Armed Merchant Cruisers

[Brian James]

Armed Merchant Cruiser Gallia (Ex Transatlantic Liner), with one of her five 5.5 inch guns pictured on August 13th 1916...On October3rd 1916 Gallia left Toulon unescorted for Thessaloniki in Greece carrying 1,650 French soldiers, 350 Serbian soldiers and 350 crew and a cargo of artillery and ammunition. The next day the German U-31 Class Submarine SM U-35, commanded by Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, torpedoed her southwest of Sardinia. Ammunition aboard Gallia exploded and the ship sank in 15 minutes. Because of the rapid sinking, panic broke out on board resulting in lifeboats capsizing, and thousands of soldiers jumping overboard. The ship's wireless was disabled by the explosions, preventing the sending of a distress signal. The next day the Protected Cruiser Châteaurenault rescued survivors. 1,338 people were killed in the sinking. The sinking was one of the greatest losses of life in a maritime disaster involving a single French ship and the second deadliest maritime disaster in the First World War, even worse than that of RMS Lusitania.