View source for SS Frossoula

{{short description|Cargo steamship sunk in 1940}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= 
|Ship caption= 
}} 
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= 
|Ship name= *1903: ''Hussar''
*1915: ''Général Leman''
*1926: ''Kilbane''
*1938: ''Frossoula''
|Ship namesake= *1903: [[Hussar]]
*1915 [[Gérard Leman]]
|Ship owner= *1903: [[Sir George Renwick, 1st Baronet|Fisher, Renwick & Co]]
*1915: [[French Third Republic|French Government]]
*1925: Louis Sicard
*1934: Cie de Nav Sicard
*1937: Cie Nouvelle de Nav Sicard
*1938: JE Vardavas & Co
*1940: Phoenix Steam Ship Co
|Ship operator= *1903: Manchester–London Steamers
*1940: Michael M Xylas
|Ship registry= *1903: {{flagicon|UK|civil}} [[Port of Manchester|Manchester]]
*1915: {{flagicon|France}} [[Marseille-Fos Port|Marseille]]
*1926: [[File:Merchant flag of French Morocco.svg|24px]] [[Port of Casablanca|Casablanca]]
*1934: {{flagicon|France}} Marseille
*1938: {{flagicon|Panama}} [[Panama]]
|Ship route= 
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= Tyne Iron SB Co, [[Willington Quay]]
|Ship original cost= 
|Ship yard number= 144
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 27 May 1903
|Ship completed= June 1903
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship refit= 
|Ship identification= *1903: UK [[official number]] 113122
*1903: [[code letters]] VCNF
*{{ICS|Victor}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}
*1917: code letters JKGW
*{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}
*1921: code letters OIAC
*{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|India}}{{ICS|Alpha}}{{ICS|Charlie}}
*1927: code letters OWYF
*{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Yankee}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}
*1934: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] FOQR
*{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Romeo}}
*1938: call sign HPJP
*{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Papa}}
|Ship fate= Sunk by German aircraft, 1940
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|1255}}, {{NRT|798}}
|Ship displacement= 
|Ship length= {{cvt|220.0|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|33.0|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught= 
|Ship depth= {{cvt|14.8|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks= 1
|Ship power= 149 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion= *1 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]]
*1 × [[Propeller|screw]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|10|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity= 
|Ship crew= 
|Ship sensors= 
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]s: ''Carbineer'', ''Musketeer''
}}
|}

'''SS ''Frossoula''''' was a [[Cargo ship|cargo]] [[steamship]]. She was built in England in 1903 as '''''Hussar'''''. She was renamed '''''Général Leman''''' in 1915, '''''Kilbane''''' in 1926, and '''''Frossoula''''' in 1938. She took Jewish refugees from Europe to the [[Levant]] in 1939. A German air attack sank her in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] in 1940, causing the deaths of 33 of her crew. Only three people survived.

==Building and registration==
The Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company built the ship at [[Willington Quay]] on the [[River Tyne]] as yard number 144. She was launched on 27 May 1903 as ''Hussar'' for [[Sir George Renwick, 1st Baronet|Fisher, Renwick and Company]]'s Manchester–London Steamers, Ltd, and completed that June.<ref name=TBS-Hussar>{{cite web |title=Hussar |work=Tyne Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |url= https://tynebuiltships.co.uk/H-Ships/hussar1903.html |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref>

''Hussar''{{'}}s registered length was {{cvt|220.0|ft|abbr=on}}, her [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] was  {{cvt|33.0|ft|abbr=on}}, and her depth was {{cvt|14.8|ft|abbr=on}}. Her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|1255}} and {{NRT|798}}.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1904|loc=HUR–HYD}} She had a single [[Propeller|screw]], driven by a three-cylinder, 149-[[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] built by the North East Marine Engine Company Ltd of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]].{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1904|loc=HUR–HYD}}

Fisher, Renwick [[Ship registration|registered]] ''Hussar'' at [[Port of Manchester|Manchester]]. Her UK [[official number]] was 113122 and her [[code letters]] were VCNF.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1904|loc=HUR–HYD}}{{sfn|''Mercantile Navy List'' 1904|p=199}}

==Sister ships==
The Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Co built two [[sister ship]]s for Fisher, Renwick, to the same measurements as ''Hussar''. Yard number 164 was built  and launched in March 1907 as ''Carbineer''.<ref name=TBS-Carbineer>{{cite web |title=Carbineer |work=Tyne Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |url= https://tynebuiltships.co.uk/C-Ships/carbineer1907.html |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> Yard number 168 was also built to the same measurements, and launched in December 1907 as ''Musketeer''.<ref name=TBS-Musketeer>{{cite web |title=Musketeer |work=Tyne Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |url= https://tynebuiltships.co.uk/M-Ships/musketeer1908.html |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref>

''Carbineer'' had her [[engine room]], [[Fire room|boiler room]], and main superstructure amidships. She had three [[Hold (compartment)|holds]]: two forward of her superstructure, and one aft. She had one funnel and two masts, and was capable of {{convert|10|kn|km/h}}.<ref name=TBS-Carbineer/> ''Hussar'' and ''Musketeer'' are likely to have had the same layout, and to have been capable of a similar speed.

