Qualla: The Slamat Disaster https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:07 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The Slamat Disaster https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster The Slamat Disaster: Introduction https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster/ Photo credit Greece_location_map.svg: Lencer / derivative work: Uwe Dedering (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0. On the morning of 27 April 1941, three Allied vessels — the Dutch troopship SS Slamat and the British destroyers HMS Diamond and HMS Wryneck — were sunk within hours of each other in the waters east of the Peloponnese. The Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers, operating under Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen's VIII Fliegerkorps, found them during Operation Demon, the desperate evacuation of British, Australian, and New Zealand troops from Greece. Of the roughly 1,049 men across all three ships, 66 survived.

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Image: Greece_location_map.svg: Lencer / derivative work: Uwe Dedering (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/sw86-the-slamat-disaster-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Slamat Disaster: The Day Greece Was Given Up https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster/ Photo credit Photographer not identified, Public domain. Germany and Italy had invaded Yugoslavia and Greece on 6 April 1941. The Allied expeditionary force — British, Australian, and New Zealand troops — lost ground quickly. By 17 April, planners were organizing the evacuation of 60,000 men under Operation Demon. SS Slamat, a Dutch oc...

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Image: Photographer not identified | Public domain

]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/sw86-the-slamat-disaster-the-day-greece-was-given-up.mp3 0:06 2 full The Slamat Disaster: Four Bombs https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster/ Photo credit Photographer not identified, Public domain. Von Richthofen had planned to catch the evacuation ships as they departed their embarkation points on the morning of 27 April. The Stukas found Slamat. HMS Hotspur's crew watched four bombs hit her. The troopship went down fast enough that the lifeboat launches descended into dis...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/sw86-the-slamat-disaster-four-bombs.mp3 0:06 3 full The Slamat Disaster: Diamond and Wryneck https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster/ Photo credit Photographer not identified, Public domain. HMS Diamond and HMS Wryneck turned back to search for survivors. It was the right thing to do and it cost both ships. The Stukas found the destroyers at work among the floats and wreckage. Both were sunk around 1330 hours. Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell sent HMS Griffin to the posi...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/sw86-the-slamat-disaster-diamond-and-wryneck.mp3 0:06 4 full The Slamat Disaster: The Whaler's Passage https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster/ Photo credit Photographer not identified, Public domain. Some of the survivors' journeys home were long and improbable. Wryneck's whaler — a small open boat — was still afloat on 28 April, roughly 30 nautical miles off the island of Milos in the Aegean. The men in it set a course for Milos. At noon they sighted Ananes Rock, about 13 na...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/sw86-the-slamat-disaster-the-whalers-passage.mp3 0:06 5 full The Slamat Disaster: Remembrance https://qualla.com/slamat-disaster/ Photo credit Photographer not identified, Public domain. The war in Greece ended quickly. The losses in the Argolic Gulf on 27 April 1941 were absorbed into a larger collapse. The 983 dead were not forgotten by those who knew them. When the Netherlands was liberated in May 1945 and the Dutch government returned from exile, the reckonin...

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]]> Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/6/slamat-disaster-wp/sw86-the-slamat-disaster-remembrance.mp3 0:06 6 full