After the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) by Nazi Germany and its allies, Gruziya was used for military tasks. On 16–21 September, she served as a troopship ferrying part of the 157th Rifle Division from Novorossiysk to Odessa. A day after commencing the voyage, the convoy of which she was a part was fruitlessly attacked by German aircraft. The following month, the ship arrived in Odessa on 14 October in preparation to evacuate the city's defenders and was damaged by a German bomber. Gruziya loaded some troops and the convoy of which she was a part arrived at Sevastopol on the 16th despite repeated German air attacks.[4]
After repairs were completed, the liner transported troops and supplies to the besieged garrison of Sevastopol on 18 and 20 May 1942 and evacuated wounded men on the return voyage. Gruziya and the destroyerTashkent ferried 2,734 reinforcements to Sevastopol and returned 1,200 wounded on 28 May. Together with the minesweeperT-401/Tral and four patrol boats, the ship took 750 troops to Sevastopol and evacuated 850 wounded men and 724 civilians on 7 June.[5]
On the night of 12/13 June, Gruziya was bound for Sevastopol with a cargo of ammunition on board that included chemical shells filled with Lewisite and mustard gas. Escorted by a pair of minesweepers, she was unsuccessfully attacked by Italian MAS boats. The following morning the convoy was attacked by German aircraft. One bomb landed in the aft cargo hold where all the ammunition was stored, detonating it. The resulting explosion blew the ship in half; there were no survivors.[6]
^ abcLloyd's Register of Shipping(PDF). Vol. II: Steamers and Motorships of 300 Tons Gross and over (1937–1938 ed.). London: Lloyd's of London. 1937. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
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