View source for SS Cantabria (1919)

{{other uses|SS Cantabria}}

{{use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}

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|Ship image=SS-Cantabria-Nadir.jpg
|Ship caption=The sinking of SS ''Cantabria'' as seen from the Nationalist raider ''Nadir''
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|Ship name=SS ''Cantabria''
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Spain|1931}}
|Ship country=Spanish
|Ship owner= A Zubizarreta<ref>Times Online Archive, Letter to the Editor dated 5 November 1938</ref>
|Ship operator=On charter to the Mid-Atlantic Shipping Company of London
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|Ship ordered=1919
|Ship builder=J. Coughlan & Sons
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|Ship launched=1919
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|Ship maiden voyage=1919
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|Ship homeport=[[Santander, Cantabria|Santander]]
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|Ship fate=Sunk by the Spanish Nationalist Auxiliary cruiser ''Nadir'' off the [[North Norfolk]] Coast {{coord|53|1|58|N|1|31|57|E|display=inline,title}}
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|Ship tonnage=5,649 tons
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|Ship length={{convert|410|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|54|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height={{convert|27|ft|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=[[Triple-expansion engine]]s, 532&nbsp;[[Horsepower#nhp|nhp]]
|Ship speed={{convert|8|-|10|kn}}
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|Ship crew=33
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{{Campaignbox Spanish Civil War}}
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'''SS ''Cantabria''''' was a Spanish cargo ship which was sunk in a military action of the [[Spanish Civil War]], off the coast of [[Norfolk]] 12 miles ENE<ref name=autogenerated1>The Ship-wrecks off North Norfolk. Ayer Tikus Publications. p.&nbsp;13.</ref> of [[Cromer]] on 2 November 1938.<ref>"Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, {{ISBN|0-946148-59-7}}.</ref> The ship was shelled by the Spanish Nationalist [[auxiliary cruiser]] ''Nadir'', which was part of [[General Franco]]'s navy.

== Construction and early career ==
SS ''Cantabria'' (5649 tons) was built in 1919 as ''War Chief'' at the shipyards of J. Coughlan & Sons, [[Vancouver|Vancouver, British Columbia]], [[Canada]].<ref>"Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, {{ISBN|0-946148-59-7}}, p.&nbsp;158.</ref> She was purchased by A.F. Pérez of Santander in 1919 and renamed ''Alfonso Pérez''. She was used as a [[prison ship]] during the [[Asturian miners' strike of 1934]].<ref name=prison>[http://elcuevanodelpasiego.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/historia-del-barco/ Historia de “el barco”] El Cuévano del Pasiego</ref> In 1937 she was requisitioned by the ''Departamento de Navegación'' of Santander for the Republican government and renamed ''Cantabria''.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> She was registered at the [[Bay of Biscay]] port of [[Santander, Cantabria|Santander]] in northern Spain, where she was used again as a [[prison ship]] by Republican authorities.<ref name=prison/>

==1938 incident==
At the time of the 1938 incident, ''Cantabria'' was under charter to a British company called the Mid-Atlantic Shipping Company based in London. ''Cantabria'' was not engaged in Spanish trade at the time of her sinking. She was on passage in ballast between the [[River Thames]] and [[Immingham]] bound for [[Leningrad]] under Captain Manuel Argüelles. On board were 45 people made up of crew and passengers, of which five were children and three women. One of the children was only three years old. The passengers included Argüelles' wife Trinidad, their son Ramon, aged six and their daughter Begoña, aged eight.

