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.
jueves, 19 de agosto de 2010
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.
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.
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
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
PEACETIME DISASTERS
Many ship disasters happen outside the realm of war. All ships, military ships included, are vulnerable to problems of weather, design or human error. Some of the disasters below occurred during periods of conflict, though their losses were unrelated to any military action. The listing is in descending order of the magnitude of casualties suffered.
RMS Empress of Ireland
General Slocum
MS Estonia
SS Admiral Nakhimov
SS Eastland
SS AlpenaMV Doña Paz (Philippines) - On 20 December 1987, the passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector. The resulting fire and sinking left an estimated 4,341 dead.[1][2] .
SS Kiangya (China) - The Kiangya was a passenger steamship which blew up and sank in the mouth of the Huangpu River 50 mi (80 km) south of Shanghai on 4 December 1948. The suspected cause of the explosion was the Kiangya hit a mine left behind by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The exact death toll is unknown, however, it is thought that between 2,750 and 3,920 died with 700-1,000 survivors being picked up by other vessels.
SS Mont-Blanc and the Halifax Explosion (Canada) - On 6 December 1917, the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the French cargo ship Mont-Blanc, which was fully loaded with wartime explosives, after a collision with the Norwegian ship Imo. The collision happened in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour. About 2000 people were killed by debris, fires or building collapse and over 9,000 people were injured.[3] This explosion is still ranked as the largest accidental explosion of conventional weapons to date.[4]
Le Joola (Senegal) - On 26 September 2002, the overloaded ferry Le Joola capsized in rough seas with an estimated death toll of more than 1,800.[5]
Tek Sing (China) A junk that struck a reef near Indonesia and sunk on 6 February 1822, leaving an estimated 1,600 dead.[6]
RMS Titanic (Great Britain) - A passenger liner and the world's largest ship at the time. On April 14, 1912, during its maiden voyage, the Titanic collided with an iceberg, buckling a part of the hull and mortally wounding the ship. In total, only 31.8% of the ship's 2,228 people survived, leaving 1,523 dead.[7] This disaster was the catalyst for major reforms in safety for the shipping industry and is arguably the most famous maritime disaster of all time, being the subject of countless media portrayals.[8]
The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 (England) - On the night of 22 October 1707, a Royal Navy fleet on their way from Gibraltar to Portsmouth sailed through dangerous reefs west of the Isles of Scilly. Four ships (HMS Association, HMS Eagle, HMS Romney and HMS Firebrand) sank. The exact number of sailors killed is unknown, statements vary between 1,400[9] and over 2,000.[10] It was later determined that the main cause of the disaster was the navigators' inability to accurately calculate their longitude.
Toya Maru (Japan) - A Japanese passenger ferry that sank during Typhoon Marie in the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Hokkaidō and Honshū on 26 September 1954. It is said that 1153 people aboard were killed in the accident. However, the exact number of fatalities remains unknown because there were victims who managed to get on board the ship unticketed and others who cancelled their passage just before the incident.
RMS Empress of Ireland (Canada) - On 29 May 1914, the Empress of Ireland sank after colliding with SS Storstad on the Saint Lawrence River claiming 1,012 lives.[11]
Al Salam Boccaccio 98 (Egypt) - On 3 February 2006, the ro-ro passenger ferry Al Salam Boccaccio 98 sank 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 at the time of the disaster. Only 388 persons were saved and over 1,000 were lost.[12]
SS General Slocum (United States) - The General Slocum caught fire and burned to the water line in New York's East River on 15 June 1904. More than 1,000 people died in the accident, making it New York City's worst loss-of-life disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks.[13]
SS Kiche Maru (Japan) - Sank during a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean on 22 September 1912. It is estimated that more than 1,000 persons lost their lives.[14]
SS Hong Moh (Singapore) - On 3 March 1921, the Hong Moh stuck the White Rocks on Lamock Island near Swatow (Shantou) on the southern coast of China. She broke in two and sank with the loss of about 1,000 lives out of the 1,100 aboard.
MS Estonia (Estonia) - The MS Estonia sank in rough water on 28 September 1994. An investigation claimed that the failure of the bow visor door allowed water from the Baltic Sea to enter the ship. The accident claimed almost 1000 lives. Only 137 survived.
SS Eastland (United States) - On 24 July 1915, while moored to the dock in the Chicago River, the capacity load of passengers shifted to the river side of the ship causing it to roll over, killing 845 passengers and crew.
HMS Vanguard - (UK) - Just before midnight on 9 July 1917 at Scapa Flow, HMS Vanguard suffered an explosion, probably caused by an unnoticed stokehold fire heating cordite stored against an adjacent bulkhead in one of the two magazines which served the amidships gun turrets "P" and "Q". She sank almost instantly, killing an estimated 843 men; there were only two survivors.
MV Bukoba (Tanzania) - The overloaded Bukoba sank on 21 May 1996 on Lake Victoria. While the ship's manifest showed 443 aboard, it is estimated that about 800 people died in the sinking.
HMS Bulwark (Great Britain) - On 26 November 1914, a powerful internal explosion ripped the Bulwark apart at 7:50am while she was moored at Number 17 buoy in Kethole Reach, 4 mi (6.4 km) west of Sheerness in the estuary of the River Medway. All of her officers were lost, and out of her complement of 750, only 14 sailors survived; 2 of these men subsequently died of their injuries in hospital.
SS Camorta (Great Britain) - The Camorta was caught in a cyclone and sank in the Irrawaddy Delta on 6 May 1902 with the loss of all 655 passengers and 82 crew. She was en route from Madras, India, to Rangoon, Burma, across the Bay of Bengal.
MV Princess of the Stars (Philippines) - On 21 June 2008, the ferry Princess of the Stars capsized and sank in Typhoon Fengshen off the coast of San Fernando, Romblon, in the Philippines. Of the estimated 747 people aboard, only 57 survived.
SS Mendi (Great Britain) - On 21 February 1917, the Mendi was transporting members of the 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps, to France. At 5:00am, while under escort of the destroyer HMS Brisk, the Mendi was struck and cut almost in half by the SS Darro. Of the 823 on board, 646 died in the disaster.
SS Norge (Denmark) - On 28 June 1904 the Norge ran aground close to Rockall on St. Helen's Reef. The final death toll was 635 with 160 survivors who spent up to eight days in open lifeboats before rescue.
Novorossiysk (Soviet Union) - On 29 October 1955, the Novorossiysk was moored in Sevastopol Bay, 300 meters (1000 feet) from shore and opposite a hospital. At 1:30am, an explosion of undetermined origin occurred. The Novorossiysk capsized and sank with the loss of 608 sailors.
Shamia (Bangladesh) - On 27 May 1986, the ferry Shamia capsized and sank during a storm on the Meghna River in southern Barisa, Bangladesh. An estimated 600 people lost their lives.
SS Princess Alice (Great Britain) - On 3 September 1878 the Princess Alice was making what was billed as a "Moonlight Trip" to Gravesend and back. The Bywell Castle collided with the Princess Alice off Tripcock Point. The Princess Alice broke in two and sank within four minutes with an estimated 600 people on board losing their lives.
SS Grandcamp (United States) - On 16 April 1947, the French registered ex-liberty ship caught fire and exploded dockside while being loaded with ammonium nitrate at Texas City, Texas. In what came to be called the Texas City Disaster an estimated 581 people, including 28 firefighters, were killed and 5,000 were injured.
