Top 10 Deadliest naval disasters

For many people, the image of a maritime disaster calls to mind the sinking of the Titanic, which went down in April 1912 after striking an iceberg. Although the Titanic remains one of the worst naval disasters, it is still 2000 deaths short of being the deadliest. The following naval disasters only include non-war related sinking. The textual descriptions of each tragedy are excerpts from Wikipedia.

10. MS Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 – 2006 The MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98 was an Egyptian Ro/Ro passenger ferry, operated by El Salam Maritime Transport, that sank on 3 February 2006 in the Red Sea en route from Duba, Saudi Arabia, to Safaga in southern Egypt. The ship was carrying 1,312 passengers and 96 crew members, according to Mamdouh Ismail, head of al-Salaam Maritime Transport Company. The ship was also carrying about 220 vehicles. Only 388 people were rescued. Al Salam Boccaccio 98 - 1020 deaths

9. RMS Empress of Ireland – 1914 RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships. While steaming on the St. Lawrence River in fog, the Empress was struck amidships by the Norwegian coal freighter SS Storstad; and the fatally damaged vessel sank very quickly in the early morning of 29 May 1914. This accident claimed 1,073 lives, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in Canadian history. Empress of Ireland - 1,073 deaths

8. General Slocum – 1904 The PS General Slocum was a paddle steamer, built at Brooklyn, New York in 1891. On June 15, 1904, the General Slocum caught fire and burned to the waterline in New York’s East River. An estimated 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board were killed. The General Slocum disaster was the New York area’s worst disaster in terms of loss of life until the September 11, 2001 attacks. SS General Slocum - 1,021 to 1,342 deaths

7. Toya Maru – 1954 The Toya Maru was a Japanese train ferry constructed by the Japanese National Railways which sank during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu on September 26, 1954. It is said that 1153 people aboard were killed in the accident, however the exact number of fatalities remains unknown. Toya Maru - Estimated 1153 deaths

6. RMS Titanic – 1912 RMS Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City on 10 April 1912. Four days into the crossing, at 23:40 on 14 April 1912, she struck an iceberg and sank at 2:20 the following morning, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people. RMS Titanic - 1,517 deaths

5. SS Sultana – 1865 The SS Sultana was a Mississippi River steamboat paddlewheeler destroyed in an explosion on April 27, 1865. This resulted in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. An estimated 1,800 of the 2,400 passengers were killed when three of the ship’s four boilers exploded and the Sultana sank near Memphis. SS Sultana - Estimated 1,800 to 2,400 deaths

4. Tek Sing – 1822 The Tek Sing was a large three-masted Chinese ocean-going junk which sank on February 6, 1822. In an area of the South China Sea known as the Belvidere Shoals. The ship was manned by a crew of 200 and had approx. 1600 passengers. The great loss of life associated with the sinking has led to the Tek Sing being referred to in modern times as the “Titanic of the East”. Tek Sing - 1800 deaths

3. MV Le Joola – 2002 MV Le Joola was a Senegalese government-owned ferry that capsized off the coast of The Gambia on September 26, 2002. The disaster resulted in the deaths of at least 1,863 people. MV Le Joola - 1,863 deaths

2. SS Kiangya – 1948 SS Kiangya was a Chinese passenger steamship which blew up, probably after hitting a mine which destroyed her stern, in the mouth of the Huangpu River fifty miles north of Shanghai on 4 December 1948. The exact death toll is unknown. 2,150 passengers were listed on the manifest (her official capacity was 1,186), but she was almost certainly carrying many stowaways. It is thought that between 2,750 and 3,920 died, with 700 to 1,000 survivors being picked up by other vessels. SS Kiangya - Estimated 2,750 to 3,920

1. MV Doña Paz The MV Doña Paz was a Philippine-registered passenger ferry that sank after colliding with the MT Vector on December 20, 1987. With a death toll of at most 4,375 people, the collision resulted in the deadliest ferry disaster in history and is widely cited as the worst ever peace-time maritime disaster. It was traveling from the island Leyte to the capital of Philippines, Manila. Doña Paz - 4375 deaths

Russian submarine 2008

Russia's accident-prone navy has suffered another major blow as 20 sailors and technicians on a nuclear submarine died after inhaling poisonous gas, in the latest naval disaster since the sinking of the Kursk.

