SS Valbanera

The Valbanera was a passenger ship of the Spanish shipping company pinillos Izquierdo y Compañía, which, Cuba and various ports on the Gulf Coast transported from 1906 to 1919 passengers, cargo and mail from Barcelona via the Atlantic Ocean to Puerto Rico. On September 9, 1919, the Valbanera came before Havana in the great Florida Keys hurricane and disappeared without a trace. Just ten days later, the wreck of the ship was found. Of the 488 passengers and crew was no trace.

The ship

The Valbanera 1905 was commissioned by the pinillos Izquierdo y Compañía, a company founded in 1884 steamship company based in Barcelona, in order. The shipping company was generally shortened pinillos Line called and had specialized in passenger traffic from Spain to Central and South America. Since the shipping company by this time knew their scheduled service with only two ships that Valbanera should strengthen the fleet of pinillos Line. The steamer was named after the Italian city Valfenera, as a founder of the Pinillios Lines had been born there.

The Valbanera was built in Glasgow's Scotstoun shipyard on the Charles Connell & Company and launched on October 13, 1906, yard number 309 on the Clyde from the stack. She was with 5090 BRT the hitherto largest ship in the pinillos Line and was not surpassed until 1908 by the 5574 -ton Barcelona. In November 1906, the steamer was completed.

She led four price classes: first class, second class, third class and steerage. Overall, the ship could carry 1200 passengers. The accommodation of the First Class were divided into three categories: Clase de Lujo ( Luxury class), Clase Preferente (preferred class) and Primera Clase (First Class ). When Clase de Lujo it was luxury suites, which were equipped with a bedroom, a living room and a private bathroom.

Disappearance in the storm

On Sunday, August 10, 1919, the Valbanera ran in Barcelona to a further voyage to Havana, Cuba with the usual stops under the command of 34-year captain Ramón Martín Cordero. 1230 people ( 1142 passengers and 88 crew members) were on board. To charge included, among other things, olives, dried fruits and wine. On 13 August, the Valbanera reached the port of Malaga, where the first passengers left the ship and others came on board. Two days later the steamer in Cádiz on the Andalusian coast, where more passengers left the ship. Then the ship ran to the Canary Islands. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria ) was reached on 17 August and Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( Tenerife ) on August 18. Between 19 and 21 August the Valbanera was in the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma at anchor to take more supplies for the upcoming Atlantic crossing aboard. In each of the Canary Islands ports passengers disembarked.

Then the Valbanera crossed the Atlantic. On September 1, Valbanera reached its first port of call in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan. On September 5, they reached Santiago de Cuba. Although most of the passengers were booked for Havana, decided 742 passengers already there to disembark. Rumors of a coming storm from the northwest had recently taken on board the round. Therefore, many people decided for safety reasons for a premature termination of the trip. Even losing an anchor to have been crucial as a bad omen. On the rest of the way to Havana therefore were only 488 people on board.

On 8 September, the steamer approached its final destination, as ensured in Havana, the first foothills of the Florida Keys hurricane of devastation. It was one of the hitherto strongest measured hurricane that reached Category 4 at this time on the Saffir -Simpson Hurricane Scale. In the early morning hours of September 9 the Valbanera reached the harbor entrance and gave the port to want to record the pilot signal, but received a reply that the port was closed. The captain and officers of the Valbanera took note of this and signaled to wait outside the port on the end of the storm.

As the hurricane broke up and the Valbanera was also two days later not yet been run in the port of Havana, began a large-scale search of the ship. The U-boat hunters SC -203 of the U.S. Navy under the command of Captain LB Roberts found the passenger ship on September 19 about 40 miles off Key West in a said of the local population Quicksands shallow water area. The Valbanera was in shallow waters, and only one of the two masts and still hanging in the davits lifeboats on the starboard side sticking out of the water. The wreck was five miles east of the lighthouse Rebecca Shoal Light. It was completely unmanned; neither survivors nor corpses were found. The 488 passengers and crew had vanished.

Investigation of the wreck

The United States 7th Naval District under Rear Admiral Decker led in collaboration with J. Domingo Milord, the Consul of Cuba, several dives to the wreck. In these investigations it was found that the ship was virtually intact and all the lifeboats were still on board. Therefore, the question was raised, as were the passengers and crew escaped. Also the lack of scattered cargo and debris fell on.

It no human remains were found in the ship. To this day, was never clarified what happened to the people on the Valbanera. It is conjectured that the bodies were driven into the sea or were quickly covered by sand before they could find them. There were also rumors that survivors have settled in Florida.

The short story After The Storm ( 1928) by Ernest Hemingway is based on the discovery of the wreck of the Spanish ocean liner.

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