===Raider ''Nadir''===
''Nadir'' was a 1,132-ton [[armed merchantman|auxiliary cruiser]] of [[General Franco]]'s Spanish Nationalist forces armed with a {{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}} main gun, two {{convert|105|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} guns and other two {{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} anti-aircraft guns. She was actually ''Ciudad de Valencia'', a warship very active during the blockade of Biscay in 1937. The Nationalists had renamed her in order to deceive the Republican navy about the real number of commerce raiders at sea. Her targets were Republican freighters operating from ports in northern Europe. The Nationalist raider had been launched on 18 October 1930 at the shipyard ''Unión Naval de Levante'' as ''Infante D. Gonzalo'', owned by the Transmediterránea company. She was requisitioned by the Nationalist government on 30 October 1936.<ref>[http://www.trasmeships.es/52.html M/N ''Ciudad de Valencia''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226141430/http://www.trasmeships.es/52.html |date=26 December 2009 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref>

===Shadowed===
[[File:The Wreck of the Cantabria.JPG|thumb|left|250px|Map showing the area of the incident]]
At around 11.30 am on 2 November, Argüelles was concerned that his freighter was being shadowed by a smaller ship. He had good reason to have concerns as the Spanish Nationalist navy had been given the use of the German port of [[Emden|Emdem]] by [[Hitler]], to act as base for them to raid Spanish shipping in the [[North Sea]] and the [[English Channel]] areas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=La guerra civil española: Fuentes|last=Garcia Duran|first=Juan|publisher=Editorial Crítica|year=1985|isbn=9788474232660|location=|pages=331|language=Spanish}}</ref>

With this situation in mind, the captain ordered his vessel to change course a degree or two to see if the following ship was following them. To Argüelles' concern, the vessel followed ''Cantabria''{{'}}s new course. His officers studied the following vessel with binoculars, but the vessel appeared to be of no threat and looked like an ordinary passenger steamer of around 1500 tons.

The vessel was in fact ''Nadir''. Captain Argüelles again changed course heading towards the Norfolk coast. ''Nadir'' followed and speeded up. The crew of ''Cantabria'' then saw that the flag of the Spanish insurgents had been raised on the mast of ''Nadir''. At the same time the raider's guns were unmasked and she ordered ''Cantabria'' to 'Heave to or I fire'. It was now the afternoon of 2 November when ''Nadir'' began to riddle the Republican freighter with gunfire.<ref>''[[The Times]]'', message from [[Reuters]] dated from [[Oslo]], 4 November 1938</ref>
[[File:MV-Ciudad de Valencia.jpg|thumb|250px|Spanish Nationalist auxiliary cruiser ''Nadir'' painted with [[Military camouflage|camouflage]] patterns]]
The action occurred on the high seas, outside British territorial waters, but near enough to the coast to be witnessed from the shore. ''Cantabria'', according to the statement of Argüelles himself, had refused to stop after having a shot fired high across her bows. At this point, nearby fishing boats intervened by heading towards ''Nadir'' sounding their [[Siren (noisemaker)|sirens]]. This had an effect as the attacking ship, although under no threat from the [[commercial trawler]]s, changed course and broke off its attack. The fishing boats, satisfied that they had broken up the confrontation, continued on their way. ''Nadir'', however, as soon as she was back in range, began to target the ship itself. A shell struck the bridge, destroying it. The raider circled ''Cantabria'' firing round after round and raking the ship with machine-gun fire. Another shell penetrated the engine room rendering ''Cantabria'' powerless. During this time the radio operator had been sending messages that the ship was 'being shelled by unknown vessel'. After the bridge had been destroyed and the engine room had been disabled he sent out the [[SOS]]. ''Cantabria''{{'}}s position was given as 8½ miles south-east of [[Haisborough Sands|Haisbro]] Light ship.<ref>"Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, page 161, par 5, {{ISBN|0-946148-59-7}}</ref>

