SS Oria (1920)

In the fall of 1943, after the German invasion of the Dodecanese, the Germans transferred tens of thousands of Italian prisoners to mainland Greece. These transfers were made often using unseaworthy vessels, cramming prisoners onboard without any safety standard. Several ships were sunk, either by Allied attack or by accident, causing the death of thousands of prisoners.

Oria was one of the vessels used to carry Italian prisoners. On 11 February 1944, it sailed from Rhodes bound for Piraeus, carrying 4,116 Italian prisoners (43 officers, 118 non-commissioned officers and 3,955 enlisted men),^[3][4] 21 German soldiers (part of whom were tasked with guarding the prisoners, while others were on passage to Greece),^[2] and a crew of 22 Greeks. The next day the ship was caught by a storm and sank off Cape Sounion on the South East rocks of Patroklos island. Some tugs, arriving the next day on the scene, could only save 21 Italians, 6 Germans, the Norwegian captain and one Greek. The remains of the wreck were discovered in 1999 by Greek pro diver Aristotelis Zervoudis.^{[citation needed]}

• Battle of Rhodes
• Battle of Kos
• SS Petrella
• Italian military internees
• Italian ship Gaetano Donizetti
• Italian ship Mario Roselli
• Massacre of the Acqui Division

37°39′N 23°59′E / 37.650°N 23.983°E / 37.650; 23.983