Ramb IV was an Italian hospital ship, built at

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Venetian language#Regional variants, Bisiacco: ; ; ; archaic ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia, Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Tr ...

by the United Yards of the Adriatic (''Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico'', CRDA) in 1938. ''Ramb IV'' was the last of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were the , , and the . The four ships were built for the Royal Banana Monopoly Business (''Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane''). These ships were originally devised as "

banana boats A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them f ...

" for transporting refrigerated bananas from

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa (, A.O.I.) was a short-lived colonial possession of Fascist Italy from 1936 to 1941 in the Horn of Africa. It was established following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which led to the military occupation of the Ethiopian ...

. In the event of war, the design of ''Ramb IV'' allowed it to be refitted as an "

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

" for commerce raiding. She was 3,667 tons displacement, oil powered, and capable of knots. Following a declaration of war, ''Ramb IV'' was capable of being armed with two guns and eight anti-aircraft guns and of becoming an

. Instead, ''Ramb IV'' was converted into a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

for the Italian Royal Navy (''

Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...

''). The goal of ''Ramb IV'', in case of fall of Eritrea, was transporting Italian wounded back to Italy. However, this mission was impossible because of the British control of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. In addition, it would have been suicide to attempt to round the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

and enter the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

past

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The work to convert the banana boat to a hospital ship was performed at the

n port of

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

. ''Ramb IV'' was part of the Italian Navy's

Red Sea Flotilla The Red Sea Flotilla () was part of the (Italian Royal Navy) based at Massawa in the colony of Italian Eritrea, part of Italian East Africa. During the Second World War, the Red Sea Flotilla fought the East Indies Station of the Royal Navy f ...

. When the port of Massawa fell on 10 April 1941 during the East African Campaign, the British captured ''Ramb IV''. Pressed into British service, she then operated in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and later off

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. ''Ramb IV'' was bombed and set afire by German aircraft and sank off

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on 10 May 1942.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramb 4 Naval ships of Italy captured by the United Kingdom during World War II Hospital ships of Italy Hospital ships in World War II World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German aircraft 1937 ships Ships of the Royal Banana Monopoly Ships built by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico Ships built in Monfalcone Maritime incidents in May 1942 Captured ships Nazi war crimes Attacks on hospitals during World War II

See also

References

Bibliography