Commissaire Ramel
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The Commissaire Ramel was a French passenger ship sunk during the Second World War. It was allied with Free France.
Loaded with cargo, including much wool, it left Fremantle, Western Australia between 1 and 3 September 1939. It was sunk 9 September 1940 by the German raider Atlantis. Three men onboard died in the resulting fires.
A survivor of the Ramel alleges that there was a German sailor on board who had helped to guide the Atlantis to the Ramel; the German may have used torches and lights to signal to the German vessel during the night. Before the beginning of the attack, he was said to have begun unfindable on board the Ramel, with suspicion being that he somehow fled the ship.
Survivor Bruce Logan gives the follow account of coming on board the Ramel:
- "...I remember hearing a piano so I eventually found the man playing the piano, he faced me, he said are you the new one on the ship? He said get off now, get off, this ship will not reach England, I’m telling you now it will never reach London, take off now, obviously I didn’t take his advice...”
It is not know whether the man playing piano was the suspected German sailor.
Survivors of the attack boarded the ship Durmitor, and some died in difficult, overly hot conditions.