12:09AM GMT 10 Nov 2008

The accident highlight the Russian navy's dismal safety record.

April 12, 1970 - Soviet November class nuclear-powered attack submarine sinks with 88 crew members in the Atlantic Ocean off Spain.

Aug 10, 1985 - Explosion on Russian submarine at Chazma Bay sends the lid of the reactor flying hundreds of metres with no trace of the 10 people working in the reactor.

April 7, 1989 - Soviet Mike class attack submarine sinks off northern Norway with the loss of 42 lives after a fire.

Aug 12, 2000 - Russian submarine Kursk sinks to the bottom of the Barents Sea after two explosions on board, killing all 118 crew members.

naval disasters ....did you know?......

History's Little-Known Naval Disasters

Many of those who view "Titanic," the new blockbuster motion picture, may leave the movie theater believing that the April 15, 1912, sinking of the great British liner, with the loss of 1,523 men, women and children, was history's greatest maritime disaster.
Others may perhaps think of the British passenger liner Lusitania, which sank on May 7, 1915, after being hit by a German submarine torpedo, taking 1,198 lives.
But these disasters are dwarfed by the sinkings of the Wilhelm Gustloff, the General Steuben and the Goya, three German ships crowded with evacuated refugees and wounded soldiers that were struck by Soviet submarines during the final months of the Second World War.
As John Ries points out in his essay in the Fall 1992 Journal, "History's Greatest Naval Disasters," more lives were lost in the case of each of these vessels than in the sinkings of either the Lusitania or the Titanic.
The first of these German ships to go down was the Wilhelm Gustloff, a 25,000-ton converted luxury liner that had been serving as a hospital ship. When it left the Baltic harbor of Gydnia (Gotenhafen) on January 30, 1945, it was jammed with nearly 5,000 refugees, mostly women and children, and 1,600 military servicemen. At shortly after nine o'clock in the evening, it was struck by three torpedoes from Soviet submarine S-13. Convoy vessels were able to rescue only about 900 from the sub-freezing Baltic waters. At least 5,400 perished.
Eleven days later, shortly after midnight on February 10, the General Steuben sank with a loss of 3,500 lives, making this the third worst maritime disaster in history. The same Soviet submarine that had attacked the Gustloff, and in almost the same location, sank the Steuben with two torpedoes. Crammed with as many as 5,000 wounded soldiers and refugees, the converted passenger liner sank in just seven minutes.
The sinking of the Goya on April 16, 1945, just three weeks before the end of the war in Europe, is acknowledged as almost certainly the greatest maritime disaster, in terms of lives lost, of all time. The converted 5,230-ton transport ship had set out from Hela near Danzig (Gdansk) with its human cargo of some 7,000 refugees and wounded soldiers.
Just a few minutes before midnight, the Soviet submarine L-3 fired two torpedoes at the Goya, which found their marks amidship and stern. Almost immediately the ship broke in half, her masts crashing down upon the passengers crowding the decks. Before anyone could escape from the holds, the onrushing sea quickly drowned out the anguished screams of the refugees below. The vessel sank in just four minutes, resulting in the loss of nearly 7,000 lives. There were only 183 survivors.
Concluding his essay on this chapter of history, Ries wrote:

Although little known, the sinkings of the Wilhelm Gustloff and the Goya -- with a combined loss of more than 12,000 lives -- remain the greatest maritime catastrophes of all time. Moreover, the deliberate and unnecessary killing of thousands of innocent civilian refugees and helpless wounded men aboard the Gustloff, the Steuben and the Goya -- as well as many other smaller and lesser known vessels -- is unquestionably one of the great atrocities of the Second World War.

Lesser known but also worthy of note is the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck on May 27, 1941. Following intense attack in the Atlantic from British planes and four major British warships, it went under with the loss of some 2,200 men.
Even more tragic is the case of the Cap Arcona, a 27,650-ton converted German passenger ship packed with evacuated concentration camp inmates. On May 3, 1945, just a week before the end of the war, it was sunk by fire from a British fighter-bomber as it was moored in Lübeck harbor. Some 5,000 persons, nearly all of them inmates, lost their lives. Only about 500 could be rescued.
A similar fate befell the Thielbek, a German ship likewise packed with 2,800 inmates who were being evacuated from the Neuengamme concentration camp. Succumbing to intense fire from British war planes, it sank on May 3, 1945, with the loss of all on board.