=== Rescue ===
It was now nearly dark and at 5pm the [[Cromer Lifeboat Station|Cromer]] Lifeboat ''[[Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey III|H.F. Bailey]]'' with coxswain [[Henry Blogg]] at the helm was launched to rescue ''Cantabria''{{'}}s crew and passengers. Before the lifeboat arrived fire had spread through the ship. Two boats were lowered and some of the crew and passengers abandoned the ship. Captain Argüelles, his wife and children and the second steward, Joaquin Vallego, remained aboard ''Cantabria'' fearing what their fate would be if they surrendering to the insurgents aboard ''Nadir''. With the boats now lowered, ''Nadir'' ceased fire. The attack was witnessed by two freighters, the British ''Monkwood'' and a [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] merchant, which gave up any rescue attempt, fearing the reaction of ''Nadir'', which was still in international waters.<ref name="Cant">[http://www.sbhac.net/Republica/Colabora/Cantabria/Cantabria.htm ''El último viaje del Cantabria'', by María del Mar Argüelles] {{in lang|es}}</ref> ''Monkwood'' later sent a report to the naval authorities, who dispatched some naval units to the spot to assure that no hostile action would be taken inside British territorial waters.<ref>[http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1938/nov/03/spanish-ship-attack-north-sea#S5CV0340P0_19381103_HOC_277 Parliamentary debate, 3 November 1938]</ref> Another British Merchant Vessel, ''Pattersonian'', appeared on the horizon, responding to the [[SOS]] sent from ''Cantabria''.<ref>Heaton, Paul Michael: ''Welsh Blockade Runners in the Spanish Civil War''. Starling Press, 1985. Page 96. {{ISBN|0-9507714-5-7}}</ref> Captain Blackmore of ''Pattersonian'' had seen ''Nadir'' heading towards the lifeboat and had steered his ship across the attacking ship, getting his vessel between ''Nadir'' and the lifeboat. Eleven of the crew were taken off ''Cantabria'''s lifeboats by ''Pattersonian''. A further 20 of the crew in the second lifeboat were captured by ''Nadir''. This act was judged an unlawful interference with British shipping in the [[House of Lords]], since ''Nadir'' obstructed the legal duty of rescuing seamen.<ref name=hansard/> It was now dark and no more shots were being fired. The [[Cromer]] lifeboat arrived at the scene of the incident at 6.30 pm. A relieved Argüelles signaled the lifeboat with a torch and it pulled along the starboard side of ''Cantabria'', which was heavily listing. A line was thrown and the children and the captain's wife were handed down to the lifeboat and were soon followed by the steward and the Captain. When the rescue was completed, ''Cantabria'' suddenly heeled over damaging the lifeboat's stanchions. With great haste the lifeboat moved away from the sinking ''Cantabria''. Soon after the Republican steamer sank. At least one sailor, Juan Gil, was lost with the vessel.<ref name=Cant/> Other sources report the loss of four crewmembers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mundosgm.com/guerra-civil-espanola/corsarios-en-la-guerra-civil-espanola/|title=Corsarios en la Guerra Civil Española. {{!}} Todo sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial|last=|first=|date=|website=mundosgm.com|language=Spanish|access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
''H. F. Bailey'' returned to [[Cromer]] arriving at 8.15pm. Captain Argüelles, his family and the steward were taken to the Red Lion Hotel. Meanwhile, the other 11 rescued crewmen were taken to [[Great Yarmouth]] by ''Pattersonian''. An account of the incident was reported on the [[BBC]] along with a warning to shipping, giving the sunken ''Cantabria''{{'}}s position. The national press carried the story as their headlines but many of the crew at Yarmouth refused to be photographed fearing reprisals from [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]. Questions were also asked in the Houses of Parliament about the incident.<ref name="hansard">[http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1938/nov/15/rule-of-law-on-the-high-seas/ 15 November 1938 : Lords Sitting : Rule of Law on the High Seas]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-----
! colspan="3" | SS ''Cantabria''
|-----
! colspan="3" | Rescued Persons<ref>[http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/SPAIN/2002-04/1018199708/ List of the rescued]</ref>
|-----
!By [[Cromer]] Lifeboat  ''[[Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey III|H.F. Bailey]]''
! By ''Pattersonian''
! Captured by ''Nadir''
|-----
| Capt. Manuel Argüelles ||José López (English speaking)||24 crew
|-----
|  Trinidad Argüelles || Pedro García||Eduardo Collade (wireless operator)
|-----
| Ramón Argüelles (aged 6) || Francisco Pou  || The wife of Eduardo Collade
|-----
| Begoña Argüelles (aged 8)|| Francisco García || 2 children of Eduardo Collade
|-----
|Joaquín Vallego|| Fernando Manciro ||
|-----
|  || Rafael Leou ||
|-----
|  || Hilaro Trilear ||
|-----
|  || Santiago Glorente ||
|-----
|  || Román Amorebieta ||
|-----
| || Armando Abad ||
|-----
|  || Manuel Figuciras ||
|}

