SS ''Djemnah'' was a French

cargo-passenger ship A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

, launched in 1875, that was sunk in the Mediterranean by the German submarine ''UB-105'' during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Description

Displacing 5,400 tonnes, the ship was 125 metres long, with a beam of 12.1 metres. Her top speed was 14 knots. The ship could carry 1385 passengers (83 in First Class, 42 in Second, 60 in Third and 1,200 below decks).

History

The ''Djemnah'' was built in

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southern France. It ...

in 1875 for the shipping company

Messageries Maritimes ''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French ship transport, merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', ca ...

. The ship was used as a line ship to the Far East and to the Southern Indian Ocean. On 4 November 1878, ''Djemnah'' was driven ashore at

La Joliette La Joliette (; Occitan: La Jolieta) is a neighbourhood of the 2nd arrondissement of Marseille located at the start of the autonomous port of Marseille. Overview It contains the Docks de Marseille and Marseille Cathedral. The area is the cen ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

. She was on a voyage from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Her 141 passengers were taken off. She was later refloated and put back to Marseille. Filipino polymath and patriot

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halaft ...

sailed aboard Djemnah during his trip to Europe to pursue medicine and continue the propaganda movement there with fellow

Ilustrados The Ilustrados (, "erudite", "learned" or "enlightened ones") constituted the Filipino people, Filipino intelligentsia (Education in the Philippines, educated class) during the History of the Philippines (1521–1898), Spanish colonial period i ...

in Spain. On 6 July 1918, the ship left from Marseille for

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, with a crew of 153, 601 passengers and 530 tons of cargo. On 14 July the ship was 69 nautical miles north from the Libyan coast when she was torpedoed at 21.32 by the German submarine ''UB-105'' under command of

Wilhelm Marschall Wilhelm Marschall (30 September 1886 – 20 March 1976) was a German admiral during World War II. He was also a recipient of the ''Pour le Mérite'' which he received as commander of the U-boat during World War I. The ''Pour le Mérite'' was the ...

. The ship sank in two minutes, taking with her 436 people, including the captain. 110 survivors were picked up by the trawler ''Presidency'' and 218 by the British escort HMS ''Mallow''.

External links

Technical data of the ''Djemnah''
*
French Lines

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Djemnah 1874 ships Ships built in France World War I passenger ships of France World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in November 1878 Maritime incidents in 1918 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I