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The Italian auxiliary cruiser ''Ramb III'' was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1938. ''Ramb III'' was the third of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were the , the , and the . The four ships were built for the Royal Banana Monopoly Business (''Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane''). These ships were originally built to be "banana boats", built for transporting refrigerated bananas to Europe from Somaliland and Eritrea in Italian East Africa. However, in the event of war, the design of ''Ramb III'' allowed it to be refitted for commerce raiding. She was 3,667 tons displacement, oil powered and capable of 18½ knots. ==Convoy escort== ''Ramb III'' never made it to East Africa. When Italy declared war on 10 June 1940, she was the only ship in the class in homeport. After being requisitioned by the Italian Royal Navy (''Regia Marina''), ''Ramb III'' served as a convoy escort. Like ''Ramb I'' and ''Ramb II'', ''Ramb III'' was refitted and armed with two 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns and eight 13.2 mm anti-aircraft guns. On 12 November 1940, during the raid on the Italian port of Taranto, the British Royal Navy detached a cruiser division with accompanying destroyers for a quick swing through the lower Adriatic Sea. This force found a small convoy of four Italian merchant ships escorted by ''Ramb III'' and the escort vessel ''Fabrizi''. The ships were bound for Brindisi from Vlorë. The ''Ramb III'' fired 19 salvos in its own defense and succeeded in breaking away without suffering any damage. The ''Fabrizi'' stayed with the merchant ships and attacked the British forces. As a result, the ''Fabrizi'' was hit immediately and suffered serious damage. The ''Fabrizi'' continued to fight until it was unable to fight any more. After the ''Fabrizi'' was neutralized, the British force divided up the targets and sank all four of the Italian merchant ships. This action took place near the Strait of Otranto. On 10 May 1941 ''Ramb III'' was torpedoed by the British submarine in Benghazi harbour. She was salvaged by the Italians and returned to Trieste. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ramb III」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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