Warships and troopships sunk involving large loss of life

Warships and troopships sunk involving large loss of life


In some cases multiple ships were lost, and therefore they are classed as one disaster. An example of this is the Battle of Midway where four Japanese front-line carriers were lost with many lives. Entries are shown in descending order of lives lost.


During World War I

HMS Queen Mary
Bouvet

TakachihoHMS Queen Mary (Great Britain) - a battlecruiser which exploded and sank during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, with a loss of 1,245 men.

HMS Good Hope (Great Britain) - She was sunk 1 November 1914 off the Chilean coast along with HMS Monmouth in the Battle of Coronel by the German armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The entire complement of 900 hands were lost.

HMS Monmouth (Great Britain) - Sunk on 1 November 1914 off the Chilean coast along with HMS Good Hope in the Battle of Coronel. There were no survivors of the ship's complement of 678.

Prinz Adalbert (Germany) - On 2 July 1915, the British submarine HMS E9 torpedoed and badly damaged Prinz Adalbert near Gotland Island. On 23 October 1915, HMS E8 torpedoed Prinz Adalbert 20 mi (32 km) west of Libau. The magazine exploded and the ship sank with the loss of 672 crew. There were only three survivors.

Suffren (France) - The Suffren was returning to Lorient for a refit when, on 26 November 1916, off the Portuguese coast near Lisbon she was torpedoed by U-52. The torpedo detonated a magazine and Suffren sank within seconds, taking the crew of 648 with her.

Bouvet (France) - Sunk by a mine in Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign on 18 March 1915. The Bouvet capsized and sank within two minutes, taking over 600 crew with her.

Pallada (Russia) - On 11 October 1914, the Pallada was torpedoed by the German submarine U-26. The torpedo explosion detonated the ship's ammunition and within a few minutes the cruiser disappeared into the water along with the complete crew of 597. The Pallada was the first Russian warship sunk during World War I.

HMS Goliath (Great Britain) - On the night of 12-13 May 1915, Goliath was anchored in Morto Bay off Cape Helles when she was torpedoed. Goliath began to capsize almost immediately, she rolled over completely and began to sink by the bow taking 570 of the 700-strong crew to the bottom.

HMS Formidable (Great Britain) - On 1 January 1915, the Formidable was torpedoed from the German U-boat U-24 capsized and sank in the English Channel. The total loss of life of HMS Formidable was 35 officers and 512 men out of a total complement of 780.

Action of 22 September 1914

HMS Otranto

HMS Hampshire

HMS Hawke

HMS Natal

Takachiho (Japan) - The Takachiho was struck by three torpedoes launched by an Imperial German Navy S90 torpedo boat on 14 October 1914 during the Battle of Tsingtao. It sank with the loss of 271 men

Heireddin Barbarossa (Ottoman Empire) - The Heireddin Barbarossa was sunk in the early years of World War I on 8 August 1915 in the Dardanelles by the British submarine E11 with the loss of 253 men.

USS Cyclops (United States) - The loss of the ship and 306 crew and passengers without a trace sometime after 4 March 1918 remains the single largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat. The ship's fate is still a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. No wreckage of the vessel has ever been found.

HMS Irresistible (Great Britain) - Sank after striking a mine while engaged in battle in the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915. The Irresistible lost 150 crew members in the sinking.

RMS Moldavia

During Spanish Civil War

Spanish destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz - sunk by Spanish cruiser Canarias 29 September 1936; 130 killed.

Spanish cruiser Baleares - sunk by Spanish destroyer Lepanto 6 March 1938. 765 seamen killed .

SS Castillo de Olite - sunk by costatal artillery 7 March 1939 near of Cartagena Harbor; 1476 killed.

During World War II

HMAS Sydney with her 645 crewYamato (Japan) - The largest battleship ever constructed, Yamato was destroyed on 7 April 1945 by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and others. This battleship was the largest ever built and only 280 of the Yamato's 2,778-man crew were rescued. This was the greatest loss of life in a single warship in World War II.

Bismarck (Germany) - After being hunted by British forces following the sinking of HMS Hood, the Bismarck herself was sunk just three days later on 27 May 1941. Of the 2,200 crewmen aboard, 1,995 sailors lost their lives.

HMS Hood (Great Britain) - The battlecruiser HMS Hood was attacked and sunk by the German battleship Bismarck on 24 May 1941. Of the 1,418 crewmen aboard, only three survived.