''Carbineer'' and ''Musketeer'' had short careers. In April 1914 ''Carbineer'' sank as the result of a collision with a ship called ''Isis'' in the [[English Channel]] off [[Selsey Bill]].<ref name=TBS-Carbineer/> In September 1916 ''Musketeer'' capsized and stranded in the [[Seine]].<ref name=TBS-Musketeer/>

==Changes of owner, name, and identification==
In 1915 the [[French Third Republic|French Government]] bought ''Hussar'' and renamed her ''Général Leman'', after the Belgian [[Gérard Leman]] who in August 1914 had commanded forts around [[Liége]] as they [[Battle of Liège|resisted the German 1st Army]] for 11 days. Leman was eventually captured, but hailed in Belgium and France as a hero. The ship ''Général Leman'' was registered in [[Marseille-Fos Port|Marseille]]. By 1917 her code letters were JKGW.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1917|loc=GEN}} By 1921 she was equipped with [[wireless telegraphy]], and her code letters had been changed to OIAC.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1921|loc=GEN}}

Sarner et Compagnie bought ''Général Leman'' in 1923, and sold her in 1925 to Louis Sicard. In 1926 Sicard renamed her ''Kilbane'' and registered her in [[Port of Casablanca|Casablanca]], and her code letters were changed to OWYF.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1927|loc=KIL–KIM}} In 1934 Sicard re-registered her in Marseille. Also by 1934, the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] FOQR superseded her code letters.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1934|loc=KIA–KIL}}

In 1938 JE Vardavas and Company bought ''Kilbane'', renamed her ''Frossoula'',{{efn|Several news reports from 1939 spell the name as "''Frossula''". However, [[Lloyd's Register]] uses ''Frossoula'', so ''Frossula'' seems to be a mis-spelling.}} and registered her under the [[Panama]]nian [[flag of convenience]]. Her call sign was changed to HPJP.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1939|loc=FRO–FUH}} In 1940 the Phoenix Steam Ship Company acquired ''Frossoula'', and placed her under the [[Ship management|management]] of Michael M Xylas.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1940|loc=FRI–FRU}}

==Jewish refugees==
In May 1939 ''Frossoula'' was in [[Port of Sulina|Sulina]] in [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], where she embarked 658 [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] Jewish refugees.<ref name=Levy>{{cite news |last=Levy |first=Gideon |author-link=Gideon Levy |date=4 August 2013 |title=The Last Passenger |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |url= https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-the-last-refugee-passenger-1.5316558 |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> They were reported to have paid $1,000 each for their passage. They included 194 women; 77 children;<ref>{{cite news |title=Hope Seen for Exiles Quarantined in Beirut; May Remain if Future is Guaranteed |date=2 August 1939 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/hope-seen-for-exiles-quarantined-in-beirut-may-remain-if-future-is-guaranteed |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> and more than 100 former members of the [[Czechoslovak Army]],<ref name=JTA-1939-0727>{{cite news |title=French High Commissioner in Syria Seeks Landing of 658 from Refugee Ship |date=27 July 1939 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/french-high-commissioner-in-syria-seeks-landing-of-658-from-refugee-ship |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> which had been disbanded after [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|Germany occupied Bohemia and Moravia]]. Also among her refugees was Heinz (Zvi) Loewy, who became the father of Israeli journalist [[Gideon Levy]].<ref name=Levy/>

''Frossoula'' left Sulina on 29 May,<ref name=Levy/> and sailed via the [[Bosporus]] to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], and on 16 July she docked in [[Port of Beirut|Beirut]]. [[French Third Republic|French]] authorities refused to let the refugees enter [[Greater Lebanon|Lebanon]] or [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|Syria]].<ref>{{cite news |title=5 Jews Wounded when Truck Hits Land Mine |date=31 July 1939 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/5-jews-wounded-when-truck-hits-land-mine |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> However, an epidemic had broken out aboard ''Frossoula'' in passage from Sulina. The French allowed the refugees to disembark temporarily to be disinfected, and then immediately re-embark. By 27 July ''Frossoula'' had left Beirut, but she remained off the Lebanese coast for more than a month.<ref name=JTA-1939-0727/>

