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How the 3,000 Italian Prisoners of War
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| Correspondence from Dalle Carbonare
Gaetano, 10/2002, living in Italy, and a former Prisoner of War at Camp
Atterbury, Indiana -- He and 3,000 other Italians were captured by American forces in Tunisia on March 28, 1943. Boarded onto the Pasteur, they sailed first to Casablanca, and then a 10-day voyage to America. He does not say where they docked, but following that was a train ride to Camp Atterbury. |
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The Pasteur was a ship with a grand history of sailing the world's oceans for forty-one years. She was designed as a luxury liner with greyhound speed for the long ocean haul from France to South America. However she was delayed in serving in her civilian passenger carrying destiny for twenty years. The Pasteur helped save the gold reserves of France, just before the Germans invaded her homeland in World War Two, by making a high-speed run across the Atlantic on what was to be her maiden voyage, delivering a little over 213 tons of the bullion from The Bank of France to Canada for safe keeping. Captured in Canada by the Allies, the Pasteur was converted to a troopship, and carried thousands of Allied troops to Europe and Africa during that war. On her return trips, she became a prisoner of war transport, carrying German and Italian POW's to internment camps in Africa, the United States and Canada. After World War 2 ended, she continued her duties as a troopship, carrying thousands of French troops during the Indo-China War (1946-1956). She was awarded France's highest honor, The "Croix de guerre", in October 1947, for her service. The Pasteur was sold to the nation that she formerly carried troops to fight against (Germany), and finally, after twenty years, became the luxury liner that she was designed to be. For twelve years, sailing under her new name "Bremen", she made scheduled North Atlantic crossings, offering her passengers luxury accommodations in those days before the jet-powered airliners took over the passenger business between Europe and North America. She went on to serve as a cruise ship, almost became a floating hotel, and ended her history as a barracks ship. During her life at sea she flew the flags of six nations: France, The United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines. She also sailed under a variety of names: "Pasteur", "Bremen", "Regina Magna", "Saudiphil I", and "Filipinas Saudia I" Forty-one years after she was launched, after carrying tens of thousands of passengers safely to their destinations, the Pasteur finally sank at sea. Too proud to go to the breakers. |
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 The Pasteur in New York, mid-June1940. Note that she is now in "wartime gray". The Normandie is berthed next to her, then the Queen Elizabeth. In 1942 the Normandie, "The Ship of Lights" was set ablaze by a welder's torch while being converted to a troop carrier. Fire boats poured tens of thousands gallons of water on the ship attempting to put the fire out. Becoming top-heavy from the torrent of water, the Normandie rolled over at her berth at came to rest on her port side on the bottom of the harbor. Sadly, she could not be salvaged and the Normandie, regarded by myself and others as the most beautiful liner to ever sail, was scrapped out. (Note that the forward stack was a "dummy". At the time, multiple stacks denoted size and prestige.)
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Specifics Length: 209.4 m (9), 212.4 m History The Pasteur was built by Penho�t of St. Nazaire, France in yard number R8 and completed in 1939. Her weight was 32,000 ton, with a length of 697 feet . Her original owners were Cie.Sudatlantique. She was designed for Atlantic passenger crossings between France and South America (13). Although sometimes referred to as an "S.S." (Steam Ship), she really was a "T.S.S." (Turbine Steam Ship) . Due to the start of WW2 she did not enter service immediately. Her original maiden voyage was delayed by the outbreak of fire while she was being fitted out (12). Her maiden voyage, re-scheduled for 10 September 1939, from Bordeaux to Buenos Aires , was canceled due to the outbreak of World War II. She was a fast ship, regarded as the third fastest of her day. In what was to be her maiden voyage, the Pasteur was commissioned to carry part of the French gold reserves (213 tons, 600 pounds worth , to the safety of Canada . She sailed from Brest to Halifax, Nova Scotia on this mission June 2nd, 1940 . (This was done in concert with several other ships, civilian and military, during the period late 1939 to June of 1940.) After the fall of France, she was taken over (in Canada) by the Allies as a "prize of war", and converted into a troopship. The Pasteur entered service as a troop carrier in August, 1940 . As a troopship she flew the British flag and was operated by Cunard-White Star Line . Some sources refer to her as a "H.M.T.S." (His Majesty's Troop Ship). "She was one of the few fast