This is the Spanish steamer ordered by Nazi Germany “SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR” that sank after a torpedo attack by the submarine Katsonis
One more shipwreck was located and identified in Greek waters by the research team of Kostas Thoktaridis. This is the Spanish steamship SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR ordered by Nazi Germany that sank after a torpedo attack by the submarine KATSONIS on April 5, 1943was located west of Kynthos at a depth of – 98 meters.
The shipwreck is in excellent condition. The side doors leading to the interior compartments of the ship are still open. The ship’s chimney remains in place. The shipwreck has been covered by marine organisms but, as Kostas Thoktaridis states in APE-MPE, “the his general picture is as if time had stopped in April 1943».
The cause of the sinking of the SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR was found to be a hole in the left rear side at the height of the engine room, stern of the chimney and caused by a torpedo that penetrated the hull but did not explode. According to the historical data and the report of the captain of the submarine KATSONIS Vassilis Laskou, the SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR was fired with three torpedoes from a distance of 400 meters.
Only one torpedo hit the SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR and it did not explode, but with the force of its speed and thrust (41 knots) it stabbed and penetrated the side plate of the Spanish ship at the height of the engine room at a depth of 2 meters.
«We would not know either, if we were not told by the Spanish captain of the German-ordered truck “San Isidro” with a Spanish flag and his crew, when we picked them up from the sea, beaten by the cold. A torpedo hit the target, but did not explode! The first engineer of the Spanish, who was in the engine room at that moment, saw the berry of this sea monster (Monstruo del Mar in Spanish) reach his shoulder and went to turn it! Well, from that fault the water burst into the hull and the ship sank!“, Wrote the existence of KATSONIS, Elias Tsoukalas, in his book” Submarine Y1- LAMPOS KATSONIS, award of the Academy of Athens 1952 “.
The submarine KATSONIS had sailed from Beirut on March 24, 1943 for the first war patrol with him Lieutenant Captain Vassilis Lasko as commander. It was also the first mission of the submarine KATSONIS after the emigration of the Fleet from Greece, in April 1941.
«09:32 War uprising. Handling for attack. 10:00 3 torpedoes are fired at a distance of 400 meters 2 whose traces obviously intersect the target“, Refers to the registration of the Greek submarine.
«10:02 Surface. One-handed cannon excursion. The ship sank to the shore with the intention of running aground. 10:03 5 shots are fired to thwart the reported effort of the enemy ship but in vain as the target disappears at 10:04 under the sea. The two boats of the enemy ship remain on the surface of the sea, collecting wrecks. The ship carried the Spanish flag on its sides and at the stern of the stern.».
The steamer SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR belonged to the Spanish company Transcomar. It was built in 1904 by R. Williamson & Son in Workington, England under the name GUANCHE for CompañÃa MarÃtima Canaria, a Spanish subsidiary of the British Elder & Fyffes based in the Canary Islands. The 36.6 x 6.8 meter steamer arrived in Hamilton y Cia in 1925 and was renamed CARMEN, continuing to travel to the Canary Islands carrying fruit to the capital Tenerife. In 1929 it was acquired by varlvaro RodrÃguez López, an important shipowner of the Canary Islands, renamed SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR.
The KATSONIS submarine a few days earlier, as part of a special mission codenamed BORING, disembarked two Greek secret service agents with appropriate wireless equipment. etc. (Lieutenant George Tavernaraki and radio operator Alexandros Gardelis) between old Monemvasia and the port of Gerakas on Ariana beach. The result of the BORING mission was the creation of guerrilla groups and at the same time the control of the movements of the German occupying forces in the area.
KATSONIS then proceeded with an aggressive patrol. His first target was an Italian escort ship in Gythio, which he successfully torpedoed on April 2nd. It was the TERGESTE that was built in 1913 in the Netherlands as a passenger steamer. He then moved on patrol to the Western Cyclades in Kythnos where he located the SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR.
