Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Struma סטרומה Strymon was a dilapidated, two masted, 74-year-old steamer
Registered name: Macedonia Kafireus Καφηρεύς
Built: 1830 or 1867. by Palmer Bros & Co., in Newcastle
Nicholas Peppas cites: Struma was built originally as Xantha.
Miramar cites: Struma סטרומה was built at Palmer Bros & Co., in Jarrow
Launched: June 24, 1867
Harvey, on Webrarian.co.uk, cites: There were 2 Xanthas
1. A yawl, official number: 52976 Other names: Gertrude
Built: 1865, by J. Harvey & Co., in Wivengoe
2. An iron Screw Schooner, official number: 56071, Other names: Sölyst
Built: 1867, by Palmer & Co., in Newcastle, and she was later lengthened from 31.5 meters to 38.8 meters
Capacity: 180 tons
Speed: 9.5 knots,
Both vessels belonged to Lord Paget, a string supporter of Queen Victoria who served as Commodore of the Royal Thames Yachting Club
Struma סטרומה was a Danube cargo barge which her Bulgarian owners used for transporting cattle.
Hasim Surel cites: Struma סטרומה was a a decommissioned German barge used to carry cattle on the Danube River.
Several versions of the provenance of the ship exist, one which says she sailed the Danube River during World War I, and was sunk in Sulina.
Nicholas Peppas cites: Kafireus Καφηρεύς sailed the Chalkis-Limne-Stylis-Oreoi-Volos run.
Rig: Two-masted (initially three) converted Schooner yacht
Tonnage (metric): 146.66. (From others sources : 256.8 )
Capacity: 130 tons
Length : 50 yards. 16 meters long (150 feet)
Beam: 18'-6" six meters wide
Depth of hold : ~ 11 feet
Owner: Compania Mediterranea de Vapores Limitanda (Jean D. Pandelis et Co).
Registry: Constanţa
She sailed under Panama flag
Construction: Structural Steel Shapes
Wall/Shell: M.S. Plates
Decks /Inside Partitions: Wooden beams, boards, plywood, etc.
Engine: old-salvaged and reconditioned three cylinders gas engine recovered from a motor boat drowned in Danube Donau River.
Manufacturer : Benz of Germany.
Power: 250 or 300 Horsepower
Fuel: mixture of 75% Gasoline and 25% Lube Oil
Speed: 6 knots per hour
Fuel Consumption / per hour: Gasoline 17.5 Imperial Gallons/ Lube Oil 1.2 Imperial Gallons
Size: six meters wide (18 feet)

In 1913, Kafireus was requisitioned by the Greek Government, to be used in the northern front.
She is mentioned in Ekdosis Dieu0unseos Istorias Stratou History of the Balkan Wars, Athens, 1980 (in Greek) as having helped with the transfer of troops from Halkidiki to Amphipolis.

In 1916. Kafireus was sold to private interests.
Records dated November, 1916, show Kafireus belonging to the Thrakiki Atmoploia Thracian Coastal Line. which may have been connected with A. Hambouris, who was also involved with the Pandelis Brothers

In 1932, Dimitar Kenkov Димитър Кенков from Varna Варна, acquired Esperos Есперос from George Evangelov Milonas Георги Евангелов Милопас, and renamed her Makedoniya Македония.
Nicholas Peppas cites: in 1932, Kafireus was acquired by Dimiter Nenkov from a Greek named Georgios Mylonas, and her name was changed from Esperos Есперос to Makedoniya Македония, and was converted, increasing capacity to 144 tons, 46.40 meters length, and 5.70 meters width.

In 1938, Kafireus resurfaced and was acquired by a Bulgarian company called Struma, named for river which flows through western Bulgaria and northeast Greece, southward to the Aegean Sea, and used the Danube cargo barge for transporting cattle.

By the time World War II broke out, Struma סטרומה was pitiful and tiny, and deemed so unfit for sea travel that the German military did not requisition her.
She had not been used after 1937.
Her engine was changed to one of 80 HP.
In 1941, Dr Konfino acquired her, prepared her for sailing. and changed her name to Struma סטרומה Strymon.
Russian researchers Bogatiryov Богатирьов, Larintsev Ларинцев and Ovcharenko Овчаренко cite: Struma Струма was leased from a Panamian group, and Dora and Baruch Confino, who were aware of the poor state of the Struma Струма and his initial idea was that Struma Струма would towed Darien.
Wooden plank rails were constructed, so more people could get in.
The upper wood structure was so weak that any breeze threatened to demolish her.
No blueprint of the modifications made inside the ship is available, as they were probably destroyed after Struma סטרומה sank, to conceal incriminating evidence.
Struma סטרומה had three large floorsdecks:
* The lower bottom floor
* the middle
* the main deck
On the lower floor were: the Engine Room, the Fuel Store, the largest dormitory nr.1 with 280 couches, Dormitory nr.3 of 180 couches, stairways ,etc.
On the middle deck were: Dormitory nr.2 with 120 couches, Dormitory nr.4 and 5 each one with some 72 couches. At the stern the washing facilities (about 4 units), and the latrines ( 8 units ).
On the Main (Top) Deck were : The Navigation Room including maps, compass, steering wheel, the radio-telegraph desk and other nautical instruments, The Crew Section and above them, two life boats for 12 persons ea. The Provision Store.
The Passenger's luggage was bound together to the 2nd mast and covered with tarpaulin. The Kitchen, The Drinking Water Cistern, The " Stack" ( vent tube) with a conical head and,
The Suprastructure was a wooden shed with 8 or 6 cabins each one equipped with 6 beds.