Fuso (Japan) - On 25 October 1944 as a result of torpedoes launched by USS Melvin in the Battle of Surigao Strait, causing the loss of possibly all of her crew of 1,400.

USS Indianapolis (USA) - The heavy cruiser Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine on 30 June 1945 while sailing to the Philippines from Guam, after delivering components for the "Little Boy" atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Of the 1,196 killed, 300 died on board and 317 were rescued. The others died from exposure and shark attacks, reported to be the largest number of shark attacks in human history. They were floating, some just in life jackets, on the open sea for four days before being rescued.

USS Arizona (USA) - While docked in Pearl Harbor, the battleship Arizona was attacked by Japanese torpedo and dive bombers on 7 December 1941. 1,177 crewmen were lost out of a complement of 1,400. The wreck continues to lie at the floor of the harbor, where she remains a memorial to all those who perished on that day.

Tirpitz (Germany) - On 12 November 1944, Tirpitz was attacked by Lancaster bombers from 9 and 617 Squadrons armed with Tallboy bombs. The battleship sank west of Tromsø, Norway, with a loss of 1,000 of her crew of 1,700.

Bretagne (France) - The super-dreadnought battleship, and pride of the French navy, exploded and sank on 3 July 1940 in the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir as a result of gunfire from the British warships Hood, Valiant, and Resolution. 977 men were killed.

HMS Dasher - Royal Navy escort aircraft carrier which sank in 1943 after an internal explosion, killing 379 out of a crew of 528.

HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse (Great Britain) - On 10 December 1941, 3 days after Pearl Harbor, the two capital ships were sent to intercept Japanese landings in Malaya, but were sunk by Japanese aircraft based in Saigon. 840 sailors were lost, 513 on battlecruiser Repulse and 327 on battleship Prince of Wales. Winston Churchill said when he heard about the sinkings: "In all the war, I never received a more direct shock...".

HMS Royal Oak (Great Britain) - During one of the earliest successes enjoyed by the German Navy in World War II, the veteran battleship HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed and sunk while anchored at the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, on the morning of 14 October 1939, with a loss of 833 lives, by the German submarine U-47 (1938) commanded by Lieutenant Commander Günther Prien.

Chiyoda - sunk with her entire crew of around 800 in 1944, possibly the largest vessel to be lost with all hands in World War II, since there is uncertainty about whether there were survivors from Fuso (see above).

HMS Gloucester (Great Britain) - On 22 May 1941, Gloucester was attacked by German Stuka dive bombers and sank during the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807.

HMAS Sydney (Australia) - The light cruiser was sunk by the German ship Kormoran on 19 November 1941 with the loss of all 645 sailors on board, making it the largest allied vessel to be lost with all hands during World War II.



The survivors of Z27, T25 and T26 interned in the Curragh CampZ27, T25 and T26 (Germany) - In the Bay of Biscay, on 28 December 1943, Z72, a Kriegsmarine destroyer and two torpedo boats, T25 and T26 were waiting to escort Alsterufer, a blockade runner which had come from Japan. The Royal Navy knew the German positions and had already sunk the Alsterufer. The cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise shelled and sank Z27, T25, and T26 from over the horizon. In one of the most extraordinary rescues of the war, the 142 ft (43 m) neutral Irish coaster MV Kerlogue rescued 168 survivors from the three ships' 700 crew.

HMS Courageous (Great Britain) - On 17 September 1939, the aircraft carrier Courageous was torpedoed. She capsized and sank in 15 minutes, with the loss of 518 of her crew.

Yahagi (Japan) - On 7 April 1945, the cruiser Yahagi was heavily damaged capzised and sank after being attacked by aircraft from United States Task Force 58. Of her crew of 736 on board, 445 were killed.

HMS Dunedin (Great Britain) - On 24 November 1941, HMS Dunedin was in the Central Atlantic northeast of Recife, Brazil when she was sunk by two torpedoes from the German submarine U-124. Only four officers and 63 men survived out of a crew of 486.

HNLMS De Ruyter (Dutch) - On 27 February 1942, HNLMS De Ruyter along with HNLMS Java and other allied cruisers and destroyers led a defeat against Japanese warships in an attempt to stop the Japanese invasion fleet in the battle of Java Sea. 345 of their crews lost their lives.