SS La Bourgogne (France) - The passenger steamer La Bourgogne was sunk on 4 July 1898 after a collision in dense fog with the British ship Cromartyshire off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. At the time of the disaster she was carrying 730 passengers crew, of whom 565 were lost.[15]
Ertuğrul (Ottoman Empire) - Sank on 18 September 1890 after striking a reef during a typhoon off Kushimoto, Japan. The maritime accident resulted in the loss of 533 sailors including Admiral Ali Osman Pasha.
HMS Sussex (Great Britain) - The Sussex was lost in a severe storm on 1 March 1694 off Gibraltar. There were only 2 survivors out of a crew of 500.
SS Valbanera (Spain) - Sank in the Gulf of Mexico 45 mi (72 km) west of Key West, Florida during a hurricane in September 1919. All of the 488 crew and passengers aboard were killed.
HMS Captain (Great Britain) - On 7 September 1870, the Captain capsized and sank in high winds on the Atlantic Ocean. An estimated 480 sailors perished with 18 sailors surviving.
Cospatrick (Great Britain) - The Cospatrick caught fire south of the Cape of Good Hope on 17 November 1874 while on a voyage from Gravesend, England, to Auckland, New Zealand. Only 3 of 472 persons on board at the time ultimately survived.
MV Salahuddin-2 (Bangladesh) - On the night of 3 May 2002, the ferry Salahuddin-2 sunk in the Meghna River south of Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing more than 450 people.
SS Central America (United States) - Sank off the Carolinas during a hurricane on 9 September 1857. An estimated 425 out of 578 aboard perished.
SS Admiral Nakhimov (Soviet Union) - On 31 August 1986, Admiral Nakhimov collided with the large bulk carrier Pyotr Vasyov in the Tsemes Bay, near the port of Novorossiysk, Russian SFSR. In total, 423 of the 1,234 people on board died.
MV Nasrin-1 (Bangladesh) - At midnight on 8 July 2003, the passenger ferry Nasrin-1 capsized and sank in the Meghna River near Chandpur, Bangladesh, killing more than 400 people.
Spanish cruiser Reina Regente (1888) - sunk in a storm in 9 March 1895, with the loss of all 420 crewmen.
Cataraqui (Great Britain) - An emigrant ship bound for Australia, the Cataraqui struck a reef south-west of King Island, Tasmania, on 4 August 1845. The sinking is Australia's worst ever maritime civil disaster, claiming the lives of 400 people.
Lady Elgin (United States) - Sunk in a collision with the schooner Augusta of Oswego on Lake Michigan on 8 September 1860 with the loss of about 400 lives.
HMS Invincible (Great Britain) - On 16 March 1801, she was damaged in a storm and driven on a sandbar off the coast of Norfolk. The following day the Invincible drifted off the sandbar and sank in deep water. Over 400 sailors drowned in the disaster with 196 being saved.
RMS Tayleur (Great Britain) - In what would come to foreshadow the Titanic tragedy, the White Star Line clipper ship Tayleur grounded and sank during its maiden voyage. The accident happened off Lambay Island, Dublin Bay, on 21 January 1854. Out of the 652 people on board 380 lives were lost, many of them immigrants.
HMS Eurydice (Great Britain) - On 24 March 1878,[16] the training ship Eurydice was caught in a heavy snow storm off the Isle of Wight, capsized, and sank. Only 2 of the ship's 378 crew and trainees survived, most of those not carried down with the ship dying of exposure in the freezing waters.
HMS Victoria (Great Britain) - Accidentally rammed by the HMS Camperdown and sunk on 22 June 1893 during annual summer fleet exercises off Tripoli in Syria (now part of Lebanon). Out of a crew of 715 aboard the Victoria, 357 crew were rescued and 358 died.
HMS Athenienne (Great Britain) - On the evening of 20 October 1806, she ran aground on a submerged reef, the Esquirques, in the Strait of Sicily and sank. In all, 347 people died while 141 men and 2 women were rescued.
SS Princess Sophia (Canada) - The Princess Sophia ran aground during a storm on 23 October 1918. After rescue ships were unable to assist due to the ongoing storm, she sank on the night of 25 October. The only survivor found was a pet dog from one of the 343 aboard.
SS Schiller (Germany) - On 7 May 1875, the Schiller sank after hitting the Retarrier Ledges in the Isles of Scilly. Most of her crew and passengers were lost, totalling 335 fatalities.
SS Elbe (Germany) - Sank on 30 January 1895 after a collision with the steamship Crathie in the North Sea. One lifeboat with 20 people was recovered out of 354 that were on the ship.
Yoshino (Japan) - On 14 May 1904, the cruiser sank with loss of 319 lives after collusion. 19 survived.
Liberté - French battleship that suffered an accidental ammunition explosion in 1911, with about 300 people killed.
SS Pacific (United States) - On the evening of 4 November 1875, the Pacific was involved in a collision with the SS Orpheus off the coast of Cape Flattery, Washington. Both vessels continued on their course and the captain of the Orpheus later testified he was unaware of the collision. Only 2 people survived out of 300 on board.
Northfleet (Great Britain) - On the night of 22 January 1873, the Northfleet was at anchor about 2 or 3 miles (5 km) off Dungeness. Around 10.30 pm, she was run down by the steamer Murillo that backed off and disappeared into the darkness. In the ensuing panic a total of 293 people were drowned.
New Era (United States) - On 13 November 1854, the New Era sank after grounding in a storm at Deal Beach in New Jersey. Of the 427 aboard, an estimated 284 were killed.[17]
USS Maine (United States) - On 15 February 1898, while at anchor in the harbor at Havana, Cuba, an explosion of undetermined origin in the ship's magazine damaged and sank the ship. Of the 374 officers and men aboard, 266 died immediately, and another 8 died later from their injuries. The sinking of the Maine precipitated the Spanish-American War.
Great Lakes Storm of 1913 (United States) - A cyclonic blizzard (sometimes referred to as an inland hurricane) on the Great Lakes that occurred between 7 and 10 November 1913. In total 12 ships were sunk with a combined crew loss of 255. An additional 7 ships were damaged beyond repair and 19 more ships that had been stranded were later salvaged.
Powhatan (United States) - On 16 April 1854, the Powhatan sank off the coast of New Jersey in a severe storm with no survivors. The loss of life was estimated by various sources to be between 250 and 311 people.[18]
HMS Avenger (Great Britain) - The Avenger sailed from Gibraltar on 17 December 1847 bound for Malta. On 20 December she ran on to the Sorelle Rocks near Malta. Only 8 crew members out of 250 survived.
Neva (Great Britain) - The Neva was a convict ship that left Cork, Ireland, bound for Sydney, Australia. On 13 May 1835, the ship was wrecked on a reef near King Island, Tasmania. 224 lives, mainly women and children, were lost.
SS Waratah (Great Britain) - Around 27 July 1909, the 500 ft (150 m) steamer Waratah en route from Australia to London was lost without trace off Durban on the east-coast of South Africa. All 211 on board were lost. The disappearance of the ship remains one of the most baffling nautical mysteries of all time.
Iolaire (United Kingdom) - The Iolaire (Scottish Gaelic for "Eagle") was an Admiralty yacht that hit rocks and sank on the 1 January 1919 just off the island of Lewis, carrying soldiers coming home from World War I. At least 205 men perished of the 280 aboard.