== Gestapo involvement ==
Two weeks after the sinking of SS ''Cantabria'', Danish police released information that shed new light on the recent confrontation that proved that it had been no coincidence that ''Nadir'' had intercepted ''Cantabria''.<ref>''Armies of Spies'', Author: Joseph Collomb, Published in 1939 by Macmillan, New York. Chapter 5, Franco's Fifth Column, p.&nbsp;88.</ref> For some time, the Danish police had been quietly interested in the [[Copenhagen]] [[correspondent]]s for a German newspaper. One of these correspondents was [[Horst Pflug-Hartnung|Horst von Pflug-Hartnung]]. He worked for the paper, ''Berliner Börsen Zeitung'', which was an organ of the [[Reich]] War Ministry.<ref name=autogenerated2>Armies of Spies, Author: Joseph Collomb, Published in 1939 by Macmillan, New York. Chapter 5, Franco's Fifth Column, page 89</ref> The police arrested Hartnung along with eight other Germans living in [[Denmark]], along with three Danes and charged them of operating as spies in [[Copenhagen]]. During their investigations the Danish police proved that the accused had all been trained at [[Gestapo]] spy schools and had operated secret broadcasting stations, as well as engaging in [[nautical]] and [[Hydrography|hydrographical]] research. Between them they had drawn up maps and charts, graphs and complex mathematical tables of data. They communicated by complex code systems, which they changed frequently. The outlay for so extensive an apparatus as theirs could be justified only as part of [[Third Reich]] preparation for war against major countries. The spy ring just so happened to use the shadowing and sinking of Spanish Republican freighter SS ''Cantabria'' as a practical demonstration of their complicated subversion mechanism that the [[Gestapo]] was honing. The sinking had been formulated on behalf of Franco, backed by his allies, as a warning to Britain. Franco was serving notice on British government that, unless she proved reasonable in the current flux of world events, this was a warning of threats to come. Thanks to the investigations of the Danish police, it had been established that the attack had been planned by a more sinister power than General Francisco Franco, and one that was in a better position to threaten, namely [[Nazi]] Germany.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> In effect, ''Nadir'' and her sister ship ''Ciudad de Alicante'' used the German port of Emdem as a resupply base.<ref name=":0" /> 

===Horst von Pflugk-Hartnung===
[[Horst von Pflugk-Hartung]] was a German spy, who along with his brother Georg, had previously been charged in Berlin for the assassination of the Socialist leaders, [[Karl Liebknecht]] and [[Rosa Luxemburg]]. Both men were acquitted but evidently many thought them guilty, for the brother was assassinated himself sometime later. After Horst von Pflugk-Hartung's trial in Denmark,<ref>[http://www.cix.co.uk/~jplant/revhist/supplem/trolle.htm Mike Jones on Danish Trotskyism, especially Trolle<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> he was only sentenced to a year and a half in prison and was released after a few months owing to German government pressure. He became one of the leading German Intelligence chiefs in Denmark.

== 2006 tribute ==
Captain Manuel Argüelles and his wife Trinidad eventually emigrated with their children to [[Mexico]] to make a new life for themselves and their family. In 2006, when the new [[Cromer#Tourism and the town today|Henry Blogg lifeboat museum]] was opened, Ramón Argüelles along with his sister Begoña made a visit to pay tribute to Henry Blogg and his crew.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{1937 shipwrecks}}
{{1938 shipwrecks}}
{{Lifeboat Stations in Norfolk}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantabria}}
[[Category:Military history of Norfolk]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Spain]]
[[Category:Steamships of Spain]]
[[Category:Second Spanish Republic]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1937]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1938]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in England]]
[[Category:Spanish Civil War|Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1938]]
[[Category:Military history of Spain]]
[[Category:1938 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sea rescue in England]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Canada]]
[[Category:Ships built in British Columbia]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the North Sea]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:International maritime incidents]]
[[Category:History of Norfolk]]