German troops on the destroyer Pancaldo

[LColombo]

Hello everybody.
On 30 April 1943 the destroyer Leone Pancaldo, during a troop transport mission to Tunis together with the German destroyer Hermes, was sunk by USAAF air strikes off Tunisia. Pancaldo at that time had a crew of 280 men and was carrying some 300 German troops (300 more German troops were on Hermes, which managed to reach Tunis although heavily damaged and with 23 men killed). Of the Pancaldo's crew, 124 men were killed and 156, including her c.o. Tommaso Ferreri Caputi (seriously wounded), were rescued. But what was the fate of the German troops? Does anybody know precisely how many German soldiers were on the Pancaldo and/or how many were killed or survived?

[jwsleser]

The Italian naval official doesn't provide many details on the German soldiers. Volume VIII page 253 states "the German troops were all landed, with relatively modest losses" (Le truppe tedesche furono tutte sbarcate, con perdite relativamente modeste). From the discussion in the previous paragraph, I assume that Hermes saved as many as possible, then sailed to Korbus where she anchored. She as towed fro there to Tunis.

Pista! Jeff

[LColombo]

Hello Jeff,
according to a "Storia Militare" article about the sinking of Pancaldo and of destroyer Lampo (sailing independently on an ammunition transport mission to Tunisia on that same day) and damaging of the Hermes, it is stated that the Hermes, being already heavily damaged and continuously under air attack, did not stop to pick up survivors, but proceeded to Tunis. It seems that smaller vessels such as MAS and MS were sent to rescue the survivors of Pancaldo (and Lampo), and this caused the loss to air strikes of MAS 552 and MS 25.
It seems to me that "Le truppe tedesche furono tutte sbarcate, con perdite relativamente modeste" should refer to the troops on the Hermes; I find rather strange, given that nearly half of the Pancaldo's crew perished, that the losses among the troops would be low.

[jwsleser]

Good day LColombo

Certainly what you have described is possible. I was using a single source, La difesa del Traffico con L'Africa settentrionale vol. VIII. I believe the storia article heavily uses the official history. The discussion of the Ms. 25 and MAS 552 is in the section that follows the one I cited above. I didn't read far enough.

Pages 252-253 discusses the sinking of the Pancaldo. The German troops are briefly mentioned as a group in the opening paragraph ("Ciascuno aveva a bordo 300 militari tedeschi e materiale bellico"). The concluding paragraph is “Le truppe tedesche furono tutte sbarcate, con perdite relativamente modeste.” This sentence is the entire closing paragraph. By structure and grammar rules, it is the conclusion to the entire section and should refer to the all the Germans mentioned in the opening paragraph. No language is provided to narrow the meaning (e.g. carried by the Hermes) is provided. A weak argument to be sure, but the only one I can offer.

The loss of the Lampo, Ms. 25, and MAS 552 is covered in the following section (pages 253-254). While it states that the small vessels sailed to assist the Pancaldo, there is only a description of the air attacks. The volume doesn't state or indicate that two vessels reached the area of the sinking before the attack, but indicates the boats were attacked on their way to the site. The Lampo didn't carry troops.

In all, the official doesn't offer any more information on the German troops than what I have already posted. It is possible that some German source might offer more information.

Pista! Jeff

[LColombo]

Yes, you are probably right. I wonder if anyone here knows German sources about that.

[Urmel]

The German naval command south war diaries at least for 1941/42 seem to be in reasonable shape, so there's an avenue for inquiry?

[Felix C]

Do you think the Hermes war diary would be beneficial? It has been published.

[LColombo]

I've just noticed these two posts, Urmel: who should I contact for an inquiry about that? Felix: where can I find the Hermes war diary?

[Urmel]

LColombo - try the folks over at the forum.marinearchiv.de

[LColombo]

I had already tried on that forum two weeks ago, but there was no reply to my post.

[Felix C]

I've just noticed these two posts, Urmel: who should I contact for an inquiry about that? Felix: where can I find the Hermes war diary?

I have a copy and well check on the weekend. Otherwise, published by Harald Fock.

http://books.google.com/books/about/Afr ... TlAAAACAAJ

[Urmel]

LColombo - you need to post requests for documents here:

http://www.forum-marinearchiv.de/smf/in ... 139.0.html

[LColombo]

Thanks, I will post there.