SS Heraklion (Greece) - On 8 December 1966, while en route from the port of Souda to Piraeus in Athens, the RO-RO car ferry capsized and sank in the Aegean Sea. The sinking resulted in the deaths of over 200 people with 47 being saved. It was later determined that an unsecured vehicle had broken through the loading door, which allowed seawater to enter the ship.
Steamship Atlantic (United States) - Sank after a collision with the steamer Ogdensburg off Long Point on Lake Erie on 20 August 1852. It is estimated that between 150 and 200 people lost their lives of the more than 500 persons on board.[19][20]
MS Herald of Free Enterprise (Great Britain) - Capsized and sank on 6 March 1987 after taking on water just minutes after leaving the harbour at the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The doors to the car decks were left open by the Assistant Bosun, Mark Stanley, causing the ferry to take on water and quickly capsize. Of the 539 aboard, 193 passengers and crew killed.
SS Portland (United States) - On 26 November 1898, the steamship SS Portland left India Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, for Portland, Maine, on a regularly scheduled run. She never made it to port. None of the 192 passengers and crew survived the massive storm that wreaked havoc on New England's coast — a storm that was later dubbed "The Portland Gale" after the tragic loss of the ship.
SS Southern Cross (Canada) - Lost in a storm between 31 March and 3 April 1914. Believed to be in the vicinity of Cape Pine. The entire crew of 173 were lost in the sinking.
SS Florizel (Canada) - Sunk after striking a reef at Horn Head Point Cape Race near Cappahayden, Newfoundland, Canada, on 23 February 1918. The loss of the disaster was 173 people.
Shiun Maru (Japan) - Collided in dense fog with sister ship Uko Maru in the Seto Inland Sea and sank with the loss of 166 passengers and 2 crew members.
Madagascar - Full rigged ship disappeared without a trace in 1853 after sailing from Melbourne for London, with the loss of about 110 passengers and about 50 crew.
MS Scandinavian Star (Denmark) - caught fire in 1990 on route between Norway and Denmark with a loss of 157 lives.
MV Princess of the Orient (Philippines) - On 18 September 1998, the Princess of the Orient, while traveling from Manila to Cebu, sailed into Typhoon Vicky. She capsized at 12:55 pm near Fortune Island in Batangas. Of 388 passengers on board, an estimated 150 perished. Passengers floated at sea for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to reach survivors.
SS Larchmont (United States) - On 12 February 1907, paddlewheel steamship Larchmont sunk off Block Island, Rhode Island, after a collision with the schooner Harry Knowlton. An estimated 150 persons of the 200 on board were killed.[21]
MS Express Samina (Greece) - On 26 September 2000, the RO-RO ferry Express Samina hit a reef and sunk at 23:02 near the island of Paros. 143 people were lost at sea: 82 of the 473 passengers, plus 61 crew.
MV Cebu City (Philippines) - On 2 December 1994, the ferry Cebu City sunk in Manila Bay after colliding with Singaporean freighter Kota Suria. The accident claimed 140 lives.
Moby Prince (Italy) - On 10 April 1991, the ferry Moby Prince collided with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo in Livorno harbour and caught fire, killing 140 people.
SS Wairarapa (New Zealand) - On 29 October 1894, the steamship Wairarapa, en route from Sydney to Auckland, ran into Great Barrier Island. She was traveling at nearly full speed through heavy fog. Approximately 140 out of 230 people on board lost their lives.
SS Noronic (Canada) - Caught fire dockside at Toronto Harbour on 16 September 1949. Estimates ranged from 118 to 139 deaths. Most of the deaths were from suffocation or burns. However, some died from being trampled or from leaping off the upper decks onto the pier; only one person drowned in the disaster.
SS Koombana - A coastal passenger and cargo steamship in Western Australia which sank at an unknown location during a cyclone on 20 March 1912 with the loss of approximately 138 lives, including 20 crew. Other than some floating wreckage, no trace was ever found of the ship.
SS Morro Castle (United States) - In the early morning hours of 8 September 1934, while en route from Havana to New York, the Morro Castle caught fire and burned, killing a total of 137 passengers and crew members out of 549 on board. The ship was beached near Asbury Park, New Jersey, and remained there for several months until she was eventually towed away and sold for scrap.
SS Kuru (Finland) - A steamship that sank after capsizing in high winds on 7 September 1929 in Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere, Finland. It estimated that between 136 and 138 people lost their lives.
SS Valencia (United States) - Shortly before midnight on 22 January 1906, she struck a reef near Pachena Point on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island and sunk. Estimates of the number of lives lost in the disaster vary widely, with some sources listing it at 117 while others claim it was as high as 181; according to the federal report, the official death toll was 136 persons. Only 37 men survived, but every woman and child on the Valencia died in the disaster.
RMS Quetta - A British India Line merchant ship, on a regular route between England, India, and the Far East. Wrecked on the Far North Queensland coast on 28 February 1890. Of the 292 people aboard, 134 perished.
MV Princess Victoria (United Kingdom) - Sank on 31 January 1953 in the North Channel during a severe storm with the loss of 133 lives. The sinking of the Princess Victoria was the deadliest maritime disaster in United Kingdom waters since World War II.
HMS Ontario (Great Britain) - The Ontario sank in a storm on 31 October 1780 while underway from Fort Niagara to Oswego. Approximately 130 men perished with ship,[22] comprising 60 British soldiers of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot, a crew of about 40 Canadians, and possibly up to 30 American prisoners of war. News of the Ontario's sinking was kept quiet for a number of years to hide the military loss.[23]
TSMS Lakonia (Greece) - Caught fire and burned in the Atlantic Ocean on 22 December 1963. A total of 128 people died in the Lakonia disaster, of which 95 were passengers and 33 were crew members. Only 53 people were killed in the actual fire. The rest died from exposure, drowning, and injuries sustained while diving overboard.
SS Daphne (Great Britain) - The SS Daphne capsized and sank moments after her naming and launching at a shipyard in Govan,Glasgow, Scotland, on 3 July 1883. When launched, the Daphne had a work crew aboard to continue fitting out the ship. Although 70 people were saved, an estimated 124-195 died, which included many young boys.
SS City of Rio de Janeiro - En route from Hong Kong, this passenger ship sank on 21 February 1901 after striking a submerged reef at the entry to San Francisco Bay, killing more than 135 passengers and crew.
SS Bokhara - Steamship that sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, off the coast of Formosa, killing 125 people.
SS Hilda - Steamship on a cross-Channel run that sank in 1905 with the loss of 125 lives.
Full rigged ship Dunbar - Wrecked near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia, in 1857 with the loss of 121 lives.
SS Yongala (Australia) - The Yongala sank off Cape Bowling Green, Australia, after steaming into a cyclone. There were no survivors of the 122 on board.
SS Mohegan - A steamer that sank off Cornwall after hitting a reef on 14 October 1898, with a loss of 106 lives and 40 rescued by shore-based lifeboat.
SS Gothenburg - A steamship that wrecked on the Barrier Reef off the north Queensland coast in a cyclone-strength storm off, killing between 98 and 112 persons with 22 survivors.
SS City of Columbus - Passenger steamer that ran aground on off Massachusetts in January 1884. Approximately 100 people froze or drowned, with only 29 saved by land-based rowboats and a revenue cutter.
USS Huron (United States) - On 23 November 1877, the Huron departed for a scientific cruise on the coast of Cuba. The Huron encountered heavy weather soon after departure and was wrecked shortly after 1 am on 24 November near Nags Head, North Carolina. For a time her crew worked in relatively little danger, attempting to free their ship but she soon heeled over, carrying 98 officers and men to their deaths.