On December 12, 1941, Struma Струма sailed from Constanţa. carrying 747 passenger.
Paul H. Silverstone's Aliyah Bet Project cites: On December 11, 1941, Struma Струма sailed from Constanţa. carrying 790 passenger.
Holocaust Forum Blogspot cites: Struma Струма carried approximately 790 passengers, apart from the crew.
The Foundation of the Advancement of Sepgatdic Studies and Culture cites: Struma Струма carried 769 passengers, who "had paid an exorbitant price for passage on this boat."
Abraham J. Edelheit and Hershel Edelheit cite: Struma Струма carried 769 passengers.
The Struma Project cites: Struma Струма carried 778 Romanian and Russian Jews.
Samuel Aroni cites: List of the Constanţa Port Police, was "prepared by the Constanţa Port Police at embarkation, December 8-11, 1941, it is numbered and contains 765 names."
Samuel Aroni cites: List of the American Consul General in Istanbul, Samuel W. Honaker, the American Consul General in Istanbul, prepared an "alphabetical list of 768 names."
Samuel Aroni cites: Romanian List of Serban Gheorghiu "presents, alphabetically, 767 names and ages."
Samuel Aroni cites: List of Struma Victims for the Holon Monument contains 801 names, without ages, again mistakenly including three names of people who disembarked in Istanbul."
Samuel Aroni cites: List of Efhraim Ofir "contains an alphabetical and numerical list of 767 names and ages, in addition to a separate list of the crew."
On the Black Sea, the engine gave out several times, and it took Struma Струма three days to make the short trip to Istanbul.
Our Jerusalem.com cites: "The voyage from Constanza to Istanbul, normally a matter of fourteen hours, took the Struma four days, during which it drifted most of the time because of repeated engine failures."

On December 14, 1941, In response to its distress calls, Turkish vessels towed Struma Струма as far as Sarayburnu, the heart of Istanbul.
Our Jerusalem.com cites: "Bulgarian captain,. G. T. Gorbatenko, made it clear to the Turks that it would be too perilous for the Struma to put to sea again in German-patrolled waters even if it could be rendered seaworthy, and he did not believe it could be."
"The Turks understood that the choice before them was either to let the refugees disembark or to send them to what would most likely be a watery grave. At first they chose to do neither, but to look to Britain (which, after all, had the mandate for the Jewish National Home) to make the decision for them. Accordingly, the assistant secretary-general of the Turkish Foreign Ministry put it to the British ambassador, Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen: Should the refugees to permitted to land and be put on trains bound for Haifa or should the vessel be forced back into the Black Sea?"
"Colonial Minister, Lord Moyne, had Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden see to it that KJnatchbull-Hugessen was clearly instructed to the let the Turks know that the Struma should be sent back where it came from. (Said Moyne: “The landing of 700 more immigrants….will have a deplorable effect (by) encouraging (many more) Jews to embark on (this) traffic…” Said his aide, E. B. Boyd: “Sir H. Knatchbull-Hugessen had a heaven-sent opportunity of getting the people sent back and failed to avail himself of it.”)"
During her stay in Istanbul, only 9 people can leave Struma Струма; 8 were allowed to disembark because they had visas from Bucharest Bucuresti, and the ninth person was a pregnant woman, Medea Solomonivici, who disembarked to give birth.

On February 23, 1942, seventy days after their arrivial at Istanbul, the Maapilim aboard Struma Струма were confronted by 80 club-wielding Turkish policemen who attempted to raise the anchor and tie Struma Струма to tugboats that had pulled alongside.
The Maapilim fought with the police, but were finally subdued, without fuel or other provisions, the crippled Struma Струма was towed through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea, prominently displaying sheets emblazoned with “S.O.S.”, while the refugees screamed for help from the deck, no one took notice.

On February 24, 1942, Struma Струма was sunk, 5-6 miles from Yön Burnu, by a Russian submarine ДЩ 213 at 41º23'N, 29º13'E, killing 796 people.
After the blast hundreds of passengers were still alive, clinging to drifting remnants of the ship.
On the same day, Russian submarine ДЩ 213 sank the Turkish sailing vessel, Çankaya, with gunfire west-north-west of the Bosphorus, at 41º25'N, 28º55'E.
The Russians sank Struma Струма because they could not identify to which country Struma Струма belonged, and fearing a German intrusion, the Soviets were sinking every ship they could not identify
Prior to losing consciousness, a Bulgarian seaman told David Stoliar , the sole survivor, that he was standing on Struma’s deck,when he noticed a water trail from a torpedo from the Turkish coast coming at Struma.
Soviet Navy officer, G.I.Vaneev, an expert in Soviet Military Navy history, in his PhD dissertation, cited the report of the Soviet ДЩ 213 submarine captain who ordered the torpedoing of an isolated ship that had been identified, and caused her sinking.
Conspiracy theorists hypotheized a secret Soviet-British agreement by which Turkey was requested to tow Struma to a predetermined spot on the high sea, on February 23, 1942, which provided the submarine enough leeway to move between Struma and the coast, in order to launch the torpedo, but making it almost impossible to determine from where the torpedo had been fired.
This plot freed both Turkey, a neutral country, and Britain, Russia's ally, from any moral responsibility, and enable Britain to rid herself of the unwelcome Struma Струма.