SS Ocean Vigour

P1

• Ramillies (1948 )
• Galavale (1955)
• Confidenza (1957 )

The Ocean Vigour was a cargo ship of the Ocean - type. Special recognition gained the ship through its use in the operation Igloo, and even more so during the operation Oasis, under which the passengers of the Exodus were deported to Germany.

General

The ship was built at Permanente Metals Corporation 's # 1 shipyard, one of nine Notwerften the Todd -California Shipbuilding Corp.. , Which were built in 1940 for the construction of ocean- ships for the UK. Half of the 60 Ocean ships were built at Todd -California, all of these ships had names that started with "Ocean " and the second part began with the letter "V". The other 30 ships were at Todd - Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corp. built in Portland. These ships had names that started with "Ocean", but the second part of the name of those ships never started with "V".

The construction of the Ocean - ship type required little time; the structural principle of the Ocean - type was for the Liberty ships still further improved and refined. The Ocean Vigour ran as the thirteenth Ocean Ship at Todd -California or fourteenth Ocean - ship at all on 14 February 1942 by Stack, and was put into service already in the following month. The war effort on the ship was without significant incidents.

1946, the cargo ship was converted into a deportation ship to deport as part of Operation Igloo illegal immigrants from Palestine to Cyprus. For this purpose the ship with strong wire fences was converted into a floating prison. In 1948 it was sold to civilian operators, the ship was used under various owners and different names as a cargo ship. In 1957 it was sold to Genoa, and scrapped after ten years of application in La Spezia.

Deportation ship

As deportation ship Ocean Vigour came from November 1946 for use as the passengers of Latrun were deported to Cyprus. Further trips as part of Operation Igloo were in June 1947 with the passengers of Yehuda Halevi, and the end of December 1947, the passengers of the 19th of November. On April 2, 1947, the Ocean Vigour in the port of Famagusta goal of a sabotage attack the Palyam group Ha'Chulya, who blew up with a home-made water bomb a hole in the hull was. The damage could be repaired but soon again.

As of July 18, 1947, the Ocean Vigour was together with the two other ships deportation Empire Rival and Runnymede Park used for the operation Oasis, which made ​​them known worldwide. Commander during this trip was Meier Schwarz. Of the passengers of the Exodus 1464 people were relocated to the Ocean Vigour in Haifa, the first went to Port -de- Bouc near Marseilles. There only a few passengers left the ship, most refused to disembark. The deportation ships sailed to Gibraltar then organized further, then to Hamburg. The first of the three ships, the Ocean Vigour ran on 8 September in Hamburg and placed at 6 clock in the morning at Pier 29. Only some of the passengers followed the given instruction in six languages ​​, to leave the ship without resistance. The remaining individuals were driven by some 300 British soldiers with rubber truncheons, batons, water hoses and tear gas from the ship. The world's negative reactions that the operation caused Oasis, the British government no more illegal immigrants moving to more to Europe to deport. The Ocean Vigour was further used for the deportation trips to Cyprus. With the end of the British Mandate for Palestine from the ship MoWT was sold to civilian operators.