Hans Hedtoft (Denmark) - The Hans Hedtoft Danish liner sailing from Greenland that struck an iceberg and sank on 30 January 1959. Besides the 40 crew members, there were a total of 55 passengers on board at the time. There were no survivors of the disaster. The Hans Hedtoft was on its maiden voyage and was said to be "unsinkable" due to its strong design.
SS Yarmouth Castle (Panama) - The Yarmouth Castle was a steamship whose loss in a disastrous fire in 1965 prompted new laws regarding safety at sea. 87 people went down with the ship, and 3 of the rescued passengers later died at hospitals, bringing the final death toll to 90.
SS Home (United States) - On 7 October 1837, the Home struck a sandbar off the New Jersey coast. Unaware of the extent of the damage, her captain proceeded on schedule to Charleston when she encountered the 1837 Racer's Storm. The Home started taking on water as she rounded Cape Hatteras and was put aground to ride out the developing storm. Before rescue operations could be effected the next day, the Home was torn to pieces by the surf and 90 lives were lost.
Metropolis (United States) - On 31 January 1878, the wooden steamer Metropolis sank off the North Carolina coast with 85 dying in the accident.[24]
HMAS Voyager (Australia) - On the evening of 10 February 1964, while undergoing post-refit exercises, the destroyer HMAS Voyager was rammed and sunk off Jervis Bay, New South Wales, by the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, which was also performing post-refit exercises.[25] 82 of the 314 personnel aboard Voyager were killed;[25] the largest loss of military life in Australia's peacetime history.
Currach Fishing Tragedy - On 11 February 1813, 200 currachs were fishing off Bruckless Bay, Donegal. The shoal of herring moved out to sea, followed by the fragile boats. A sudden storm capsized most of them. Over 80 fishermen drowned [26]
Alpena (United States) - The Alpena was a sidewheel steamer that capsized and sank on Lake Michigan in the "Big Blow" storm of 15 October 1880. An estimated 80 people lost their lives in the sinking.
SS Stella - English passenger ferry that wrecked on a submerged reef on 30 March 1899, with 78 people lost of the 190 passengers and crew on board.
SS Penguin (New Zealand) - On 12 February 1909, the inter-island ferry Penguin hit a rock near the entrance to Wellington Harbour, sinking then exploding when water entered her boiler room. Of the 105 people on board, 75 died.
HMS Affray - a British Amphion class submarine disappeared on 16 April 1951 during a training exercise in the English Channel, with the loss of all 75 lives. She was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea.
USS Frank E. Evans (United States) - In the early morning of 3 June 1969, while operating as a plane guard for the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne during the SEATO training exercise Sea Spirit, the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans crossed the bows of the carrier and was rammed and sunk.[27] Of the 273 aboard Evans, 74 died.[27] The handling of the inquiry into the collision was seen as detrimental to United States-Australia relations.[27]
STV Royston Grange (United Kingdom) - The British cargo liner Royston Grange was destroyed by fire after a collision with the petroleum tanker Tien Chee in the Rio de la Plata on 11 May 1972. There were no survivors from the 72 aboard.
HMS M1 - A British submarine that sank with all hands (69) on 12 November 1925 after being struck while submerged by the Swedish ship SS Vidar in the English Channel.
HMS Truculent - A British T class submarine that sank in the Thames Estuary on 12 January 1950 after colliding with the Swedish oil tanker Divina. A total of 64 people died, most in freezing cold mid-winter conditions after escaping the collision.
HMS K5 - A British K class submarine, lost with all hands (57) on 20 January 1921 when she sank en route to a mock battle in the Bay of Biscay.
Lucy Walker (United States) - On 23 October 1844, the sidewheel steamboat Lucy Walker was en route from Louisville, KY, to New Orleans, LA, when her three boilers exploded, the boat caught fire, and sank mid-stream of the Ohio River, about 4 miles below New Albany, IN. Pieces of boat and humanity fell on both the Indiana and Kentucky banks of the river. Since passenger and crew lists were lost, estimates of deaths range from 50 to 100 persons killed, with some 50 survivors. The boat may have been engaged in a race with another vessel, and the captain had driven the Lucy Walker's engines too hard.
SS Mackinac [United States] - late in the afternoon of 18 August 1925, the 162-foot excursion ship was passing by Naval Station Newport off Newport, Rhode Island, when its boiler exploded, killing 55 passengers. The ship was on a day cruise from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Newport, [Harbor] Rhode Island, in order for passengers to enjoy the sites and beaches of the City of Newport. The bulk of the injuries and deaths were due to burns and smoke or steam inhalation, and though some jumped overboard none died from drowning. Many boats came to the rescue, while the ship remained afloat. Over 600 passengers survived the melee, many without injury. The ship's skipper was Captain George W. McVey, also captain of the SS Larchmont Disaster, which occurred in an area less than 20 miles away, in 1907. [www3.gendisasters.com]
SS Andrea Doria (Italy) - On 25 July 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bound for New York City, the Andrea Doria collided with the eastward-bound MS Stockholm. 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died as a consequence of the collision. In what became one of history's most famous maritime disasters, the loss of the Andrea Doria generated great interest in the media and many lawsuits.
MV Derbyshire (United Kingdom) - Lost on 9 September 1980, south of Japan, during Typhoon Orchid. All aboard (42 crew and 2 spouses) perished. At 91,655 gross tons she was, and remains, the largest UK ship ever to have been lost at sea.
SS Islander (Canada) - On 15 August 1901, while sailing down the narrow Lynn Canal south of Juneau, the Islander struck what was reported to be an iceberg that stove a large hole in her forward port quarter. The Islander sank quickly, with 40 lives lost out of 172 on board.
Carl D. Bradley - Sank in Lake Michigan in a 18 November 1958 storm with the loss of life of 33 crewmen.
MV Demas Victory - a Dubai-based supply steamer capsized 10 nmi (12 mi; 19 km) off the coast of the Qatari capital city of Doha in rough seas on Tuesday, 30 June 2009, at 6:30am local time. The disaster resulted in over 30 missing.[28]
SS Edmund Fitzgerald (United States) - The Edmund Fitzgerald sank without warning during a Lake Superior gale on 10 November 1975 in 530 ft (160 m) of water. There were no survivors of her crew of 29.
Superior City - Sank in 1920 in Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior after a collision with the Willis L. King with the loss of 29 lives. The boiler exploded as the vessel sank.
SS Daniel J. Morrell (United States) - A Great Lakes freighter that broke up during a strong storm 29 November 1966 on Lake Huron. Of the 29 crewmen aboard, 28 were killed.
HMS Gladiator (Great Britain) - Sank off the Isle of Wight on 25 April 1908 with the loss of 27. The Gladiator was heading into port when she struck the outbound SS Saint Paul.
Charles K Buckley - Lumber schooner destroyed by high speed winds on 5 April 1914. Only 1 man of the crew of 8 survived.[29]
Finance - Outbound to Panama sank off Sandy Hook on 26 November 1910 after being rammed by White Star freighter Georgic with loss of 4 killed.[30]
Eleanor Lancaster - was wrecked in a gale on Oyster Bank, Newcastle, New South Wales, on 7 November 1856. She was on passage from Newcastle to Melbourne with 640 tons of coal, under the command of Capt. James McLean and with 15 crew. All crew were rescued by a Mr. Skelton, who rowed out to them three times from the shore. The event is described in the anonymous 19th century poem "The Perilous Gate".
