SS Patria ( 1913 ) SS " Patria " was a 11 , 885 GRT French ocean liner built in 1913 for Compagnie française de Navigation à vapeur Cyprien Fabre & Cie ( Fabre Line ) , for whom she was first a transatlantic liner and then an emigrant ship . From 1932 Fabre Line leased her to Services Contractuels des Messageries Maritimes , who ran her between the south of France and the Levant . After the fall of France in June 1940 the British authorities in Mandatory Palestine seized her in the Port of Haifa and placed her under the management of the British - India Steam Navigation Company . In November 1940 the British placed European Jewish refugees aboard her for deportation to Mauritius but the Haganah planted a bomb aboard which sank her with the loss of between 260 and 300 lives . " Patria " remained a wreck in Haifa port until she was scrapped in 1952 . With Fabre Line . Fabre Line ordered " Patria " and her sister ship from Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée of La Seyne - sur - Mer , near Toulon . " Patria " had seven decks and three funnels , but one of the funnels was a dummy . " Patria " had nine boilers feeding two three - cylinder triple expansion steam engines . The cylinder bores were 30 . 4 " ( high pressure ) , 49 . 36 " ( medium pressure ) and 70 . 55 " ( low pressure ) , all with a stroke of 51 . 2 " . The engines gave " Patria " a total of 900 NHP and propelled the ship by twin screws . " Patria " had direction finding equipment and was the first ocean liner to be equipped with a cinema . " Patria " was launched on 11 November 1913 and entered Fabre Line service on 15 or 16 April 1914 . She plied as a transatlantic liner between Marseille and New York from then until 1920 , when she and " Providence " were reassigned to carrying emigrants to New York from Naples , Palermo and Marseille . After the Wall Street Crash of 1929 Messageries Maritimes withdrew " Patria " from the emigrant trade in 1930 , although " Providence " continued to carry emigrants until 1932 . With Messageries Maritimes . On 19 January 1932 Fabre Line leased " Patria " for eight years to Messageries Maritimes , who placed her in service between the Levant and the south of France . Later that year , off the Ionian island of Zakynthos , " Patria " rescued three survivors from the sinking of a Greek vessel , the " Tinios Stavtos " . A Greek merchant ship , , rescued 25 survivors from the same incident . In 1934 " Patria " grounded on a bank while entering the Port of Alexandria in Egypt . In February 1939 " Patria " served as a hospital ship in the Spanish Civil War . On 1 January 1940 Fabre Line sold " Patria " to Messageries Maritimes . On 6 June 1940 she entered the Port of Haifa after sailing from Beirut . On 10 June Italy declared war on France and the UK . Any Allied ship passing Italy to reach France would now be in danger of attack , so " Patria " remained in port in Haifa . With British - India Steam Navigation . On 22 June 1940 France surrendered to Germany , and on 25 June the British Mandatory Palestine authorities barred " Patria " from leaving Haifa . The British authorities seized " Patria " on 15 August and placed her under the management of the British - India Steam Navigation Co . She was assigned to be a troop ship , authorised to carry 1 , 800 troops ( excluding the crew ) . She still had only enough lifeboats for the original 805 passengers and crew , so these were supplemented with liferafts . Despite her new designation " Patria " remained laid up in Haifa until the beginning of November 1940 . In that month the Royal Navy intercepted three chartered ships ; the , and , that were carrying Jewish refugees from German - occupied Europe to Palestine . The refugees lacked permits to enter Palestine so the British authorities ordered their deportation to British Mauritius in the Indian Ocean . Refugees from " Pacific " and " Milos " had been put aboard " Patria " , and embarkation of refugees from " Atlantic " had begun , when on 25 November a bomb planted by a Haganah agent blew a hole in the side of " Patria " s hull . She listed to that side and sank in 16 minutes , settling on the harbour bed with part of her hull and superstructure above water . By the time of the attack almost 1 , 800 refugees had been embarked aboard " Patria " , along with a crew of 130 and numerous British guards . The majority of those aboard were rescued but 172 were injured and between 260 and 300 were killed . The majority of victims were Jewish refugees but about 50 were crew and British guards ; 209 bodies were recovered and buried in Haifa . " Patria " remained a wreck in Haifa port until 1952 , when she was scrapped .