A sad and ironic event occurred on Mar 13/14, 1943 when the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci torpedoed
and sank the Empress of Canada about 780 miles south of Monrovia, Liberia. The big liner was built in Scotland by Fairfield and grossed 21,516 tons, making her one of the biggest merchant ships sunk during the war.

In this case the ship was not only transporting British troops but Italian PoWs as well, a fact unknown to the
commander of the da Vinci. After the first torpedo struck captain Gianfranco Priaroggia allowed Capt. George
Goold thirty minuets to abandon his ship, apparently the officer in charge of the Italian prisoners failed to
tell the Italians to abandon and this act, deliberate or not, contributed to the high death toll. In all 392 people
lost their lives, this number included almost half of the 500 Italian PoWs and 90 women. Forty-four crewman
were also killed.

The last man to die was the officer in charge of the Italians, when it was learned what had happened several
of the survivors threw him overboard to the sharks. It seems that nobody was ever charged for this act.

© 2008 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

Empress of Canada