Shipwreck divers unravel mystery of ‘The Greek Titanic’ that sank killing 400 as shoes of the dead found on ocean floor
THE terrifying last moments of the tragic ship dubbed the “Greek Titanic” have been revealed, after new images captured the ghostly remains of her wreck.
The Heimara sank on January 19, 1947, after hitting an islet in the South Euboean Gulf – killing 400 people in Greece’s deadliest-ever boating disaster.
Now, new research has revealed the horror of her final moments, as well as artifacts from the wreck – frozen in time for nearly 80 years.
Among the relics are the shoes of the dead, some of them children’s, as well as paper items and letters from the ship’s nameplate.
Diver Kostas Thoctarides, whose research has shed new light on the sinking, described the terror of that night.
He said: “The passengers of the Heimara felt a terrible shock and soon afterwards the ship plunged into darkness.
“The steam that began to escape from the engine room made the situation even more horrifying.
“The rudder was disabled in the starboard position, while water began to flow into the ship’s interior from the holes.”
With the ship now drifting, Captain Spyros Bilinis ordered his crew to use a manual rudder to ground her in the shallows.
Kostas continued: “However, this rudder was also destroyed and it was not even possible to send a distress signal as the radio was not working either.”
“The captain attempted to maintain order while distributing life jackets to the passengers and loading them into the lifeboats.
“But he did not succeed because several members of his own crew were the first to leave the steamer in an attempt to save themselves alone.
“In the darkness and panic, shots could be heard.”
Kostas explained why the Heimara is now known as the “Greek Titanic”.
He said: “Because it is the greatest maritime tragedy of Greek shipping, in which about 400 people were lost.
“Moreover, as in the Titanic shipwreck, the collision was due to human error, panic prevailed during the ship’s abandonment, and most of the victims died of hypothermia.”
The story of the Heimara can now be retold thanks to new research by Kostas, who unearthed lost primary sources and has also dived the wreck.
The ship was mostly salvaged in 1968, but enough clues remain on the sea bed to confirm the cause of the sinking, lying amongst the dead’s personal belongings.
The diver said: “Next to the ship’s ventilators, personal items of the Heimara’s passengers were scattered.
“Such as boots, ladies’ shoes, children’s shoes, combs, women’s stockings, life jackets, and an officer’s sword.
“The most emotional thing we found was a pair of children’s shoes among the wreckage – apparently from one of the unfortunate children who perished in the sinking of the ship.”
He added: “The presence of human elements was intense and brought to mind scenes from the unbelievable tragedy that occurred there.
“You feel like you’re travelling in time and you have a sense of sadness for everything that happened.”
The sinking has been blamed on a failure to change course from 140 degrees to 125 degrees after the last shift change on the bridge.
Kostas and his team also discovered that the crew had failed to ensure that the watertight doors were closed, and that the ship had never had an abandonment drill.
They further found that its radio had never sent a distress signal.
Additionally, they learned that the Heimara, which was sailing from Thessaloniki to Piraeus, had already suffered a “serious technical failure” with its rudder north of Skiathos.
This caused the ship to drift for more than an hour.
Today, only the lower part of the ship and its steam boiler remain.
Kostas said: “Time has not yet erased the remains of the nightmare.
“On the port side of the ship we can see the gap that was caused along the boiler room when the Heimara’s hull was dragged onto the rocky islet.
“Lying on the bottom of the sea are the winches that once hosted the ship’s ropes, as well as ventilators.”
Perhaps most surprising is the wealth of surviving paper artifacts.
Kostas said: “During the dive we found newspapers, books and correspondence buried in the muddy bottom of the Euboean Sea since 1947.
“These were Greek, Cypriot and French newspapers.
“There were telegrams, French books, and stamps of the time that were not completely destroyed, although they had been lying on the seabed for dozens of years.
“Finding paper underwater is a particularly rare occurrence and there are very few times when documents have survived on the seabed.”
Today, the ship lies at a depth of 33 metres near the Megalo Verdougi islet, close to the ferry route between Agia Marina, on the Greek mainland, and Nea Stira, on the island of Euboea.
Artifacts from the wreck are now on display in a new free exhibition in Rafina.
World's deadliest sea disasters
THE sinking of the Titanic might be the most famous boating disaster, but it is not the most deadly.
Here’s a round-up of the sea disasters from history that have sent the most people down to Davy Jones’ Locker.
- Wilhelm Gustloff, 1945: Thought to be the deadliest ship sinking ever, an estimated 9,400 people perished when this huge German ship was struck by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea during WWII.
- MV Doña Paz, 1987: In the worst peacetime maritime disaster, a Philippine ferry collided with an oil tanker, and 4,386 people drowned.
- The Titanic, 1912: In a sinking that needs no introduction, a British ocean liner struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage, and over 1,500 people died – mainly due to hypothermia.
- RMS Lusitania, 1915: German U-boats sank this British ocean liner because they suspected it of carrying war ammunitions. The loss of 1,198 passengers – including 128 Americans – was part of the trigger for the US joining WWI.
- SS Sultana, 1865: The US’s own deadliest disaster happened when this side-wheel steamship exploded on the Mississippi River. A huge 1,800 people were killed – although the disaster was overshadowed by the assassination of President Lincoln.
- SS Kiangya, 1948: Soon after the end of WWII, the Chinese Communist Party gained the upper-hand there – pushing thousands to try and escape. One overloaded vessel exploded when it hit a war mine, killing over 4,000.
- The White Ship, 1120: Some 300 people drowned in the English Channel when a medieval ferry sank off Normandy. Amongst the dead was the only heir to King Henry I of England.