Ilmarinen (Finland) - On 13 September 1941, mines became entangled on the Ilmarinen's paravane cable. When the ship turned, the mines hit the ship and were set off, sinking the ship in seven minutes. Only 132 of the crewmen survived and 271 were lost.

Wartime sinkings of passenger ships

Wartime sinkings of passenger ships


This section lists ships that were current or former passenger ships at the time of their sinking.

 During World War I

RMS Lusitania (Great Britain) - The Lusitania, designated an Armed Merchant Cruiser for the Royal Navy was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 on 7 May 1915. The ship sank in just 18 minutes 8 mi (13 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland killing 1,198 of the people aboard.

SS Persia (Great Britain) - The Persia torpedoed and sunk without warning off Crete on 30 December 1915 by German World War I U-Boat ace Max Valentiner (commanding U-38). The Persia sank in five to ten minutes, killing 343 of the 519 aboard.

Provence II (France) - The French auxiliary cruiser was torpedoed in the Mediterranean Sea on 26 February 1916. An ocean liner in peace time, the La Provence was refitted for troop transport during World War I. She was transporting troops from France to Salonika when she was sunk by the German submarine U-35 south of Cape Matapan. Nearly a thousand French soldiers and sailors died in the sinking.[31]

HMHS Britannic (Great Britain) - After conversion into a hospital ship, the Britannic was either stuck by a mine or torpedoed on 21 November 1916 off the coast of Greece with a loss of 30 people. A lifeboat of people were killed during an attempt to restart the engines.

SS Laurentic (Great Britain) - The Laurentic struck two mines off Lough Swilly in the north of Ireland on 25 January 1917 and sank within an hour. Only 121 survived and 354 aboard were killed in the disaster.* SS Mendi - sank on 21 February 1917 with the loss of 616 lives, mostly of the South African Native Corps, after colliding with the SS Darro near the Isle of Wright.



90th anniversary of the sinking of RMS LeinsterSS Cameronia (Great Britain) - The Cameronia was torpedoed on 15 April 1917 by German submarine U-33 while en route from Marseille, France to Alexandria, Egypt. She was serving as a troopship at the time and contained approximately 2,650 soldiers on board. The ship sank in 40 minutes, 150 mi (240 km) east of Malta, taking 210 lives.

SS Transylvania (Great Britain) - The Transylvania was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Genoa on 4 May 1917 by the German U-boat U-63. At the time of her sinking she carrying Allied troops to Egypt and sank with a loss of 412 lives.

HMHS Llandovery Castle (Canada) - On 27 June 1918, the Canadian hospital ship HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed off southern Ireland by U-86. When the Llandovery Castles crew took to the lifeboats, U-86 surfaced, ran down all the lifeboats except one and shot at the people in the water. Only the 24 people in the remaining lifeboat survived. They were rescued shortly afterwards and testified what had happened. In total, 234 were killed.

RMS Leinster (United Kingdom) - The Leinster was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine UB-123 on 10 October 1918, while bound for Holyhead. Over 500 people perished in the sinking — the greatest single loss of life in the Irish Sea.

During World War II

SS Athenia (Great Britain) - On 3 September 1939, just hours after Britain declared war on Germany, U-boat U-30 sank Athenia mistaking her for an armed merchant cruiser. Of the 1,103 civilians the passenger liner was carrying, 118 passengers and crew were killed.

HMS Rawalpindi (Great Britain) - While on patrol, the Rawalpindi encountered two German warships and was sunk on 23 November 1939. Out of a crew of 276, 238 men died.

SS Nerissa (Canada) - The Nerissa was a passenger and cargo steamer which was torpedoed and sunk on 30 April 1940 by German submarine U-552. She was the only transport carrying Canadian troops to be lost during World War II with 207 people troops and civilians being lost in the sinking.



RMS Lancastria sunk 17 June 1940RMS Lancastria - sunk by the Germans in June 1940, estimated over 4,000 deaths {2,477 survived and 1,738 known dead}.



The Arandora StarArandora Star (Great Britain) - On 2 July 1940, the Arandora Star, which was being used to transport German and Italian POW's and internees, was sunk by U-47 commanded by U-Boat ace Günther Prien. Of the 1,673 aboard, over 800 people were killed.

