Andrea Sgarallino ~ 22 September 1943

The steamer Andrea Sgarallino was that spent most of her commercial life cruising the Tuscan coast. In 1940 she was requisitioned by the Regia Marina as an auxiliary ship and fitted with two AA guns. After the Italian surrender, she was used by the Germans as a material/troop transport.

On September 20, 1943 she resumed civilian service, carrying both soldiers and civilians. While en route from Piombino to Portoferraio on Elba on September 22, two torpedoes from the HMS Uproar reached the hull of this small Italian passenger ship,

In a few seconds the ship sank in the harbor of Portoferraio. Of the approx. 300 people on board, only four/five survived, making her the greatest tragedy of the Italian merchant marines during World War II.

For decades, the families of the victims wondered whether the British knew this was an Italian ship staffed with Italian civilians.