RMS Empress of Ireland
General Slocum
MS Estonia
SS Admiral Nakhimov
SS Eastland
SS AlpenaMV Doña Paz (Philippines) - On 20 December 1987, the passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector. The resulting fire and sinking left an estimated 4,341 dead.[1][2] .
SS Kiangya (China) - The Kiangya was a passenger steamship which blew up and sank in the mouth of the Huangpu River 50 mi (80 km) south of Shanghai on 4 December 1948. The suspected cause of the explosion was the Kiangya hit a mine left behind by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The exact death toll is unknown, however, it is thought that between 2,750 and 3,920 died with 700-1,000 survivors being picked up by other vessels.
SS Mont-Blanc and the Halifax Explosion (Canada) - On 6 December 1917, the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the French cargo ship Mont-Blanc, which was fully loaded with wartime explosives, after a collision with the Norwegian ship Imo. The collision happened in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour. About 2000 people were killed by debris, fires or building collapse and over 9,000 people were injured.[3] This explosion is still ranked as the largest accidental explosion of conventional weapons to date.[4]
Le Joola (Senegal) - On 26 September 2002, the overloaded ferry Le Joola capsized in rough seas with an estimated death toll of more than 1,800.[5]
Tek Sing (China) A junk that struck a reef near Indonesia and sunk on 6 February 1822, leaving an estimated 1,600 dead.[6]
RMS Titanic (Great Britain) - A passenger liner and the world's largest ship at the time. On April 14, 1912, during its maiden voyage, the Titanic collided with an iceberg, buckling a part of the hull and mortally wounding the ship. In total, only 31.8% of the ship's 2,228 people survived, leaving 1,523 dead.[7] This disaster was the catalyst for major reforms in safety for the shipping industry and is arguably the most famous maritime disaster of all time, being the subject of countless media portrayals.[8]
The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 (England) - On the night of 22 October 1707, a Royal Navy fleet on their way from Gibraltar to Portsmouth sailed through dangerous reefs west of the Isles of Scilly. Four ships (HMS Association, HMS Eagle, HMS Romney and HMS Firebrand) sank. The exact number of sailors killed is unknown, statements vary between 1,400[9] and over 2,000.[10] It was later determined that the main cause of the disaster was the navigators' inability to accurately calculate their longitude.
Toya Maru (Japan) - A Japanese passenger ferry that sank during Typhoon Marie in the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Hokkaidō and Honshū on 26 September 1954. It is said that 1153 people aboard were killed in the accident. However, the exact number of fatalities remains unknown because there were victims who managed to get on board the ship unticketed and others who cancelled their passage just before the incident.
RMS Empress of Ireland (Canada) - On 29 May 1914, the Empress of Ireland sank after colliding with SS Storstad on the Saint Lawrence River claiming 1,012 lives.[11]
Al Salam Boccaccio 98 (Egypt) - On 3 February 2006, the ro-ro passenger ferry Al Salam Boccaccio 98 sank 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 at the time of the disaster. Only 388 persons were saved and over 1,000 were lost.[12]
SS General Slocum (United States) - The General Slocum caught fire and burned to the water line in New York's East River on 15 June 1904. More than 1,000 people died in the accident, making it New York City's worst loss-of-life disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks.[13]
SS Kiche Maru (Japan) - Sank during a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean on 22 September 1912. It is estimated that more than 1,000 persons lost their lives.[14]
SS Hong Moh (Singapore) - On 3 March 1921, the Hong Moh stuck the White Rocks on Lamock Island near Swatow (Shantou) on the southern coast of China. She broke in two and sank with the loss of about 1,000 lives out of the 1,100 aboard.
MS Estonia (Estonia) - The MS Estonia sank in rough water on 28 September 1994. An investigation claimed that the failure of the bow visor door allowed water from the Baltic Sea to enter the ship. The accident claimed almost 1000 lives. Only 137 survived.
SS Eastland (United States) - On 24 July 1915, while moored to the dock in the Chicago River, the capacity load of passengers shifted to the river side of the ship causing it to roll over, killing 845 passengers and crew.
HMS Vanguard - (UK) - Just before midnight on 9 July 1917 at Scapa Flow, HMS Vanguard suffered an explosion, probably caused by an unnoticed stokehold fire heating cordite stored against an adjacent bulkhead in one of the two magazines which served the amidships gun turrets "P" and "Q". She sank almost instantly, killing an estimated 843 men; there were only two survivors.
MV Bukoba (Tanzania) - The overloaded Bukoba sank on 21 May 1996 on Lake Victoria. While the ship's manifest showed 443 aboard, it is estimated that about 800 people died in the sinking.
HMS Bulwark (Great Britain) - On 26 November 1914, a powerful internal explosion ripped the Bulwark apart at 7:50am while she was moored at Number 17 buoy in Kethole Reach, 4 mi (6.4 km) west of Sheerness in the estuary of the River Medway. All of her officers were lost, and out of her complement of 750, only 14 sailors survived; 2 of these men subsequently died of their injuries in hospital.
SS Camorta (Great Britain) - The Camorta was caught in a cyclone and sank in the Irrawaddy Delta on 6 May 1902 with the loss of all 655 passengers and 82 crew. She was en route from Madras, India, to Rangoon, Burma, across the Bay of Bengal.
MV Princess of the Stars (Philippines) - On 21 June 2008, the ferry Princess of the Stars capsized and sank in Typhoon Fengshen off the coast of San Fernando, Romblon, in the Philippines. Of the estimated 747 people aboard, only 57 survived.
SS Mendi (Great Britain) - On 21 February 1917, the Mendi was transporting members of the 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps, to France. At 5:00am, while under escort of the destroyer HMS Brisk, the Mendi was struck and cut almost in half by the SS Darro. Of the 823 on board, 646 died in the disaster.
SS Norge (Denmark) - On 28 June 1904 the Norge ran aground close to Rockall on St. Helen's Reef. The final death toll was 635 with 160 survivors who spent up to eight days in open lifeboats before rescue.
Novorossiysk (Soviet Union) - On 29 October 1955, the Novorossiysk was moored in Sevastopol Bay, 300 meters (1000 feet) from shore and opposite a hospital. At 1:30am, an explosion of undetermined origin occurred. The Novorossiysk capsized and sank with the loss of 608 sailors.
Shamia (Bangladesh) - On 27 May 1986, the ferry Shamia capsized and sank during a storm on the Meghna River in southern Barisa, Bangladesh. An estimated 600 people lost their lives.
SS Princess Alice (Great Britain) - On 3 September 1878 the Princess Alice was making what was billed as a "Moonlight Trip" to Gravesend and back. The Bywell Castle collided with the Princess Alice off Tripcock Point. The Princess Alice broke in two and sank within four minutes with an estimated 600 people on board losing their lives.
SS Grandcamp (United States) - On 16 April 1947, the French registered ex-liberty ship caught fire and exploded dockside while being loaded with ammonium nitrate at Texas City, Texas. In what came to be called the Texas City Disaster an estimated 581 people, including 28 firefighters, were killed and 5,000 were injured.
SS La Bourgogne (France) - The passenger steamer La Bourgogne was sunk on 4 July 1898 after a collision in dense fog with the British ship Cromartyshire off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. At the time of the disaster she was carrying 730 passengers crew, of whom 565 were lost.[15]
Ertuğrul (Ottoman Empire) - Sank on 18 September 1890 after striking a reef during a typhoon off Kushimoto, Japan. The maritime accident resulted in the loss of 533 sailors including Admiral Ali Osman Pasha.
