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The Prosper
Schiaffino
better known the Donator was a freighter. She had a length of
78.30m, 12.0m at the beam and a draught of 5.54m. She was powered by engines
developing 1800hp giving her a maximum speed of 14 to 15 knots. Her crew was
made of 30 men.
She was built in 1931
at Bergen Mak Verksted A/S shipyard in Norway and launched under the name
Donator as an Italian freighter. In october 1933 she is sold to the
Compagnie Générale d'Armement Maritime and becomes a banana freighter known
as Petite Terre. In 1939, she is purchased by the Compagnie
Algérienne de Navigation (Schiaffino Cie) and renamed Prosper
Schiaffino. On the 11th of October 1945, she leaves Marseille with a
cargo of vegetables heading for Alger. Their she unloads and goes back to
sea with a cargo of barrels and on deck tanks of wine. Taking cover of the
Mistral (northern wind) she heads for Spain following the coast. At the
level of Porquerolles she meat a mine field not yet disarmed. The explosion
happened on the 10th of November 1945 and nearly ripped off the bow. 11 of
the 30 crew where recovered by a fighter 111.
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