The
war suddenly hit the Austrian mercantile shipping, but it
didn’t catch it unprepared. Ships, usually transporting
cheerful summer tourists to seaside resorts along the Adriatic
coast, elite steamers connecting Trieste with large Mediterranean
ports, line ships traveling regularly to overseas ports
taking both the rich and the poor safely to their destinations,
but with different comfort - all of these all at once received
a different task.
The officers of the mercantile shipping and the port pilots
started serving the navy, almost all of them were already
reserve officers of the Austrian navy. The ships were painted
with colours that should have made them invisible or hardly
visible. White ships, gala suppers, music and all other
beautiful things were gone. On the days before and after
28th July 1914, the day when the war outbreak, all the guests
were hurriedly returning home. Men were invited to join
their units so as to exchange their light clothes and their
straw hats for the light-grey military uniforms. Women had
to take care of children, of the extensive baggage and the
servants. At the time when the steamships were incessantly
sailing from the port of Trieste to the Adriatic seaside
resort, on 13th August 1914 a terrible maritime disaster
occurred, and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was already
at war. At five o’clock in the afternoon in the quiet
sea and the sunny weather, the Austrian ship “Baron
Gautsch” sank near Rovinj. According to court evidence
130 out of 300 passengers drowned, mostly women and children.
However, some archive documents proves that Baron Gautsch
had embarked over 100 children. Due to a mistake of the
second officer, the ship turned from its course, entered
the mine field of its own naval army and hit an undersea
mine. It was around 15:45 in the morning when the passengers
felt a strong blow, so that many of them fell down. There
was an outburst of panic. Everyone hurried to reach the
lifeboats, some of which couldn’t have been lowered
to the sea since the ropes were rather entangled, or they
were already too crowded and thus couldn’t be raised.
It was the reason why many passengers jumped in the sea,
where they were the torpedo boats waiting to help them.
The ship quickly leaned left and sunk in seven minutes.
Judging by the passengers’ statements, the crew of
the ship wasn’t interested in rescuing the passengers
since they were too concerned with sparing their own lives.
The first lifeboat was allegedly occupied by the members
of the crew. Out of 240 passengers and 66 members of the
crew 159 persons were saved, and 66 drowning persons were
taken out of the sea. The others drowned, and their corpses
were never found. Did it all happen because of negligence
or indifference? Who would dare judge it today? The victims
of the ship “Baron Gautsch” today rest in peace
at the Naval Cemetery of the former major war port of Pula,
near the sailors, the officers and sub-officers of the naval
army. One should remember then during his holidays on the
Adriatic coast before their destinies fade away forever.
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Built in 1908. The ship belonged to the Lloyd insurance company, and it sailed from Canari to Trieste. It got the name from prime president in Viena, baron Paul Gratsch (the man who several times in a short period led the Austrian temporarly gouverment).
Ship length is 84.5 meters, width 11.6 meters. Baron Gautsch was powered by three steam engines, each with 4600 horse powers, with maximum speed of 17 knots. The shipwreck of Baron Gautsch was of the hardest in ex Austro-Hungarian with the most causalities. On his last sail ship was transporting refugees from Boka Kotorska and Dubrovnik, soldiers... |
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