FOUND! The lost Panzer Division and the wreck of "Marburg" full of German tanks and guns

The photo of the Italian Archivio Centrale Dello Stato files, reason for the investigation of the ship's identity - Photo Credit: LUCE/George Karelas

Research: George Karelas and Gerasimos Sotiropoulos

Photos: As credited

Text: Pierre Kosmidis

By  May 21st, 1941 the Germans had concluded the invasion of mainland Greece, codenamed "Operation Marita" and were in the process of attacking the island of Crete, with an airborne assault that was initiated the day before, on May 20th, codenamed "Operation Merkur".

An Allied POW sitting atop a German tank, during "Operation Marita", the invasion of Greece, April-May 1941 Photo Credit: Bundesarchiv

The German armored divisions that participated in the "blitzkrieg" against Greece, were now needed in the Easter Front, as Germany was gearing up for the invasion of the Soviet Union and rather from taking the long way to the front via land, they chose the much quicker way: 

German armour (actually French Hotchkiss tanks) during the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece, April-May 1941

To ferry them from the port of Patras, Greece across the Adriatic Sea to the port of Taranto, back to Italy. 

Therefore, a large contingent of the 2nd Panzer Division was loaded in the port of Patras aboard the transport ships Marburg and Kybfels, with final destination the port of Taranto in Italy. 

This was a decision that would cost the Germans dearly.

A German self-propelled gun used during the invasion of Greece, Source: Bundesarchiv

Kybfels was a cargo ship of 7,764 tons owned by HANSA Bremen. 

Marburg, just below 7,564 tons, was built in 1928 for the company North German LLoyd. 

A previous convoy on May 18, 1941, including those two ships and the Italian transport ship Laura C.  transferred via the same route, from Patras to Taranto, heavy guns and tanks of the 2nd Panzer Division and then returned to Patras to load the remaining tanks, as well as other vehicles and personnel of the Division.

The poor road network of Greece, along with the fact that many roads were destroyed by retreating British forces, made the German tanks use the rail tracks to continue their advance. Source: Bundesarchiv

With the fear of an attack and following reports that an allied submarine had been seen in the area, the Italian Navy, the Regia Marina, sent the submarine Menotti commanded by lieutenant commander Ugo Gelli, to patrol the area south of Zakynthos (Zante) island.

Another photo of the Italian Archivio Centrale Dello Stato files, reason for the investigation of the ship's identity - Photo Credit: LUCE/George Karelas

The submarine sailed from Taranto on May 18 and on the evening of the 20th the Italians saw a silhouette of an unknown ship in the area. 

It later proved to be the mine layer HMS Abdiel, which set the minefield that would make so much damage to the Axis powers.

Shortly afterwards, the Italian destroyer Carlo Mirabello, coming from Italy to Patras, hit a mine and sunk. 

Marburg with her first name Saale (source http://www.nils-seefahrt.de/)

The Italian gunboat Pellegrino Matteucci followed, while accompanying an Italian convoy. 

The most probable reason as to why the Italians did not warn their German allies of the minefield that sank their ships is the following:

During that time, their relations went sour, the cooperation between the fascists and the nazis in Patras was strained and consultation between each other was virtually non-existent.

The chronicle of the disaster

On May 21st, 1941, at 9:00 hrs. in the morning, Kybfels and Marburg are being loaded with vehicles and artillery of the 2nd Armoured Division, with the port of Taranto as their destination. 

From Italy, they will be carried by rail to the Eastern Front, for Operation "Barbarossa". 

German survivors watch the Marburg, while the ship is seen drifting towards the shores of Ithaki. Source: A. Winkel)

This time, the two ships will be on their own, apart from Italian reconnaissance aircraft that will fly over them.

At 14:00 hrs. while the convoy was between Kefalonia and Lefkada islands, a terrible explosion was heard. 

Kybfels had struck a mine!

Shortly afterwards Marburg hits a mine too and starts to sink!

The minefield was set just on the day before by the British mine layer HMS Abdiel, between Kefalonia and Ithaki islands.

