«Cheimara», the steamship that was «born» German as «Herta» and ended up... Greek, it seems that it was destined to go down in history as the «The Titanic of Greek Coastal Shipping», as the shared fate of the two ships led them to the bottom of the sea along with hundreds of souls lost in the icy waters.
The journey to death
It was 1905 when the Hertha was built in Germany to be used as a floating hospital during the war. Forty-one years later, in 1946, it was ceded to the Greek government as part of the German reparations and after it was repaired, it was used during the civil war, initially serving the Athens–Piraeus ferry route, since the country's road network had a serious problem. Its name was now «Cheimarra.».
On the morning of January 19, 1947, the steamship Himara departs from the port of Thessaloniki bound for Piraeus with 612 passengers and crew, including many women, children, political prisoners being exiled, and gendarmes accompanying them.
At 4:10 a.m. the next day, having passed the Chalkida, due to thick fog collides with Verduja islets« -specifically on a rocky outcrop of the reef Tharakoto islet (between Nea Styra and Agia Marina), while sailing on the South Euboea, with the damage to its hull proving fatal.
Although the bow turned to the right to avoid the collision, there was not enough time to prevent the impact.
The influx of water into the interior left the Himara without power from the outset, while a serious problem with the ship's rudder literally «tied» the captain's hands, resulting in the ship sailing ungoverned for the next few minutes until it sank. A dip that lasted no more than 40 minutes.
«I'm losing my mother, I'm losing my mother»...
The passengers immediately realized that something was wrong, with the chaos in the Heimarra area making the situation even more difficult. Everyone woke up terrified and it didn't take them long to learn the truth. At the moment of impact, they were just one mile away from Agia Marina., however The panic and confusion among the crew and passengers, who were not adequately trained for such events, proved fatal.
Many of them began to abandon ship in a panic, without taking the necessary safety measures., resulting in them losing their lives due to the cold, low water temperature, and sea currents., whose power no one was able to know.
According to the survivors' testimonies, the guards accompanying the prisoners showed no respect for the gravity of the situation or their fellow passengers, and They did not hesitate to use their weapons in order to be the first to safely escape the sinking ship in the lifeboats.
Η Athina Liaskou, One of the women who survived the shipwreck later described what she experienced that night: «At that moment, I was on deck. There was an explosion, the lights went out, steam started coming out, and there was pandemonium.
In the darkness, we didn't know where we were or what we were doing. Voices could be heard here and there, everyone calling out to their loved ones. The water began to rise and sweep people away. I didn't jump off the boat to save myself, the waves just carried me over the boat and out to sea.
I was holding my mother's hand. Our two friends fell into the sea with us, but at some point they disappeared. I was left with my mother. Darkness, shouting, evil... At some point, dawn began to break... I held my mother for about 2–2.5 hours—maybe more, I don't know.
At some point, it started to get heavy, and that's when I started shouting: «I'm losing my mother, I'm losing my mother.»... I let myself go with her, but A soldier caught in a barrel grabbed me by the hand and I was forced to let go of my mother, who sank until she drowned...».
The Himara finally sank 1,100 meters from the islet of Megalo Verdougi, with the shipwrecked passengers adrift for hours without help. At 7 a.m., a diesel-powered boat named «Echei o Theos» (God Has) arrived at the scene by chance (!) and rescued 30 shipwrecked people from the water, transporting them to Petalioi. Shortly afterwards, more help arrived.
Conspiracy theories: Accident or organized plan?;
A tragic toll? 385 dead, 48 of whom were crew members. The sinking of the «Cheimarra» proved to be the new «Titanic» that went down in history as the biggest maritime disaster in Greece.
Of course, conspiracy theories abounded, as many were quick to attribute the collision of the steamship to a magnetic sea mine, which would have ensured its destruction and the loss of hundreds of lives, which would have been considered collateral damage. One of them was the highly experienced captain, Spyros P. Bilinis, who denied that the steamship deviated in the slightest from its course and insisted on the theory of a magnetic mine.
«My conscience is clear. I was the last to leave the ship and I didn't leave any passengers without life jackets. At the last moment, I gave the one I had kept for myself to a soldier who didn't have one. And I learned that he was saved. This will be confirmed by the bodies. Most of them died of hypothermia. And they will all be found with life jackets,’ he testified.
Despite his testimony, the court found the second captain, who was on duty at the time of the collision, guilty and sentenced him to 20 months in prison. The Greek government, which owned the ship, received £70,000 in compensation from the insurance company.
The relics that were brought together in an exhibition – a tribute
The public had the opportunity to see up close the objects and relics recovered from the seabed—178 in total—at an exhibition held in 2006 at the Zappeion Hall.
Among the exhibits were some of the bronze letters spelling out the name of the ship, life jackets, children's shoes, combs, shoes, correspondence and newspapers of the time, and an officer's sword, which were found inside and next to the sunken ship.
The exhibition focused on two «similar» shipwrecks: the Titanic and the Himara...
