SS ARANDORA STAR

Torpedoed by German Submarine U-47 on

The Arandora Star was a converted cruise ship that carried around 1,500 Italian, Austrian and German internees and ‘enemy aliens’ when it set sail for Canadian camps, from Liverpool to St John’s, Newfoundland on 1 July, 1940.

On 2 July, it was torpedoed by a German submarine U-47, 75 miles off the north west coast of Ireland.  Over 800 people lost their lives, the majority of whom were Italians.

Despite an official enquiry at the time, many of the facts surrounding this controversial incident have not yet come to light and are still classified – to many, it is seen as a forgotten tragedy and the impact on the Italian community across the UK was profound.