MS Palatia 1942
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | MS Palatia | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1942 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | ship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Wikidata P828 has cause (on P793 event): airstrike |
| Nationality / flag | Nazi Germany, Germany | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Kriegsmarine | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Skagerrak | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Norway | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 9 km from land |
| Position | 57.9683, 7.2333 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
MS Palatia was a German cargo liner, built in 1928. After serving for several years on the Hamburg America Line's route to the Caribbean, she was sold to the Soviet Union in 1940. Following the outbreak of war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in June 1941, she was captured by the Germans and pressed into Kriegsmarine service.
She was sunk on 21 October 1942 by a Royal New Zealand Air Force torpedo bomber, while carrying a load of prisoners of war intended for slave labour in German-occupied Norway. In total, 986 people have later been reported killed in the incident; 915 prisoners, in addition to German soldiers and crew members.
Diving & visiting
During the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, the municipality of Lindesnes held a memorial service on 6 May 1995 in remembrance of the Palatia disaster. An exhibition with art and items relating to Palatia was also displayed.
The wreck was located in 1997, by the Royal Norwegian Navy underwater search and recovery vessel Tyr. A memorial was raised at Lindesnes and unveiled by King Harald V of Norway on 21 September 1997. The memorial monument, titled Pax, was designed by sculptor Arne Vinje Gunnerud. Pax consists of a Common Buzzard in bronze with unfolded wings, on a platform of natural rock.
Location
- Recorded position: 57.9683, 7.2333 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Skagerrak
- Nearest coast: Norway
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article MS Palatia (revision 1359532129), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Post-war wreck discovery and memorial”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- MS Seattle 1940 · 47 km
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Other wrecks of the World War II
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- Aviere 1942
- Diana 1942
- Giovanni delle Bande Nere 1942
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All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
Browse more: Europe wrecks · wrecks off Norway · Skagerrak · Second World War