The exact location of this minefield, in a busy route the Axis shipping was frequently using cannot be attributed just to luck. 

It appears that the British had a very well organised intelligence service in Patras that monitored all the moves of the Axis shipping.

The ship at the port of Patras  before the last or the penultimate voyage. Source: Deutsches Historisches Museum

In the book of Kostas Triantafillou "Historical Dictionary of Patras" it is documented that two Greeks, Martakos and Skamnakis,  were arrested "due to suspicion of reporting the movements of ships to the enemy" (i.e. the British)

226 Germans were killed or drowned with the two ships, while survivors swam to Lefkada and Kefalonia islands.

HMS Abdiel went down in history as the first mining operation in very deep waters, which surprised the Axis powers in the Mediterranean. 

The research

George Karelas, from Patras, Greece, is a researcher and scuba diver, with a keen interest in WW2 Wrecks. 

Mr. Karelas says to  WW2 Wrecks and pierrekosmidis.blogspot.com: 

"I was examining a photo from the Italian State Archives (Archivio Centrale Dello Stato) of a burning ship near the Greek coast. 

The caption read as follows:

"Flaming ship near the Greek coast, April-May 1941". 

This photo was shot by an Italian reconnaissance aircraft with the Regia Aeronautica emblem clearly visible on the wing.

Although the silhouette of the ship was quite distinct, identification seemed impossible, because so many ships were bombed during the German invasion of Greece, out of which several sank, while few others escaped.

Now and then: Photo of the area by the Italian Air Force and a contemporary photo (Source: George Karelas)

What struck me was that the ship was big, up to 8,000 tons, painted with a camo scheme and had four masts, a quite unique feature at the time.

What I did not consider though, was the possibility that the ship belonged to the Axis powers and was not Allied.

When I read the details of the sinking of Marburg and Kybfels, between the islands of Kefalonia and Lefkada, I immediately noticed that Marburg had four masts.

I started searching the region and finally the northern coast of Ithaki island coincided exactly with that of the photo! 

Even the lighthouse that still exists today was there! 

But did Marburg sink so close to the shore? 

That was great news!

The discovery

Gerasimos Sotiropoulos, owner of Aquatic World Diving Center in Kefalonia, is a tireless researcher of the seabed and the area's history. 

Survey of the seabed with sonar equipment (Source: George Karelas)

Mr. Sotiropoulos is credited with several WW2 Wrecks he located in the Ionian Islands, Greece.

According to the testimony of a German soldier who was aboard the Marburg, the ship was abandoned immediately after the explosion of the mine on the orders of the captain. 

The ship was burning fiercely for hours and in the evening the burning ship was visible from Lefkada Island. 

The photo of the burning ship may have been shot in the afternoon of the 21st, or on the day after, the 22nd.

Reports of the German Naval Command did not offer any additional details on the exact point the ship sunk . 

The rescue of the shipwrecked soldiers was made by Italian ships as the Ionian Islands were under Italian occupation at that time and by Greek fishermen. The Marburg appears to have been abandoned to her fate.

The investigation by Gerasimos Sotiropoulos focused on eye witnesses accounts from persons who might have known the exact location where the burning ship sank . The stories of old men led to a target west of Ithaki island. 

The ship appeared to have drifted south from where it struck the mine. 

After long searches of the seabed  with sonar equipment, the ship was found at last!

There she is! The shipwreck is finally found, broken into two pieces and full of German tanks! (Source: Gerasimos Sotiropoulos)

It seems that Marburg ended up at a depth of 300 meters, broken into two pieces.

Despite the fact that this depth does not allow for scuba divers to examine the wreck and her valuable cargo of tanks and other military equipment of the 2nd Panzer Division, it is still possible that ROVs will be able to visit this unique shipwreck and bring back to the surface unique images of the tanks lost at sea.

Until then, Poseidon, the Greek god of the Seas, will keep his secrets well hidden in the seafloor!

