Collector's item: Red Cross transports
The history of many cargo ships during World War II read like adventure novels. The story of the Swiss steamer "Caritas I" is no exception. Swiss Re played an important part.
Launched on 9 September 1903, "Caritas I" first sailed under the name of "Wilster" under British flag. The ship was sold in 1919 and renamed "Scarpa". On 18 November 1920, carrying a cargo of phosphate from Barry (Wales) to Sligo (Ireland), she ran aground off the Scottish coast and was written off as a total loss. But the ship proved to be tougher than expected, and in 1921 was salvaged, sold and refurbished. She re-entered active duty under the well-earned name of "Amazon", flying under Greek flag.
In 1930, "Amazon" was sold and renamed "Neraida", then sold again in 1933. The steamship kept her name after this sale for a time, until 1938, when she changed hands once more and became "Anna S", and again one year later, when she became "Takis".
In 1940 she was bought by a Belgian company and named "Frederic" and was used to transport phosphate from Morocco to Belgium, flying the Belgian flag. She was surprised by the invasion of Morocco in Casablanca harbour, where ship and crew stayed, hoping for the end of the war.
Swiss Re and the Red Cross
In 1942, the ship was bought by the foundation for transports for the Red Cross at Basle, a Swiss foundation presided by Ernst Froelich, then a Director and later General Manager of Swiss Re. The foundation operated out of the Swiss Re headquarters in Zurich. The ship left harbour and headed for Lisbon for a complete overhaul. But most of the crew – along with the Captain – jumped ship in Gibraltar and joined the British. She sailed triumphantly into Lisbon docks with the remaining six crewmen on 6 June 1942, where the ship was renamed "Caritas I" .An impressive feat of seamanship for a steamship designed to be run by a crew of around thirty men!
On Christmas Eve 1942, "Caritas I" left on her first voyage to Marseille, sailing under the Swiss flag, but suffered engine failure on the return journey and was towed to Almeria for emergency repairs. In the following years, the ship undertook twelve voyages in the service of the Red Cross between Philadelphia, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Barcelona, Toulon and Marseilles. On her first voyage to Philadelphia she rescued twelve shipwrecked American sailors off the Azores. "Caritas I" made 12 voyages for the Red Cross and transported a total of 28,636 tons of cargo and was later considered the flagship of the Red Cross's cargo fleet.
The final years
On 8 August 1945, "Caritas I" was sold back to her previous Belgian owners, who sailed her under the Belgian flag until 1 January 1947, when she collided with the Dutch steamer "Jan Steen" and was run aground off Vlissingen to prevent her from sinking. "Caritas I" was on her way from Gent to Lisbon. One day later, the ship broke apart and sank in two sections to the sea floor, where she lies today.
Her location is 51°26'32" N 03°37'54" E.
Swiss Re's archives hold a model of the "Caritas I" presented to Swiss Re by the Red Cross, a ship's bell engraved with the name "Caritas I" and the ship's logbooks and freight papers.
Many thanks to Swiss Re's Archive & Records Management team for helping research the history of this ship.
Also many thanks to the team of Swiss Ships (http://www.swiss-ships.ch/ - website mainly in German, with ship's histories also in English), who kindly allowed us to reproduce the historical photographs used in this article. The Swiss Ships team has researched the histories of this and many other Swiss ships which worked with the Red Cross during World War II. They also provide complete and up-to-date listings of Swiss oceangoing ships until the present.
For further information (not limited to Swiss vessels), you may like to consult http://worldshipsociety.org/)
"Collector's Items" originate from Knowledge & Information Management and the Company Archive at Swiss Re.
