Italian hospital ship Ramb IV

Ramb IV in 1941
History
Italy
Name	Ramb IV
Builder	CRDA, Monfalcone
Yard number	1201
Launched	7 June 1937 Banana boat,
Commissioned	1940
Reclassified	Hospital ship, 1940
Homeport	Massawa, Eritrea
Fate	Captured by the British, 10 April 1941
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Ramb IV
Acquired	10 April 1941
Fate	Sunk, 10 May 1942
General characteristics
Type	Hospital ship
Tonnage	3,667 GRT[1] 2,179 NRT[1]
Length	383 ft 2 in (116.79 m)[1]
Beam	49 ft 7 in (15.11 m)[1]
Depth	24 ft 8 in (7.52 m)[1]
Installed power	1525 Nhp[1]
Propulsion	2 × 9-cylinder FIAT marine Diesel engines[1] twin screws
Speed	18.5 knots (21.3 mph; 34.3 km/h) (maximum) 17.0 knots (19.6 mph; 31.5 km/h) (cruising)
Capacity	2418 GRT 12 passengers
Complement	120
Armament	4 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns 2(or 4) × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft guns
Service record
Part of:	Red Sea Flotilla

Ramb IV was an Italian hospital ship, built at Monfalcone by the United Yards of the Adriatic (Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, CRDA) in 1938.

Ramb IV was the last of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were the Ramb I, Ramb II, and the Ramb III.

The four ships were built for the Royal Banana Monopoly Business (Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane). These ships were originally devised as "banana boats" for transporting refrigerated bananas from Somaliland and Eritrea in Italian East Africa.

In the event of war, the design of Ramb IV allowed it to be refitted as an "auxiliary cruiser" for commerce raiding. She was 3,667 tons displacement, oil powered, and capable of 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h) knots. Following a declaration of war, Ramb IV was capable of being armed with two 120-millimetre (4.7 in) guns and eight 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft guns and of becoming an auxiliary cruiser.

Instead, Ramb IV was converted into a hospital ship for the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina). The goal of Ramb IV, in case of fall of Eritrea, was transporting Italian wounded back to Italy. However, this mission was impossible because of the British control of the Suez Canal. In addition, it would have been suicide to attempt to round the Cape of Good Hope and enter the Mediterranean Sea past Gibraltar. The work to convert the banana boat to a hospital ship was performed at the Eritrean port of Massawa. Ramb IV was part of the Italian Navy's Red Sea Flotilla.

When the port of Massawa fell on 10 April 1941 during the East African Campaign, the British captured Ramb IV. Pressed into British service, she then operated in the Red Sea and later off Libya. Ramb IV was bombed and set afire by German aircraft and sank off Alexandria in Egypt on 10 May 1942.^[2]

See also

• Ramb I
• Ramb II
• Ramb III
• Italian Royal Navy - RN Ramb IV and Aquileia
• East African Campaign

References

Bibliography

• Alton, Dave (2006). "Question 15/03: Italian Warship Losses". Warship International. XLIII (1): 32–33. ISSN 0043-0374.