MV Mefküre

Monument to the vessels Struma and Mefküre in Ashdod, Israel
History
NameMV Mefküre
OperatorJean D Pandelis
Port of registry Istanbul or Şile
Launched1929
Out of service5 August 1944
FateSunk by Soviet submarine Shch-215, 5 August 1944
General characteristics
Typemotor schooner
Tonnage52 GRT or 120 GRT; 40 NRT
Length35 m (115 ft)
Beam8 m (26 ft)
Propulsion
  • diesel engine of about 75 BHP;
  • single screw
Speed
  • maximum 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph);
  • cruising speed 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Crew7

MV Mefküre (often referred to as Mefkura) was a Turkish wooden-hulled motor schooner chartered to carry Jewish Holocaust refugees from Romania to Istanbul, sailing under the Turkish and Red Cross flags. On 5 August 1944 a Soviet submarine sank her in the Black Sea by cannon and machine gun fire, killing more than 300 Jewish refugees.