SS Le Calvados

The SS Le Calvados was a French cargo ship used as a military troopship in World War I.

Le Calvados was build in 1890 on the Cockerill Yards in Hoboken, Antwerp for the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. After the outbreak of world War I, she was requisitioned by the French Army to transport troops.

On November 4, 1915, German submarine SM U-38 torpedoed the transport in between Marseille and Oran, 22 nmi NW of Cape Ivy (Arzew, Algeria). Of the 800 on board, 740 were killed. 55 survivors were rescued by the British SS Lady Plymouth, only 24h after the sinking.

Links

 * Account by one of the survivors, Capitain Georges Barré
 * Wrecksite