine increased her total power to 6,250 hp.<ref name="maritimes"/>{{clarification needed|Reason=Which type of horsepower?|date=February 2021}}

Until 1933 the ship's [[code letters]] were OEXC.<ref name=LR31/> In 1934 these were superseded by the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] FOAR.<ref>{{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=II |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0211.pdf |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>

In 1935 she was transferred to a new route, sailing between [[Marseille]] and [[New Caledonia]] in the South Pacific, via the Panama Canal.<ref name="frenchlines"/> On 19 May 1940 she left Marseille under the command of Captain Sabouret, bound for Tahiti. She arrived at [[Papeete]] on 28 June 1940,<ref name="alamer"/> five days after the signing of [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|armistice between France and Germany]] that ended the [[battle of France]]. On 18 July 1940 she arrived at [[Suva]] in [[Colony of Fiji|Fiji]] to refuel, but was [[Expropriation|requisitioned]] by the authorities there. She was taken to Sydney, Australia, where 26 members of the crew, including the captain, volunteered to serve aboard.<ref name="frenchlines"/>

===Sinking===
Under the management of the [[Shaw, Savill & Albion Line]] she sailed from Sydney on 1 September 1940 bound for Britain via Cape Town,<ref name="frenchlines"/> under the command of Captain R MacKenzie. Just after midnight on 19 September she was attacked by the [[Commerce raiding|commerce raider]] {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Atlantis}}. After the crew abandoned ship, they were picked up by ''Atlantis'', who then finished off the ship,<ref name="alamer"/> sinking her at position {{Coord|28|25|S|74|23|E|display=inline, title}}.<ref name="frenchlines"/> Three of her crew were killed and 63 taken prisoner.

200 prisoners taken by ''Atlantis'' from several ships were later transferred to the captured Yugoslavian ship ''Durmitor''. The captain of ''Durmitor'' reported after the war that the cook from ''Commissaire Ramel'' was employed to cook for the German prize crew and that the captain of ''Commissaire Ramel'' managed to hide a bottle of poison with which he intended to neutralize the Germans, but after determining the ship's course and position, learning about the poor fuel situation from the captain of ''Durmitor'' and considering the possibility that ''Atlantis'' might re-appear once the ship was taken over by the prisoners and take revenge, he gave up his plan.<ref name="frenchlines"/>

The prisoners were landed at [[Warsheikh]] in [[Italian East Africa]] on 22 November 1940. They were held in a camp at [[Merca]] until liberated by British troops on 25 February 1941 during the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]].<ref name="frenchlines"/> ''Durmitor'' survived the war and was returned to Yugoslavia.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{MM ships}}
{{September 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commissaire Ramel}}

[[Category:1920 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1940]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of France]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]
[[Category:Steamships of France]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of France]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean]]