SS City of Benares (Great Britain) - The City of Benares was sunk by U-48 on 17 September 1940. Out of 407 people, 260 were lost, including 77 children of the Children's Overseas Reception Board (CORB) program. The loss of the ship caused the CORB program to be immediately cancelled.

Armenia - A Soviet hospital ship that was sunk on 7 November 1941 by German torpedo-carrying He 111 planes. The ship was evacuating refugees, wounded military and staff from several of the Crimea’s hospitals. An estimated 7,000 people died in the sinking, 2,000 of whom are believed to have been unregistered passengers aboard. There were only eight survivors who were picked up by an escort vessel.

Iosif Stalin (USSR) - On 3 December 1941, ran on 3 naval mines with 5,589 aboard near Hanko in the Baltic Sea. While the crew tried to repair the ship, Finnish coastal artillery opened fire and the Iosif Stalin took a hit aft from a 12 in (300 mm) shell, which caused a large explosion of the ammunition storage. Only 1,740 men were rescued from the sinking ship by the escorting minesweepers No. 205, 211, 215, 217 and further 5 patrol boats from the convoy defense.

RMS Lady Hawkins (Canada) - On 19 January 1942, the Lady Hawkins was torpedoed and sunk by U-66 130 mi (210 km) off the North Carolina coast. An estimated 251 people were killed in the sinking.[32]

Struma (Romania) - On 23 February 1942, with its engine inoperable, the Struma carrying Jews attempting to escape the Holocaust and sail to Palestine was towed from Istanbul through the Bosporus out to the Black Sea by Turkish authorities with its refugee passengers aboard, where it was left adrift. Within hours, it was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine Shch 213 on 24 February. There was only one survivor with 768 men, women, and children killed.



RMS Laconia sunk on 12 September 1942RMS Laconia (Great Britain) - On 12 September 1942, 130 mi (210 km) north-northeast of Ascension Island, the Laconia was hit and sunk by a torpedo fired by U-boat U-156. The U-boat commander realized that Italian prisoners were part of the ship passengers and ordered an ill fated rescue effort in what came to be called the Laconia Incident. This incident also gave rise to Germany's Laconia Order regarding assistance to survivors of ship sinkings. In all an estimated 1,649 persons were killed in the sinking.

SS Caribou (Canada) - A passenger ferry, torpedoed by the German submarine U-69 and sunk in the Cabot Straits during the night of 14 October 1942. Losses: 46 sailors and 206 civilian and military passengers.



A propaganda poster calling for Australians to avenge the sinking of AHS CentaurAHS Centaur (Australia) - A hospital ship attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine on 16 May 1943 off Queensland, Australia. Of the 332 medical personnel and crew aboard, 268 died. It was not until 1979 that the attacking submarine, I-177, was identified.

HMT Rohna - sunk by the Germans in November 1943, estimated over 1,138 deaths with 1,015 of them American troops and this still constitutes the largest loss of US troops at sea

SS Oria (Norway) - On the night of 12 February 1944 while carrying under Germany's flag, 4,096 Italian POWs (after Italy left the Axis), from Dodecanesse Islands to Athens, went into a thunderstorm some 50 mi (80 km) inbound its intended destination, Pireaus harbor. The ship cracked, sunk and 4,025 Italians, 44 German soldiers (guards) and 5 crew, estimated 4,074 souls in total, died in the accident. Only 28 people (combined) saved.

Mefkure {Romania} - Mefkure was a motor schooner chartered to carry Jewish Holocaust refugees from Romania to Palestine, sailing under the Turkish and Red Cross flags. On 5 August 1944, while crossing the Black Sea, it was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine SC 215 and sunk, killing 305 people. 11 survived {5 passengers and 6 crew}.[33]



Wilhelm GustloffWilhelm Gustloff (Germany) - On 30 January 1945 while evacuating civilian refugees, German soldiers, and U-boat personnel, the Gustloff was sunk by a Russian submarine in the Baltic Sea. 5,348 known dead but it has been estimated that up to 9,400 died as a result of this disaster.

SS General von Steuben (Germany) - The Steuben was torpedoed and sunk on 10 February 1945 by a Soviet submarine. An estimated 3,400 died out of the 4,267 people aboard.



The sinking of the Cap ArconaTsushima Maru (Japan) - The Tsushima Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the USS Bowfin on 22 August 1944. The sinking claimed the lives of 1,484 civilians including 767 schoolchildren.