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

Platon Alexiades - Target Corinth Canal

Byron Tesapsides - DIE KRIEGSMARINE IN DER ÄGÄIS

Very Special Ships: Abdiel Class Fast Minelayers of World War Two, by Arthur Nicholson

Βill Russ microfilms archives

Lena Tsopouropoulou: The Greek woman who photographed the wreck of the "Britannic", the Titanic's sister ship

The Britannic as a hospital ship
CREDIT National Maritime Museum

The Titanic is a shipwreck that has attracted the interest of millions of people worldwide for over 100 years, since her sinking back in 1912.

Read the Greek version here:
http://pierrekosmidis.blogspot.gr/2013/02/blog-post.html

Few are aware though that her sister ship the Britannic, sunk during WW1 in the Aegean Sea, Greece, on November 21st, 1916, with the loss of 30 persons out of the 1065 people on board and is now resting on the seabed in almost perfect condition.

A sonar profile of the Britannic, as she rests on the seabed

A Greek diving mission brought, from a depth of 120 meters, images from a shipwreck resting in the Aegean for almost 100 years.

The “Greek Woman of the Abyss,” Lena Tsopouropoulou recorded through her lens images of a ship almost 260 meters long.

The strait between Makronissos and Kea islands, just a few miles from the Temple of Poseidon on the southern tip of Attica, is one of the busiest sea passages, since antiquity with a history of 2500 years of navigation.

The “Greek Woman of the Abyss,” Lena Tsopouropoulou

“Victim” of the First World War, the Britannic was retrofitted into a hospital ship and sank after hitting a German mine that had been laid in late October of 1916 by the German submarine U 73 and stayed for decades forgotten until the famous French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau located and identified it in 1975.

Since then, several diving and scientific expeditions have visited the wreck, which is of great interest, both because of its almost perfect condition, almost 100 years after the sinking, and because of its historical and archaeological significance.

Unlike the “Titanic” that dragged more than 1,500 people at the bottom of the sea, the “Britannic” was more… merciful since just 30 people perished with her.

“The Britannic is a major wreck with a great history,” says Mrs. Lena Tsopouropoulou and adds:

“Diving the wreck is a unique experience, the size of the ship left me speechless. It took a while until I started taking pictures”.

Mrs. Lena Tsopouropoulou highlighted the technical difficulties that the project presented: “The conditions are very demanding, both technically and for photography. It is a great challenge to be able to capture photographically such a wreck and to be able to give an overall picture of the ship”.

A scuba diver hovers in front of the Britannic

The “identity” of the Britannic

The “Britannic”, one of three almost identical ocean liners of the shipping company “White Star”, (the other two being the “Titanic” which sank in 1912 and the “Olympic” which was sold for scrap in the 1920s) is synonymous with luxury transatlantic voyages in the early 20th century.

Launched in February 1914

Requisitioned in December 1915

Sank in November 1916

Registered length: 259.80 meters

Gross registered tonnage: 48,158

Cruising speed: 21 knots

WW2 bunkers in Greece: Lt. Colonel (ret.) Ilias Kotridis and the "Metaxas line" that stopped the nazis in 1941

Blown up corridor of a bunker at the Karatas fortress - the Bulgarian occupation forces blew the surface bunkers and the corridors collapsed. The Bulgarians, allies of the nazis, tried to destroy the bunkers, after the battle was over, by blowing them up.

Lt. Colonel (ret.) Ilias Kotridis has dedicated his life and efforts unearthing the lost secrets of the "Metaxas Line", a complex of concrete bunkers and fortresses that withstood the German invasion.

The Germans launched their attack on April 6, 1941 and the Greek army stationed at the bunkers caused a significant number of casualties to the invading forces that stormed Greece from the northern borders with Bulgaria, a country that had sided with nazi Germany.

Paliouriones bunker complex

The number of casualties, including, dead, injured and missing in action, according to a variety of sources, is over 2,500 Germans and approximately 1,000 Greeks. 

XVIII Corps reported 555 killed, 2,134 wounded and 170 missing (without the officers).

