"Heraklion" ( Greek Ηράκλειον ) is a Greek ferry - a skater who operated Piraeus - Chania and Piraeus - Heraklion . The vessel turned over and sank on December 8, 1966 in the Aegean Sea , 217 people became victims of the incident.
| Heraklion | |
|---|---|
| Greek Ηράκλειον | |
 Leicestershire | |
| Port of registry | Piraeus , Greece |
| Manufacturer | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , Glasgow |
| Status | Turned over and sank on December 8, 1966 |
| Main characteristics | |
| Length | 152 m |
| Gross tonnage | 8922 gross |
| Speed | 17 knots (31.5 km / h) |
Vessel History
The ship was built in 1949 as the Leicestershire at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Glasgow for the shipping company Bibby Line , which intended to use Leicestershire on flights between the UK and Burma . For some time, the ship was chartered by British-India to fly between London and East Africa .
In 1964, Leicestershire was sold to Aegean Steam Navigation Co and renamed Heraklion. To carry out transportation along the Typaldos Line route, the vessel was converted into a passenger-cargo ship with a length of 498 feet (152 m), a traverse was 60 feet (18 m), had a gross tonnage of 8922 gpm, and one screw reached a speed of 17 knots. The winter capacity was 35 trucks with an average weight of 10 tons. The last technical inspection of Heraklion took place on June 29, 1966 .
Holocaust
December 7, 1966 at 20:00 hours the ferry "Heraklion" left the Gulf of Suda (island of Crete ), bound for the Greek port of Piraeus . On board the ferry were 73 crew members and 191 passengers. Storm winds reached strength up to 9 points on the Beaufort scale .
On December 8, at about 2:00 a.m., having overcome almost half of the route, Heraklion approached from the south to the small rocky island of Falconer (Heraculia). An insufficiently fixed refrigerator in which oranges were transported began to hit one of the loading doors. Soon the door opened, after which the refrigerator fell into the sea, and the water began to flood the holds. After about 15-20 minutes, the ship rolled over with a keel. At 2 hours 06 minutes on December 8, 1966 a distress signal came:
| SOS from Heraklion at 36 ° 52 'north latitude and 24 ° 08' east longitude. We are drowning. |
The ferry sank, killing 217 people. Only 30 passengers and 16 crew members were saved.