HMS Sussex (Great Britain) - The Sussex was lost in a severe storm on 1 March 1694 off Gibraltar. There were only 2 survivors out of a crew of 500.
SS Valbanera (Spain) - Sank in the Gulf of Mexico 45 mi (72 km) west of Key West, Florida during a hurricane in September 1919. All of the 488 crew and passengers aboard were killed.
HMS Captain (Great Britain) - On 7 September 1870, the Captain capsized and sank in high winds on the Atlantic Ocean. An estimated 480 sailors perished with 18 sailors surviving.
Cospatrick (Great Britain) - The Cospatrick caught fire south of the Cape of Good Hope on 17 November 1874 while on a voyage from Gravesend, England, to Auckland, New Zealand. Only 3 of 472 persons on board at the time ultimately survived.
MV Salahuddin-2 (Bangladesh) - On the night of 3 May 2002, the ferry Salahuddin-2 sunk in the Meghna River south of Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing more than 450 people.
SS Central America (United States) - Sank off the Carolinas during a hurricane on 9 September 1857. An estimated 425 out of 578 aboard perished.
SS Admiral Nakhimov (Soviet Union) - On 31 August 1986, Admiral Nakhimov collided with the large bulk carrier Pyotr Vasyov in the Tsemes Bay, near the port of Novorossiysk, Russian SFSR. In total, 423 of the 1,234 people on board died.
MV Nasrin-1 (Bangladesh) - At midnight on 8 July 2003, the passenger ferry Nasrin-1 capsized and sank in the Meghna River near Chandpur, Bangladesh, killing more than 400 people.
Spanish cruiser Reina Regente (1888) - sunk in a storm in 9 March 1895, with the loss of all 420 crewmen.
Cataraqui (Great Britain) - An emigrant ship bound for Australia, the Cataraqui struck a reef south-west of King Island, Tasmania, on 4 August 1845. The sinking is Australia's worst ever maritime civil disaster, claiming the lives of 400 people.
Lady Elgin (United States) - Sunk in a collision with the schooner Augusta of Oswego on Lake Michigan on 8 September 1860 with the loss of about 400 lives.
HMS Invincible (Great Britain) - On 16 March 1801, she was damaged in a storm and driven on a sandbar off the coast of Norfolk. The following day the Invincible drifted off the sandbar and sank in deep water. Over 400 sailors drowned in the disaster with 196 being saved.
RMS Tayleur (Great Britain) - In what would come to foreshadow the Titanic tragedy, the White Star Line clipper ship Tayleur grounded and sank during its maiden voyage. The accident happened off Lambay Island, Dublin Bay, on 21 January 1854. Out of the 652 people on board 380 lives were lost, many of them immigrants.
HMS Eurydice (Great Britain) - On 24 March 1878,[16] the training ship Eurydice was caught in a heavy snow storm off the Isle of Wight, capsized, and sank. Only 2 of the ship's 378 crew and trainees survived, most of those not carried down with the ship dying of exposure in the freezing waters.
HMS Victoria (Great Britain) - Accidentally rammed by the HMS Camperdown and sunk on 22 June 1893 during annual summer fleet exercises off Tripoli in Syria (now part of Lebanon). Out of a crew of 715 aboard the Victoria, 357 crew were rescued and 358 died.
HMS Athenienne (Great Britain) - On the evening of 20 October 1806, she ran aground on a submerged reef, the Esquirques, in the Strait of Sicily and sank. In all, 347 people died while 141 men and 2 women were rescued.
SS Princess Sophia (Canada) - The Princess Sophia ran aground during a storm on 23 October 1918. After rescue ships were unable to assist due to the ongoing storm, she sank on the night of 25 October. The only survivor found was a pet dog from one of the 343 aboard.
SS Schiller (Germany) - On 7 May 1875, the Schiller sank after hitting the Retarrier Ledges in the Isles of Scilly. Most of her crew and passengers were lost, totalling 335 fatalities.
SS Elbe (Germany) - Sank on 30 January 1895 after a collision with the steamship Crathie in the North Sea. One lifeboat with 20 people was recovered out of 354 that were on the ship.
Yoshino (Japan) - On 14 May 1904, the cruiser sank with loss of 319 lives after collusion. 19 survived.
Liberté - French battleship that suffered an accidental ammunition explosion in 1911, with about 300 people killed.
SS Pacific (United States) - On the evening of 4 November 1875, the Pacific was involved in a collision with the SS Orpheus off the coast of Cape Flattery, Washington. Both vessels continued on their course and the captain of the Orpheus later testified he was unaware of the collision. Only 2 people survived out of 300 on board.
Northfleet (Great Britain) - On the night of 22 January 1873, the Northfleet was at anchor about 2 or 3 miles (5 km) off Dungeness. Around 10.30 pm, she was run down by the steamer Murillo that backed off and disappeared into the darkness. In the ensuing panic a total of 293 people were drowned.
New Era (United States) - On 13 November 1854, the New Era sank after grounding in a storm at Deal Beach in New Jersey. Of the 427 aboard, an estimated 284 were killed.[17]
USS Maine (United States) - On 15 February 1898, while at anchor in the harbor at Havana, Cuba, an explosion of undetermined origin in the ship's magazine damaged and sank the ship. Of the 374 officers and men aboard, 266 died immediately, and another 8 died later from their injuries. The sinking of the Maine precipitated the Spanish-American War.
Great Lakes Storm of 1913 (United States) - A cyclonic blizzard (sometimes referred to as an inland hurricane) on the Great Lakes that occurred between 7 and 10 November 1913. In total 12 ships were sunk with a combined crew loss of 255. An additional 7 ships were damaged beyond repair and 19 more ships that had been stranded were later salvaged.
Powhatan (United States) - On 16 April 1854, the Powhatan sank off the coast of New Jersey in a severe storm with no survivors. The loss of life was estimated by various sources to be between 250 and 311 people.[18]
HMS Avenger (Great Britain) - The Avenger sailed from Gibraltar on 17 December 1847 bound for Malta. On 20 December she ran on to the Sorelle Rocks near Malta. Only 8 crew members out of 250 survived.
Neva (Great Britain) - The Neva was a convict ship that left Cork, Ireland, bound for Sydney, Australia. On 13 May 1835, the ship was wrecked on a reef near King Island, Tasmania. 224 lives, mainly women and children, were lost.
SS Waratah (Great Britain) - Around 27 July 1909, the 500 ft (150 m) steamer Waratah en route from Australia to London was lost without trace off Durban on the east-coast of South Africa. All 211 on board were lost. The disappearance of the ship remains one of the most baffling nautical mysteries of all time.
Iolaire (United Kingdom) - The Iolaire (Scottish Gaelic for "Eagle") was an Admiralty yacht that hit rocks and sank on the 1 January 1919 just off the island of Lewis, carrying soldiers coming home from World War I. At least 205 men perished of the 280 aboard.
SS Heraklion (Greece) - On 8 December 1966, while en route from the port of Souda to Piraeus in Athens, the RO-RO car ferry capsized and sank in the Aegean Sea. The sinking resulted in the deaths of over 200 people with 47 being saved. It was later determined that an unsecured vehicle had broken through the loading door, which allowed seawater to enter the ship.