XXX Corps' total casualties are not known, but the 164th Infantry Division suffered 18 killed and 92 wounded and the 50th Infantry Division 26 killed, 22 missing and 177 wounded (plus 4 drowned on 14 April in an accident).

Lt. Colonel (ret.) Ilias Kotridis is credited with locating an artillery piece of a battery which played a significant role during the Battle: 

"Back in 2002, after consulting with WW2 veterans who served at Roupel bunker complex, I managed to locate and unearth one of the four artillery pieces belonging to the "Kyriakidis Battery".

It was a very emotional moment for me, after 61 years we found the gun, along with the remains of the Greek soldiers that fought and died there".

Blown up door to a machine gun emplacement, on Hill 224, close to Paliouriones fortress

Lt. Colonel (ret.) Ilias Kotridis vividly remembers an incident that happened back in 1995, when he was the Commander of Roupel fortress, which is now a Museum.

"In May 1995, a group of visitors came to Roupel. Among them was an old man on a wheelchair. After listening to the order of battle and other details related to the struggle, he came closer and asked me to take him to "Molon Lave" hill. [Molon labe (Greek: μολὼν λαβέ molṑn labé), meaning "come and take them" , is a classical expression of defiance. According to Herodotus, when the Persian armies demanded that the Greeks surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas responded with this phrase.]

Lt. Colonel (ret.) Ilias Kotridis continues: "At first, I was at a loss as to why he asked me to take him there. Once we got at "Molon Lave" hill, he asked us to leave him on the ground. He sat on the soil, he started weeping and kissed the ground. 

"It's OK" I heard him say. I still wasn't sure why he got so emotional. The old man looked at me and said: 

"Can you see that old fortifications over there? This is were my two legs are, I lost them during the fighting with the Germans. But it's OK, what I did was for my country and family."  

The Battle of the Metaxas Line (Kampf um die Metaxas-Linie), also known in Greece as the "Battle of the Forts"  was the first battle during the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, during World War II. 

Read HERE: April 1941: When the Greeks stopped the nazis at the bunkers of "Metaxas Line"

Read HERE: April 1941: Operation "Marita" and the Greek "Maginot Line" that cost the nazi Germans dearly

Following the stalemate of their Italian allies in the Albanian front and the victories of the Greeks in the mountainous regions of northern Greece and Albania against the Italian army, since the unprovoked attack of fascist Italy on October 28th, 1940, which signaled the entry of Greece in World War Two, the paranoid German dictator Hitler initiated the preparation for Operation "Marita".

Steel ladder leading to an observation post, "Delta" Company, Paliouriones fortress

General Ioannis Metaxas, the Greek dictator-prime minister who died shortly before the German invasion of his country, had initiated this construction project in the summer of 1936. 

View from Hill 224, in the distance Strymon river and Bulgaria 

Its strongest part extended over a distance of  200 kilometres (125 miles) from the mouth of the Nestos River to the point where the Yugoslav, Bulgarian, and Greek borders meet. 

An inside view of the fortifications of Hill 224

The fortresses within this defense system blocked the road that led through the basin of Nevrokop and across the Rupel Gorge to eastern Macedonia. 

Personal effects of KIA Greek soldiers, belonging to the "Kyriakidis Battery"

The strength of the Metaxas Line resided not so much in its fortifications proper as in the inaccessibility of the intermediate terrain leading up to the defense positions.

Gas mask part, from the relics unearthed at the specific spot where the KIA Greek soldiers were found

The Greek fortifications along the border had been skillfully adapted to these terrain features and a defense system in depth covered the few available roads. No continuous fortifications had been erected along the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border, but road blocks, demolitions, and extensive mine fields had been prepared at all border points. 

Bullets belonging to the KIA Greek soldiers

The German plan of attack was based on the premise that, because of the diversion created by the campaign in Albania, the Greeks would lack sufficient manpower to defend their borders with Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. 

A 152mm gun, blown up by the Greek soldiers, to render them useless (WW2 period photo from the personal collection of Lt. Colonel Kotridis)

The full frontal attack on the Metaxas Line, undertaken by one German infantry and two reinforced mountain divisions of the XVIII Mountain Corps, met with extremely tough resistance from the Greek defenders. 

