SS Scillin The SS " Scillin " was an Italian cargo ship of approximately 1 , 600 tons that was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea while transporting 814 Allied prisoners of war ( POWs ) from North Africa to Italy . Nearly all of the POWs died . The sinking of the " Scillin " is the subject of much interest on the internet and some conspiracy theories have arisen from the circumstances and aftermath . History of the " Scillin " . The " Scillin " had been built in 1903 as the SS " H M Pellatt " . She was operated by British and Canadian companies until 1920 , including war service in World War I , after which she was operated by Belgian , French and Italian companies and successively known as the SS " Memling " , SS " Nicole Le Borgne " , SS " Giuliana Pagan " , SS " Scillin Secondo " and finally as SS " Scillin " . Final voyage . At Tripoli , 814 Allied POWs were ordered into the " Scillin " s cargo hold , which , reportedly , was only suitable for around 300 . The result was severe overcrowding and unsanitary conditions . More prisoners would have been loaded , but the British military doctor ( Capt . Gilbert , RAMC ) made vehement and repeated protests . Some reports state that a further 195 POWs were disembarked before " Scillin " sailed and that there were some 200 Italian troops on board ; others dispute these points saying that the only Italian troops on board were guards and gun crews and the surplus POWs were never actually boarded . She sailed on 13 November 1942 . " Scillin " was intercepted on the night of 14 November off the Tunisian coast by the British submarine HMS " Sahib " , shelled and sunk by a single torpedo . Those in the hold had little chance of survival as the torpedo had hit the hold itself and the ship sank rapidly . " Sahib " was able to rescue 27 POWs ( 26 British and one South African ) , the " Scillin " s captain and 45 Italian crew members , before the arrival of an Italian warship obliged her to leave . Only when survivors were heard speaking English , was the ship ' s purpose realised . Official reaction . British submarine commanders had been instructed not to attack enemy civilian ships that were en route from North Africa to Italy . In an inquiry , " Sahib ' s " commander ( Lt . John Bromage ) was cleared of culpability , since he claimed that " Scillin " had born no lights , he had believed that " Scillin " was carrying Italian troops , had appeared to be en route to Africa and had not responded to the initial shelling ( two rounds ) , intended to halt her . On reading Lt Bromage ' s log he never claimed to have fired any warning shots . " Fired 12 rounds with the 3 " gun and registered with 10 " . The ship was brought to . Closed to 750yds and fired one Torpedo into the engine room . Sgt W D Heath R . T . R . ( survivor ) mistook the missed rounds as warning shots . The details of " Scillin " s loss and the circumstances of the death of the Allied POWs were kept secret for more than 50 years , until persistent enquiries by relations and historians prompted - or forced - a more open response . The reasons for such official reticence for such a long period are unclear , although there are claims that it was deemed necessary so as not to jeopardise intelligence sources . The first time information was made public was in 1996 when the M . O . D . records department put an account of the sinking and a list of POWs into an existing file at Kew . ( WO311 / 304 ) Both the account of the sinking and the list of casualties were factually flawed . When the mistakes were pointed out the M . O . D . accepted the errors . No alterations have been made though . Consideration was given to the prosecution of Italians for war crimes , that is , the murder of 783 prisoners . This arose from the lack of life - saving equipment and attempts by Italians to " batten - down " ( i . e . close ) the hatches where the POWs were kept , thus preventing their escape . Prosecution was abandoned due to lack of evidence . 787 - 788 POWs died on the " Scillin " . I have yet to find official evidence that submarine commanders were instructed not to attack northbound enemy shipping whether it be Merchant Navy or not . The patrol report clearly indicates that the P212 was put on a course to intercept the " Scillin " . The change in course came from Malta and was received during a radio listening watch as recorded in Lt Brommage ' s log . Conspiracy theories . It has been suggested that it was deemed important to conceal the source of the intelligence ( Ultra ) that so accurately predicted the " Scillin " s position and schedule and thus enabled " Sahib " to intercept her and also that POWs were on board . It should be remembered that Ultra was highly secret and great efforts were made to prevent the Axis discovering or disclosing that their signals were being read ; Ultra ' s existence was only publicly disclosed in the 1970s . Many steps were put in place to protect Ultra intelligence . One was to overfly any intended shipping target before directing any interception and attack . The " Scillin " s crew were interrogated when they were landed at Malta and disclosed that the ship had been sighted by aerial reconnaissance . The P212 was then given an interception course . This was standard practice when attacking shipping whose movements had been revealed by Ultra whether they had POW aboard or not . So if transports that carried POW had not been attacked at all it would have been obvious that the Allies had prior knowledge of the ships ' cargo . The most complete account of the sinking and the role Ultra played was told in the Royal Artillery Journal of September 2006 . Further losses . The " Scillin " was only one example of the loss of Allied POWs , five more ships had been attacked in the preceding year with 2 , 000 casualties ; Ultra had predicted each of the POW transportations . There is a memorial plaque at the National Memorial Arboretum to the POWs lost at sea on " Sebastiano Venier " ( 9 December 1941 ) , " Ariosto " ( 15 February 1942 ) , " Tembien " ( 27 February 42 ) , " Nino Bixio " ( 17 August 1942 ) , " Loreto " ( 13 October 1942 ) and " Scillin " ( 14 November 1942 ) .