Steamship Atlantic (United States) - Sank after a collision with the steamer Ogdensburg off Long Point on Lake Erie on 20 August 1852. It is estimated that between 150 and 200 people lost their lives of the more than 500 persons on board.[19][20]
MS Herald of Free Enterprise (Great Britain) - Capsized and sank on 6 March 1987 after taking on water just minutes after leaving the harbour at the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The doors to the car decks were left open by the Assistant Bosun, Mark Stanley, causing the ferry to take on water and quickly capsize. Of the 539 aboard, 193 passengers and crew killed.
SS Portland (United States) - On 26 November 1898, the steamship SS Portland left India Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, for Portland, Maine, on a regularly scheduled run. She never made it to port. None of the 192 passengers and crew survived the massive storm that wreaked havoc on New England's coast — a storm that was later dubbed "The Portland Gale" after the tragic loss of the ship.
SS Southern Cross (Canada) - Lost in a storm between 31 March and 3 April 1914. Believed to be in the vicinity of Cape Pine. The entire crew of 173 were lost in the sinking.
SS Florizel (Canada) - Sunk after striking a reef at Horn Head Point Cape Race near Cappahayden, Newfoundland, Canada, on 23 February 1918. The loss of the disaster was 173 people.
Shiun Maru (Japan) - Collided in dense fog with sister ship Uko Maru in the Seto Inland Sea and sank with the loss of 166 passengers and 2 crew members.
Madagascar - Full rigged ship disappeared without a trace in 1853 after sailing from Melbourne for London, with the loss of about 110 passengers and about 50 crew.
MS Scandinavian Star (Denmark) - caught fire in 1990 on route between Norway and Denmark with a loss of 157 lives.
MV Princess of the Orient (Philippines) - On 18 September 1998, the Princess of the Orient, while traveling from Manila to Cebu, sailed into Typhoon Vicky. She capsized at 12:55 pm near Fortune Island in Batangas. Of 388 passengers on board, an estimated 150 perished. Passengers floated at sea for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to reach survivors.
SS Larchmont (United States) - On 12 February 1907, paddlewheel steamship Larchmont sunk off Block Island, Rhode Island, after a collision with the schooner Harry Knowlton. An estimated 150 persons of the 200 on board were killed.[21]
MS Express Samina (Greece) - On 26 September 2000, the RO-RO ferry Express Samina hit a reef and sunk at 23:02 near the island of Paros. 143 people were lost at sea: 82 of the 473 passengers, plus 61 crew.
MV Cebu City (Philippines) - On 2 December 1994, the ferry Cebu City sunk in Manila Bay after colliding with Singaporean freighter Kota Suria. The accident claimed 140 lives.
Moby Prince (Italy) - On 10 April 1991, the ferry Moby Prince collided with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo in Livorno harbour and caught fire, killing 140 people.
SS Wairarapa (New Zealand) - On 29 October 1894, the steamship Wairarapa, en route from Sydney to Auckland, ran into Great Barrier Island. She was traveling at nearly full speed through heavy fog. Approximately 140 out of 230 people on board lost their lives.
SS Noronic (Canada) - Caught fire dockside at Toronto Harbour on 16 September 1949. Estimates ranged from 118 to 139 deaths. Most of the deaths were from suffocation or burns. However, some died from being trampled or from leaping off the upper decks onto the pier; only one person drowned in the disaster.
SS Koombana - A coastal passenger and cargo steamship in Western Australia which sank at an unknown location during a cyclone on 20 March 1912 with the loss of approximately 138 lives, including 20 crew. Other than some floating wreckage, no trace was ever found of the ship.
SS Morro Castle (United States) - In the early morning hours of 8 September 1934, while en route from Havana to New York, the Morro Castle caught fire and burned, killing a total of 137 passengers and crew members out of 549 on board. The ship was beached near Asbury Park, New Jersey, and remained there for several months until she was eventually towed away and sold for scrap.
SS Kuru (Finland) - A steamship that sank after capsizing in high winds on 7 September 1929 in Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere, Finland. It estimated that between 136 and 138 people lost their lives.
SS Valencia (United States) - Shortly before midnight on 22 January 1906, she struck a reef near Pachena Point on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island and sunk. Estimates of the number of lives lost in the disaster vary widely, with some sources listing it at 117 while others claim it was as high as 181; according to the federal report, the official death toll was 136 persons. Only 37 men survived, but every woman and child on the Valencia died in the disaster.
RMS Quetta - A British India Line merchant ship, on a regular route between England, India, and the Far East. Wrecked on the Far North Queensland coast on 28 February 1890. Of the 292 people aboard, 134 perished.
MV Princess Victoria (United Kingdom) - Sank on 31 January 1953 in the North Channel during a severe storm with the loss of 133 lives. The sinking of the Princess Victoria was the deadliest maritime disaster in United Kingdom waters since World War II.
HMS Ontario (Great Britain) - The Ontario sank in a storm on 31 October 1780 while underway from Fort Niagara to Oswego. Approximately 130 men perished with ship,[22] comprising 60 British soldiers of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot, a crew of about 40 Canadians, and possibly up to 30 American prisoners of war. News of the Ontario's sinking was kept quiet for a number of years to hide the military loss.[23]
TSMS Lakonia (Greece) - Caught fire and burned in the Atlantic Ocean on 22 December 1963. A total of 128 people died in the Lakonia disaster, of which 95 were passengers and 33 were crew members. Only 53 people were killed in the actual fire. The rest died from exposure, drowning, and injuries sustained while diving overboard.
SS Daphne (Great Britain) - The SS Daphne capsized and sank moments after her naming and launching at a shipyard in Govan,Glasgow, Scotland, on 3 July 1883. When launched, the Daphne had a work crew aboard to continue fitting out the ship. Although 70 people were saved, an estimated 124-195 died, which included many young boys.
SS City of Rio de Janeiro - En route from Hong Kong, this passenger ship sank on 21 February 1901 after striking a submerged reef at the entry to San Francisco Bay, killing more than 135 passengers and crew.
SS Bokhara - Steamship that sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, off the coast of Formosa, killing 125 people.
SS Hilda - Steamship on a cross-Channel run that sank in 1905 with the loss of 125 lives.
Full rigged ship Dunbar - Wrecked near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia, in 1857 with the loss of 121 lives.
SS Yongala (Australia) - The Yongala sank off Cape Bowling Green, Australia, after steaming into a cyclone. There were no survivors of the 122 on board.
SS Mohegan - A steamer that sank off Cornwall after hitting a reef on 14 October 1898, with a loss of 106 lives and 40 rescued by shore-based lifeboat.
SS Gothenburg - A steamship that wrecked on the Barrier Reef off the north Queensland coast in a cyclone-strength storm off, killing between 98 and 112 persons with 22 survivors.
SS City of Columbus - Passenger steamer that ran aground on off Massachusetts in January 1884. Approximately 100 people froze or drowned, with only 29 saved by land-based rowboats and a revenue cutter.
USS Huron (United States) - On 23 November 1877, the Huron departed for a scientific cruise on the coast of Cuba. The Huron encountered heavy weather soon after departure and was wrecked shortly after 1 am on 24 November near Nags Head, North Carolina. For a time her crew worked in relatively little danger, attempting to free their ship but she soon heeled over, carrying 98 officers and men to their deaths.
Hans Hedtoft (Denmark) - The Hans Hedtoft Danish liner sailing from Greenland that struck an iceberg and sank on 30 January 1959. Besides the 40 crew members, there were a total of 55 passengers on board at the time. There were no survivors of the disaster. The Hans Hedtoft was on its maiden voyage and was said to be "unsinkable" due to its strong design.
