The shipwreck of the British ocean liner S.S. ARCADIAN, which sank in 1917, dragging 279 people to the seabed, was found in the Aegean Sea.
ARCADIAN was torpedoed by a German submarine and sunk in World War I, dragging 279 men with it. It was identified by the researcher Kostas Thoktaridis and the team of the southeast of Sifnos, at a depth of 163 meters.
The quality of primary metals used in the construction of Arcadian has certainly played an important role in maintaining the wreck to this day. The underwater research shows that Arcadian’s bow initially sat at the bottom of the Aegean Sea, resulting in the distortions of laminates. Due to the length of the ship (152.4 m) and in relation to the depth of the marine area which is only 163 meters, the bow relief helped to align the hull at the bottom and as a result it remains still is isotropic at the bottom; Kostas Thoktaridis told ANA-MPA.
The torpedoing and sinking
ARCADIAN had sailed from Thessaloniki and with a final destination in Alexandria, Egypt, carrying 1,155 military personnel.
During the voyage, the existence of a hostile submarine in Ikaria was noticed and thus found to sail through the Cyclades in order to avoid the submarine. The ARCADIAN was sailing at a speed of 13.5 knots and the leading escort ship HMS SENTINEL. On April 15, 1917 at 17:40 the convoy was between Sifnos, Antiparos, Sikinos and Folegandros, the sea condition was good and nothing foreshadowed what was to happen. At 17:44, an explosion shocked ARCADIAN. The German submarine UC-74 had detected the ocean liner and launched an attack on it. A torpedo hit the ship on its right side, between bridge and early web.
The captain of ARCADIAN Charles L. Willats ordered the engines to do a “movement” and the alarm siren to sound to move to the concentration stations. The ship’s crew worked exemplary. After all, just ten minutes before the torpedoing, they had completed a ship’s abandonment high school and most were still on deck. The captain ordered the crew to immediately remove the lifeboats and leave the ARCADIAN. The ship began to sink on the bow and developing a slope to the left.
The captain remained on the bridge monitoring the abandonment process and the development of the ship’s condition. Military personnel proceeded to evacuate the ship with discipline and composure. Just five minutes after the explosion as the ARCADIAN bow was lost in the waters of the Aegean, a loud noise was heard, the boat took a sudden inclination and its stern aired. Meanwhile, HMS SENTINEL, which led about 900 meters from the hoplite vessel, dropped six rafts and collected 123 shipwrecked. At 20:30 at the site of the shipwreck French warships arrived from Milos and continued the work of rescue the shipwrecked shipwrecked, while others were on rafts and boats.
1,058 people were rescued from the passengers, while the remaining 279 were lost in the waters of the Aegean. Of these, 34 were crew members, two were civilians, ten belonged to the ranks of the Navy and the rest belonged to the army.
Source: iefimerida.gr
