SS Cantabria

The SS Cantabria was a Spanish ship which was sunk in a military action of the Spanish Civil War, off the coast of Norfolk twelve miles ENE pg 13 The Ship-wrecks off North Norfolk. Ayer Tikus Publications] of Cromer on the 2nd of November 1938 ["Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, ISBN 0-946148-59-7] . The ship was shelled by the Spanish Nationalist Auxiliary cruiser Nadir, which was part General Franco’s navy.

The Incident

The "SS Cantabria" built in 1919 as the "War Chief" at the shipyards of J. Coughlan & Sons, Vancouver, Canada and was of 5649 tons ["Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, ISBN 0-946148-59-7, page 158] . In 1919 purchased by A.F.Perez, Santander and renamed "Alfonso Perez". In 1937 she was requisitioned by the Departmento de Navegacion, Santander for the Republican government and renamed "Cantabria" . She was registered at the Bay of Biscay port of Santander (in the actual autonomous community of Cantabria) in the north of Spain. The "SS Cantabria" at the time of the incident was under charter to a British Company called the Mid-Atlantic Shipping Company who were based in London. She was not engaged in Spanish trade. She was on passage in ballast between the River Thames and Immingham bound for Leningrad under the control of Captain Manuel Argüelles. On board ship there 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 Captain Aguelles wife Trinidad, his son Ramon, aged six and his daughter Veyona aged eight.

hadowed

At around 11.30 am on the 2nd of November Captain Argüelles was concerned that his vessel was being shadowed by a smaller vessel. Captain Argüelles had good reason to have concerns as the Spanish Nationalist navy had been given the use of German North sea harbours by Hitler, to act as bases for them to raid Spanish shipping in the North Sea and the English Channel areas. 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 captain Argüelles concern the vessel followed "Cantabria’s" new course. His officers studied the following vessel with Binoculars. The vessel appeared to be of no threat and looked like an ordinary passenger steamer of around 1500 tons. The following vessel was in fact the "Nadir", an auxiliary cruiser of the Spanish Nationalist navy of General Franco. Captain Argüelles again changed course heading towards the Norfolk coast. The "Nadir" followed and speeded up. The crew of the "Cantabria" then realized that the flag of the Spanish Insurgents had been raised on the "Nadir". At the same time the "Nadir’s" guns were unmasked and she ordered the "Cantabria" to ‘Heave to or I fire’. It was now the afternoon of the 2nd of November and the "Nadir" began to fire shells at the ship [The Times, message from Reuters dated from Oslo, November 4 1938] . The action occurred on the high seas, outside British territorial waters, though near enough to the coast to be witnessed from the shore. The "Cantabria", according to the statement of captain Argüelles himself, had refused to stop after having a shot fired high across her bows. At this point in the action, near-by fishing boats had intervened by heading towards the "Nadir" sounding of there sirens. This had an effect as the attacking ship, although under no threat from the commercial trawlers, changed course and broke of its attack. The fishing boats, satisfied that they had broken up the confrontation, continued on there way. The "Nadir", however, as soon as she was back in range, began to target the ship itself. A shell stuck the Bridge destroying it. The "Nadir" circled the "Cantabria" firing shells and raking the ship with machine-gun fire. A shell penetrated the engine room rendering the "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 had then sent out the SOS. The "Cantabria’s" position was given as 8½ miles south-east of Haisbro Light ship ["Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, page 161, par 5, ISBN 0-946148-59-7] .

The Rescue

It was now nearly dark and at 5pm the Cromer Lifeboat H.F. Bailey with coxswain Henry Blogg at the helm was launched to rescue the "Cantabria’s" crew and passengers. Before the lifeboat arrived things had got dire with fire spreading 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 the "Cantabria" fearing what there fate would be if they surrendering to the insurgents aboard the "Nadir". With the boats now lowered the "Nadir" ceased fire. At this point the British Merchant Vessel "Pattersonian" had appeared on the horizon, responding to the SOS sent from the "Cantabria" [ British Pathe News reel :dated, 7/11/1938] . Captain Blackmore of the "Pattersonian" had seen the "Nadir" heading towards the lifeboat and had steered his ship across the attacking ship, getting his vessel between the "Nadir" and the lifeboat. Eleven of the crew were taken off the "Cantabria’s" lifeboats by the "Pattersonian". A further 20 of the crew in the second lifeboat were captured by the "Nadir". It was now dark and no more shots were being fired. The Cromer Lifeboat arrived at the incident at 6.30 pm. A relived captain Aguelles signaled the H.F. Bailey with a touch. The lifeboat pulled along the starboard side of the Cantabria which was heavily listing. A line was thrown which was caught by second steward Vallego. The children and the captains wife were handed down to the lifeboat and were soon followed by the steward and the Captain. With all rescued the "Cantabria" suddenly heeled over damaging H.F. Bailey’s stanchions. With great haste the lifeboat moved away from the sinking "Cantabria". Soon after the ship sank below the waves.

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 the "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 Newspaper carried the story as there headlines but many of the crew at Yarmouth refused to be photographed fearing reprisals from Franco. Questions were also asked in the Houses of Parliament about the incident [ [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] ] .

Gestapo Involvment

Two weeks after the Sinking of the SS Cantabria, over in Denmark, Danish police released information that shed new light on the recent confrontation that proved that it had been no coincidence that the Nadir had intercepted the Cantabria [ Armies of Spies, Author: Joseph Collomb, Published in 1939 by Macmillan, New York. Chapter 5, Franco’s Fifth Column, page 88] . For some time the Danish police had been quietly interested in the Copenhagen correspondents for a German newspaper. One of these correspondents was Horst von Pflug-Hartung. He worked for the paper, BerlinerBoersen Zeitung, which was an organ of the Reich War Ministry Armies of Spies, Author: Joseph Collomb, Published in 1939 by Macmillan, New York. Chapter 5, Franco’s Fifth Column, page 89] . The police arrested Haetung along with eight other Germans living in Denmark, along with three Danes and charged them of operating as spies in Copenhagen. During there investigations the Danish police proved that the accused were all postgraduates of Gestapo spy schools. They had all operated secret broadcasting stations and had engaged in nautical and hydrographical research. Between them they had drawn up maps and charts, graphs and complicated mathematical tables of data which required the best technicians even to understand. 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 ring of spies just so happened to use the shadowing and sinking of Loyalist Spanish freighter SS Cantabria as a practical demonstration of there 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 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.

Horst von Pflugk-Hartung

Horst von Pflugk-Hartung was a German spy, who along with his brother Georg, had previously been charged in the 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 latter. After Horst von Pflugk-Hartung trial in Denmark [ [http://www.cix.co.uk/~jplant/revhist/supplem/trolle.htm Mike Jones on Danish Trotskyism, especially Trolle ] ] , 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

Captain Manuel Argüelles and his wife Trinidad eventually emigrated with there children to Mexico to make a new life for themselves and there family. In 2006 when the new Henry Blogg lifeboat museum was opened, Ramon Begona Argüelles [ [http://www.cromerlifeboats.org.uk/Gallery/Imagegal/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=20/ Photograph of Ramon Begona Argüelles at The Henry Blogg Museum] ] along with his sister Veyona made a visit to pay tribute to Henry Blogg and his crew.

References