Qualla: SS Heraklion https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:07 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: SS Heraklion https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion SS Heraklion: Introduction https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion/ On the evening of 7 December 1966, a refrigerated truck was loaded aboard the Greek ferry SS Heraklion at Souda Bay, Crete — and that delay, those two extra hours, would cost more than two hundred people their lives. By 2:00 a.m. the following morning, the ship was six miles off the tiny rocky islet of Falkonera, deep in a Force 9 gale, when the truck — carrying oranges, strapped loosely or not at all — began slamming into the midship loading door. The door gave way. Water poured in. At 2:13 a.m., eight minutes after the first SOS, Heraklion's radio fell silent.

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/9/1/ss-heraklion-wp/sw91-ss-heraklion-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full SS Heraklion: A Ship and Its People https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion/ The Heraklion had begun life as the SS Leicestershire, built in Glasgow in 1949 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company for the Bibby Line's route between Britain and Burma. By 1964 she had been sold to the Typaldos Lines and refitted as a roll-on/roll-off passenger...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/9/1/ss-heraklion-wp/sw91-ss-heraklion-a-ship-and-its-people.mp3 0:06 2 full SS Heraklion: Into the Gale https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion/ Port authorities at Souda Bay had watched the weather build all day, prohibiting smaller vessels from leaving. The Heraklion, at nearly 9,000 tons, was deemed large enough to proceed. She departed at 8:00 p.m. — two hours late, the delay attributed to the loading of the refrigera...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/9/1/ss-heraklion-wp/sw91-ss-heraklion-into-the-gale.mp3 0:06 3 full SS Heraklion: The Long Wait for Dawn https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion/ The ferry Minos, 24 kilometers from the scene, never received the SOS. The Greek Ministry of Mercantile Marine was underequipped to handle the communications. Port authorities at Piraeus, Syros, and other islands reported they lacked the means to help. The navy ship at Syros woul...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/9/1/ss-heraklion-wp/sw91-ss-heraklion-the-long-wait-for-dawn.mp3 0:06 4 full SS Heraklion: Accountability and Aftermath https://qualla.com/ss-heraklion/ The investigation was damning. Typaldos Lines had conducted no drill for abandoning ship. The distress call had been delayed. The ship's officers had failed to organize a rescue. The company had faked inspection documents. Of their fifteen ships, twelve had failed international s...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/9/1/ss-heraklion-wp/sw91-ss-heraklion-accountability-and-aftermath.mp3 0:06 5 full