Hansa (Sweden) - On 24 November 1944, she was torpedoed and sunk between Nynäshamn and Visby by a Soviet submarine. The ship sunk within a few minutes leaving 84 people dead and two survivors.

SS Leopoldville (Belgium) - Sunk by a torpedo on 24 December 1944 in the English Channel. Of the 2,235 American servicemen on board, approximately 515 are presumed to have gone down with the ship. Another 248 died from injuries, drowning, or hypothermia.

Awa Maru (Japan) - On 1 April 1945, the Awa Maru was intercepted and sunk in the Taiwan Strait by the American submarine USS Queenfish which mistook her for a destroyer. Only one person of the 2,003 aboard survived.

Cap Arcona (Germany) - On 3 May 1945 the prison ship Cap Arcona was attacked by British RAF forces. The ship caught fire and capsized, leaving an estimated 5,000 dead.

Ukishima Maru - Exploded and sank on 22 August 1945, on entering the port of Maizuru, killing 549 people, mainly Koreans.

WARTIME DISASTERS World War II

Very high casualties were recorded on the following wartime tragedies that occurred during World War II:

SS Indigirka - Soviet Gulag ship was transporting released scientists to help in the war effort when it sank in a blizzard off the Japanese coast on 13 December 1939, with a loss of 741 lives.

Montevideo Maru - On 22 June 1942, after the fall of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea the Japanese ordered 845 Australian POWs and 208 civilian internees to board the unmarked Japanese ship, Montevideo Maru, for transport to Japan. On 1 July, USS Sturgeon attacked and sunk the ship near the northern Philippine coast. Of the ship's total complement of about 1,140 (including 88 crew), there were reportedly only 18 survivors (all crewmen).

Junyō Maru - a Japanese "Hell ship" sunk by the British in September 1944, 5,620 died: Dutch POWs and Javanese slave labourers

MV Wilhelm Gustloff (Germany) - The German KdF flagship, constructed by the Blohm & Voss shipyards, sank after being hit by three torpedoes fired by the Soviet submarine S-13 on 30 January 1945, with the loss of over 9,000 lives, most of them German refugees – the greatest loss of life in a maritime disaster in history.

Goya (Germany) - The German transport ship Goya was torpedoed and sunk by a Russian submarine on 16 April 1945. An estimated 7,000-8,000 civilians and German troops died with 183 being rescued.

SS Thielbek - sunk by British planes on 3 May 1945 with a loss of 2,750 lives.

Nova Scotia - sunk near South Africa by a German submarine, was carrying 1,000 and had only 192 survivors.

Wartime disasters -Pre World War II

Spanish Armada - On 8 August 1588, Philip II of Spain sent the Armada to invade England. Spain lost 15,000-20,000 soldiers and sailors.


HMS Revenge (Great Britain) - After being captured in battle, the Revenge was lost in a storm near the Azores in 1591. An estimated 200 Spanish sailors who captured her lost their lives in the sinking.

Kronan (Sweden) - During the Battle of Öland in 1676 the Kronan capsized while turning. Gunpowder on board ignited which resulted in an explosion. Of the estimated 800 on board, 42 survived.

Indomptable (France) - Sank in a storm on 22 October 1805 during the Battle of Trafalgar. Of the 1,200 sailors aboard, 1,050 were killed.

Troopships Rochdale and Prince of Wales - Bound for the Napoleonic war were caught by a storm in Dublin Bay and lost on 19 November 1807. Over 400 lives were lost.

SS Sultana (United States) - A Mississippi river paddlewheeler being used as a troop transport. On 27 April 1865, one of the ship's four boilers exploded, setting the ship on fire and leaving an estimated 1,800 dead with 500 injured.

During the Battle of Tsushima, the decisive naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, two-thirds of the Russian fleet was destroyed. The Russians suffered 4,380 killed and 5,917 captured, including 2 admirals and 1,862 interned. The battleships Knyaz Suvorov, Imperator Aleksander III, Borodino and Oslyabya were sunk.

Petropavlovsk - During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian battleship was sunk on 31 March 1904 after striking two mines near the Port Arthur naval base. A total of 18 officers and 620 men were lost, including an important Imperial vice admiral.

Takachiho - Japanese Naniwa class cruiser, was torpedoed and sank 17 October 1914 with a loss of 271 officers and men