transports that could cross the Atlantic in small, unescorted, fast convoys" . Due to her speed, the Pasteur generally made her troopship crossings alone, without a warship escort, and not as a member of a convoy. "In October, 1941 she made a voyage from Glasgow to Halifax with a varied complement, including officers arranging the transport of 20,000 British troops across Canada and the Pacific to Singapore." The Pasteur apparently returned loaded with German prisoners destined for prison camps located in North America. I have been contacted by at least one individual who stated that his father was on such a crossing. Also another individual stated that there were Italian prisoners on a previous East-West crossing. In addition, she hauled prisoners from Suez, Egypt to South Africa, carrying as many as 2,000 German POW's . It would appear that there was an attempted mutiny by German POW's in late 1941 or early 1942.(14) For more information on this, see the "Personal Memories of the Pasteur" section, under the entry by Bryan Samuels. One thing that the remarks of American soldiers that sailed on the Pasteur have in common is the quality of the food. In a word, it was described as "terrible." No one has ever come forth to suggest that the food served to the GI's was the same as that served to the POW's on the East to West crossings, but it certainly appears to be a possibility. "In 1943 she visited Freetown, Capetown, Durban, Aden and Port Tewfik, and then back to the Clyde and Halifax". "Before the battle of Alamein she had carried 10,000 men of the British 8th. Army, and 5,000 men of the US 1st. Army Corps." (12) It is possible that the ship also operated in the Pacific Ocean. There is a reference to a "SS Louis Pasteur" in the war diary of an American Destroyer Escort, the USS Wintle, DE-25 . However, there was also a Liberty Ship named the "Louis Pasteur" , and it is most likely that the remarks were referencing it. "During the War she had carried 220,000 troops, and 30,000 wounded, and steamed 370,669 miles." "After the War, she repatriate US and Canadian troops." In October 1945, the Pasteur returned to the French flag , and in early 1946 management was returned to Cie. Sudatlantique. Her service, though, remained military in nature. After her World War II trooping duties ended, Pasteur was used to transport French troops to and from Indo-china . She earned her nation's highest honor, the French "Croix de guerre" for her service, but never made a commercial voyage for her owner . The Pasteur was laid up in July, 1956 at Toulon and January, 1957 at Brest . Activated again in September of 1956, the Pasteur, along with other civilian and military ships, transported troops during the Suez Canal "affair". The HQ General of the French troops was on board the Pasteur while she was moored in Port Said harbor, December of 1956. She was one of the last Allied ships to leave Port Said, Egypt at the end of the "affair". In September, 1957, the Pasteur was sold to a German company, Norddeutscher Loyd, and was rebuilt by Bremer Vulkan. At this time her stack was replaced with a more "modern" looking affair . New boilers were added in 1959. Renamed "Bremen", she entered NDL service in July 1959, on the Bremerhaven-New York route as a passenger liner. "She commenced Bremen-Southampron-Cherbourg-New York voyages on the 9th. of July, 1959 and continued this service, with some cruising voyages, until 1971." The ship was refitted in 1965/66 at the repair yard of North German Lloyd. The bulbous bow was added at this time. GRT changed to 32,360 . Also used for cruising, she became part of Hapag-Lloyd when the two leading German shipping organizations merged in 1970. Her final Bremen-New York roundtrip for Hapag-Lloyd came in September 1971. In October of 1971 The Bremen was sold to a Greek shipping company, Chandris Lines . Delivery to Chandris was accomplished on January, 1972 . After refitting she entered service under the Greek flag and was renamed the "Regina Magna", GRT now at 23,801 tons . As the Regina Magna she did cruises worldwide until 1974, at which time she was once again laid up, this time in Piraeus, Greece. This was for two reasons, rising fuel costs and the loss of emigration charters to Austrailia . In 1977 the ship was sold to Saudia Arabia's "Philippine Singapore Ports Corporation" for use as an accommodation ship for Philippine workers . She arrived at Jeddah on Nov. 1, 1977 . Her name was once again changed, this time to the "Saudiphil I" On June 9th., 1980, sold (apparently) to Philsimport International, Hong Kong, and name changed to "Filipinas Saudia I" , or by the name "Filipinas Saudias I" - note minor spelling difference- she was being towed to the breakers for scrapping in Kaohsiung, Taiwan . "She left Jeddah in tow of the Panamanian tug "Sumatra". Problems developed during the tow "apparently through various insecure fastenings" . The ship rolled over on her port side and sank, stern-first into the Indian Ocean , at a position of 07 35 N, 60 12 E . This ended the 41 year saga of the TSS Pasteur. |
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