The 152mm gun found by Lt. Colonel Kotridis

The Metaxas Line was a chain of fortifications constructed along the line of the Greco-Bulgarian border, designed to protect Greece in case of a Bulgarian invasion after the rearmament of Bulgaria. 

It was named after Ioannis Metaxas, dictator and Prime Minister of Greece, and chiefly consists of tunnels that led to observatories, emplacements and machine-gun nests. 

The constructions are so sturdy that they survive to this day, some of which are still in active service. Some of them are open to the public.

The 152mm gun found by Lt. Colonel Kotridis

Some of the fortresses of the line held out for days after the German attack divisions had bypassed them and could not be reduced until heavy guns were brought up.

The 152mm gun found by Lt. Colonel Kotridis

List of Fortification Complexes

The following 21 forts make up the Metaxas Line, ordered from West to East along the Greco-Bulgarian border.

Popotlivitsa (Ποποτλίβιτσα)
Istibey (Ιστίμπεη)
Kelkagia (Κελκαγιά)
Arpalouki (Αρπαλούκι)
Paliouriones (Παληουριώνες)
Roupel (Ρούπελ)
Karatas (Καρατάς)
Kali (Κάλη)
Persek (Περσέκ)
Babazora (Μπαμπαζώρα)
Maliaga(Μαλιάγκα)
Perithori(Περιθώρι)
Partalouska (Παρταλούσκα)
Ntasavli (Ντάσαβλη)
Lisse (Λίσσε)
Pyramidoeides (Πυραμιδοειδές)
Kastilo (Καστίλο)
Agios Nikolaos (Αγιος Νικόλαος)
Bartiseva (Μπαρτίσεβα)
Echinos (Εχίνος)
Nymfaia (Νυμφαία)

An emplacement for a 152mm gun

German General Wilhelm List, who led the attack against the Metaxas Line, admired the bravery and courage of these soldiers. 

He refrained from taking the Greek soldiers prisoner and declared that the army was free to leave with their war flags, on condition that they surrender their arms and supplies. 

He also ordered his soldiers and officers to salute the Greek soldiers (Beevor 2005, p. 20). 

The line was also poorly manned as most of the Greek Army was fighting against the Italians, on the Albanian frontier.

Researching the remains of the KIA Greek soldiers

The Metaxas Line consists of 21 independent fortification complexes, the largest of which is Fort Roupel as it covers 6.1 out of the 155 km of the full line and had been constructed at a height of 322 m. 

Illumination was initially mostly provided by oil-lamps, although generators were also installed. 

(Currently, the fortifications are supplied with public electricity, but they are also equipped with generators). 

Ventilation was achieved both naturally and artificially. Water was supplied via water-mains. 

The fortification works lasted four years and their cost at the time reached 100,400,000 drachmas.

Lt. Colonel Kotridis while researching for the remains of the KIA Greek soldiers

Paliouriones fortress bunker complex

Lt. Colonel Kotridis examines a newly discovered bunker, with a ventilation mechanism at Karatas fortress 

A minefield sign

75mm shell case in one of the bunkers 

Ventilation shaft at Karatas fortress

Staircase at Hill 224

Corridors at "Delta" Company, Paliouriones fortress bunker complex

Blown up entrance to the Karatas bunker complex, featuring a mortar shooting position

Dragons teeth at Ousita, Roupel fortress 

Antitank steel girders at Ousita, Roupel fortress 

Unfinished bunker at Ousita, Roupel fortress

A/A position at Ousita, Roupel fortress 

A partially exploded round with remains of the explosive charge 

The red covers the line of fire of Roupel fortress

Close to the entrance of Ousita

A machine gun emplacement

A blown up bunker at Arpalouki fortress bunker complex 

The "hidden" entrance at Arpalouki fortress. Note the bullet holes on the walls, a vivid reminder of the fierce battles that took place exactly here in April 1941. 

"Delta" Company, Paliouriones fortress, Hill 224