[[File:Tiger Hill (ship) 1939.jpg|thumb|upright|{{ship||Tiger Hill|ship|2}} beached at [[Tel Aviv]] on 1 September 1939]]
On 3 August another Panamanian-registered ship, {{ship||Tiger Hill|ship|2}}, left [[Port of Constanța|Constanța]] in Romania, carrying between 750 and 900 Jewish refugees. On 29 August she arrived off Beirut and rendezvoused at sea with ''Frossoula'', whose refugees were transferred to ''Tiger Hill''. ''Tiger Hill'' then steamed south to [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]], where the [[Royal Navy]] and [[Royal Air Force]] tried to stop her from reaching land. However, her crew beached ''Tiger Hill'' at [[Tel Aviv]], where her refugees then made their way ashore. The [[United Kingdom]] authorities detained most of the refugees for at least ten days. They were then released to the [[Jewish Agency]].<ref name=Steger>{{cite web |last=Steger |first=Christian |title=The Consul at Jerusalem (Steger) to the Secretary of State |date=21 September 1939 |work=Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1939, The Far East; The Near East and Africa, Volume IV |publisher=Office of the Historian |url= https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1939v04/d847}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Name list from RG-68.067, illegal immigration to Palestine, RG 17 [macroform] |work=Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database |publisher=[[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]] |url= https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=23833 |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref>

The Czechoslovak soldiers may have disembarked from ''Frossoula'' in Beirut, rather than being transferred to ''Tiger Hill''. On 31 August 1939 the [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] reported that French authorities had interned Czechoslovak 150 officers and 175 [[Private (rank)|privates]] at Beirut. The JTA reported that the UK authorities were considering admitting them to Palestine, at first to be detained at the Sarafand internment camp, but then to be released into the armed forces.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestine Admits Refugees to Strengthen Defenses |date=31 August 1939 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url= https://www.jta.org/archive/palestine-admits-refugees-to-strengthen-defenses |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> In October 1939 these troops would have become eligible to join the 1st Czechoslovak Infantry Division, which the [[Czechoslovak government-in-exile]] was creating in France. However, a group of 206 Czechoslovak soldiers was still in Beirut when [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|France capitulated on 22 June 1940]]. From there they reached Palestine, where they formed the nucleus of a new [[Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Hyrman |first=Jan |title=The Free Czechoslovak Army |work=Naše Noviny |url= http://www.nasenoviny.com/FreeArmyMidEastEN.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070911020143/http://www.nasenoviny.com/FreeArmyMidEastEN.html |archive-date= 11 September 2007 |url-status= dead}}</ref>

==Loss==
In July 1940 ''Frossoula'' left [[Port of Barcelona|Barcelona]] in [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] for [[Glasgow]] in [[Scotland]], carrying a cargo of [[potash]]. Panama was [[Neutral country|neutral]] at the time, but on 15 July German aircraft sank the ship in the North Atlantic by bombing her about {{convert|258|nmi|km}} northwest of [[Cape Finisterre]]. 18 of her crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats: one commanded by her [[Master mariner|Master]], and the other by her [[Chief mate|Chief Officer]]. There was a heavy sea; the Master's boat was never seen again; and all aboard her were lost. Aboard the Chief Officer's boat, some of the occupants were washed overboard, and others died of [[Hypothermia|exposure]]. After four days, the Chief Officer's boat reached a [[Great Britain|British]] port. Only three survivors remained aboard the boat: the Chief Officer, the [[Second engineer|Second Engineer]], and one [[Ordinary seaman|seaman]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Panamanian Ship Is Reported Sunk By Nazi Planes |date=22 July 1940 |newspaper=[[The Washington Star|The Evening Star]] |page=1 |place=Washington, DC |via=[[Chronicling America]] |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1940-07-22/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Panama ship sunk; Nazis are blamed |date=23 July 1940 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=3 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/07/23/91583230.html?pageNumber=3 |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> Up to 33 members of her crew were lost.<ref>{{cite web |last=Vleeggert |first=Nico |date=25 January 2015 |title=SS Frossoula (+1940) |work=WreckSite |url= https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?141869 |access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref>

==Note==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |year=1904 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1905ST/page/n435/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]] |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1904}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1917 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1918ST/page/n389/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1917}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1921 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1922ST/page/n468/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1921}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1927 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1928ST/page/n636/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1927}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0459.pdf |via=[[Southampton City Council]] |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1934}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1939 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons Gross Trawlers, Tugs, Dredgers, &c |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/39/39b0330.pdf |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1939}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1940 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons Trawlers, Tugs, Dredgers, &c. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/40/40a0364.pdf |via=Southampton City Council |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1940}} }}
*{{cite book |year=1904 |title=Mercantile Navy List |place=London |via=Crew List Index Project |url= https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?name=Hussar&year=1904&submit=Enter |ref={{harvid|''Mercantile Navy List'' 1904}} }}

{{July 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{Coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frossoula, SS}}
[[Category:1903 ships]]
[[Category:Cargo ships of France]]
[[Category:Cargo ships of Panama]]
[[Category:Cargo ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Jewish immigrant ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in July 1940]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft]]
[[Category:Steamships of France]]
[[Category:Steamships of Panama]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I merchant ships of France]]
[[Category:World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Panama]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]