Nino Bixio was an Italian General from the era in the 19th Century when the Italian nation was formed from the kingdoms and principalities of the old regimes. It’s an era I studied in high school history. Although best known as a general, it was perhaps his earlier naval career which was the reason for a modern freighter to be named after him on its completion in 1941.
Less than a year after commissioning, the Nino Bixio sailed from Benghazi in Libya for Italy, presumably a return trip after taking supplies to Africa. On board were 3200 allied prisoners of war, including Lance-sergeant Peter Swan.
The Nino Bixio sailed in convoy with another freighter full of POWs, two destroyers and two torpedo boats. They were intercepted off the southern coast of Greece by the British T-class submarine “Turbulent.” The submarine fired four torpedoes at the convoy. One suffered from gyroscope trouble, circling the submarine three times. The others hit the Nino Bixio.
One grazed the rudder, not exploding but disabling the ship’s steering. One hit the engine room. One hit the number one hold which was packed so tightly with men that they could not sit down. Two hundred men were killed in a matter of seconds, from the explosion and the wall of water which flooded the hold, with another 60 wounded.
Peter Swan died on board after the attack, one of 116 New Zealand soldiers who died there that day. The ship took on water and many men jumped off, sure it was sinking, but one of the destroyers towed it to the Greek coast where the soldiers - living and dead - were taken ashore. A German propaganda team tried to film the scene as an example of Allied atrocity, but the Italian Captain refused entry to his ship. The Nino Bixio and the other freighter were not flying flags which indicated they were carrying POWs or wounded soldiers. Freighters in convoy with warships were always fair game.
In researching for the story of Peter Swan, I happened upon a New Zealand online forum which contained an interesting statement to the effect that the “Turbulent’s” captain, Commander John “Tubby” Linton, was aware of the convoy’s existence and had positioned himself to intercept. It was also stated that Linton was aware of the presence of POWs on board when he ordered the firing of four torpedoes at the convoy.
How would this have occurred? Quite easily, given that the British at Bletchley Park were reading encoded radio signals as fast as the enemy could, thanks to the Enigma machine.
Why would this have occurred? The reason offered on the forum was that, with the surrender of Italy imminent, British submarines were ordered to spare Italian warships but keep sinking freighters to prevent their ongoing resupply of axis troops in North Africa. The stated source of this information is a “Turbulent” crewman who was unable to join the submarine on its last and fatal cruise due to sickness.
I doubt the stated reasoning behind this decision for the following reason: vital though it was for the Italian Fleet to “lie at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta” as eventually signaled to the Admiralty by Viscount Admiral Cunningham, it was equally, if not more, vital that the Italian merchant fleet be available for future operations in Allied hands. And, surely, it was not worth the sacrifice of those who had already “done their bit,” let alone the opportunities for enemy propaganda.
Peter Swan was buried with others Pylos, where the ship was beached. His name and others are on the memorial at the Allied War Cemetery at Phaleron, Athens. The Nino Bixio was towed and sunk as a blockship outside Venice and raised after the war. It made several visits to New Zealand ports in the 1950s. In Wellington, on January 25, 1955, a wreath-laying ceremony occurred on the ship’s foredeck, above the No. 1 hold.
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| Andersons Bay Cemetery. DCC photo. |
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