SS Yarmouth Castle (Panama) - The Yarmouth Castle was a steamship whose loss in a disastrous fire in 1965 prompted new laws regarding safety at sea. 87 people went down with the ship, and 3 of the rescued passengers later died at hospitals, bringing the final death toll to 90.
SS Home (United States) - On 7 October 1837, the Home struck a sandbar off the New Jersey coast. Unaware of the extent of the damage, her captain proceeded on schedule to Charleston when she encountered the 1837 Racer's Storm. The Home started taking on water as she rounded Cape Hatteras and was put aground to ride out the developing storm. Before rescue operations could be effected the next day, the Home was torn to pieces by the surf and 90 lives were lost.
Metropolis (United States) - On 31 January 1878, the wooden steamer Metropolis sank off the North Carolina coast with 85 dying in the accident.[24]
HMAS Voyager (Australia) - On the evening of 10 February 1964, while undergoing post-refit exercises, the destroyer HMAS Voyager was rammed and sunk off Jervis Bay, New South Wales, by the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, which was also performing post-refit exercises.[25] 82 of the 314 personnel aboard Voyager were killed;[25] the largest loss of military life in Australia's peacetime history.
Currach Fishing Tragedy - On 11 February 1813, 200 currachs were fishing off Bruckless Bay, Donegal. The shoal of herring moved out to sea, followed by the fragile boats. A sudden storm capsized most of them. Over 80 fishermen drowned [26]
Alpena (United States) - The Alpena was a sidewheel steamer that capsized and sank on Lake Michigan in the "Big Blow" storm of 15 October 1880. An estimated 80 people lost their lives in the sinking.
SS Stella - English passenger ferry that wrecked on a submerged reef on 30 March 1899, with 78 people lost of the 190 passengers and crew on board.
SS Penguin (New Zealand) - On 12 February 1909, the inter-island ferry Penguin hit a rock near the entrance to Wellington Harbour, sinking then exploding when water entered her boiler room. Of the 105 people on board, 75 died.
HMS Affray - a British Amphion class submarine disappeared on 16 April 1951 during a training exercise in the English Channel, with the loss of all 75 lives. She was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea.
USS Frank E. Evans (United States) - In the early morning of 3 June 1969, while operating as a plane guard for the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne during the SEATO training exercise Sea Spirit, the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans crossed the bows of the carrier and was rammed and sunk.[27] Of the 273 aboard Evans, 74 died.[27] The handling of the inquiry into the collision was seen as detrimental to United States-Australia relations.[27]
STV Royston Grange (United Kingdom) - The British cargo liner Royston Grange was destroyed by fire after a collision with the petroleum tanker Tien Chee in the Rio de la Plata on 11 May 1972. There were no survivors from the 72 aboard.
HMS M1 - A British submarine that sank with all hands (69) on 12 November 1925 after being struck while submerged by the Swedish ship SS Vidar in the English Channel.
HMS Truculent - A British T class submarine that sank in the Thames Estuary on 12 January 1950 after colliding with the Swedish oil tanker Divina. A total of 64 people died, most in freezing cold mid-winter conditions after escaping the collision.
HMS K5 - A British K class submarine, lost with all hands (57) on 20 January 1921 when she sank en route to a mock battle in the Bay of Biscay.
Lucy Walker (United States) - On 23 October 1844, the sidewheel steamboat Lucy Walker was en route from Louisville, KY, to New Orleans, LA, when her three boilers exploded, the boat caught fire, and sank mid-stream of the Ohio River, about 4 miles below New Albany, IN. Pieces of boat and humanity fell on both the Indiana and Kentucky banks of the river. Since passenger and crew lists were lost, estimates of deaths range from 50 to 100 persons killed, with some 50 survivors. The boat may have been engaged in a race with another vessel, and the captain had driven the Lucy Walker's engines too hard.
SS Mackinac [United States] - late in the afternoon of 18 August 1925, the 162-foot excursion ship was passing by Naval Station Newport off Newport, Rhode Island, when its boiler exploded, killing 55 passengers. The ship was on a day cruise from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Newport, [Harbor] Rhode Island, in order for passengers to enjoy the sites and beaches of the City of Newport. The bulk of the injuries and deaths were due to burns and smoke or steam inhalation, and though some jumped overboard none died from drowning. Many boats came to the rescue, while the ship remained afloat. Over 600 passengers survived the melee, many without injury. The ship's skipper was Captain George W. McVey, also captain of the SS Larchmont Disaster, which occurred in an area less than 20 miles away, in 1907. [www3.gendisasters.com]
SS Andrea Doria (Italy) - On 25 July 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bound for New York City, the Andrea Doria collided with the eastward-bound MS Stockholm. 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died as a consequence of the collision. In what became one of history's most famous maritime disasters, the loss of the Andrea Doria generated great interest in the media and many lawsuits.
MV Derbyshire (United Kingdom) - Lost on 9 September 1980, south of Japan, during Typhoon Orchid. All aboard (42 crew and 2 spouses) perished. At 91,655 gross tons she was, and remains, the largest UK ship ever to have been lost at sea.
SS Islander (Canada) - On 15 August 1901, while sailing down the narrow Lynn Canal south of Juneau, the Islander struck what was reported to be an iceberg that stove a large hole in her forward port quarter. The Islander sank quickly, with 40 lives lost out of 172 on board.
Carl D. Bradley - Sank in Lake Michigan in a 18 November 1958 storm with the loss of life of 33 crewmen.
MV Demas Victory - a Dubai-based supply steamer capsized 10 nmi (12 mi; 19 km) off the coast of the Qatari capital city of Doha in rough seas on Tuesday, 30 June 2009, at 6:30am local time. The disaster resulted in over 30 missing.[28]
SS Edmund Fitzgerald (United States) - The Edmund Fitzgerald sank without warning during a Lake Superior gale on 10 November 1975 in 530 ft (160 m) of water. There were no survivors of her crew of 29.
Superior City - Sank in 1920 in Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior after a collision with the Willis L. King with the loss of 29 lives. The boiler exploded as the vessel sank.
SS Daniel J. Morrell (United States) - A Great Lakes freighter that broke up during a strong storm 29 November 1966 on Lake Huron. Of the 29 crewmen aboard, 28 were killed.
HMS Gladiator (Great Britain) - Sank off the Isle of Wight on 25 April 1908 with the loss of 27. The Gladiator was heading into port when she struck the outbound SS Saint Paul.
Charles K Buckley - Lumber schooner destroyed by high speed winds on 5 April 1914. Only 1 man of the crew of 8 survived.[29]
Finance - Outbound to Panama sank off Sandy Hook on 26 November 1910 after being rammed by White Star freighter Georgic with loss of 4 killed.[30]
Eleanor Lancaster - was wrecked in a gale on Oyster Bank, Newcastle, New South Wales, on 7 November 1856. She was on passage from Newcastle to Melbourne with 640 tons of coal, under the command of Capt. James McLean and with 15 crew. All crew were rescued by a Mr. Skelton, who rowed out to them three times from the shore. The event is described in the anonymous 19th century poem "The Perilous Gate".
1786, The Halsewell
On January 1, 1786, The Halsewell, a merchant ship just returning from a voyage to Madras, India, took on a full compliment of accomplished seamen, a company of soldiers, and passengers— including the family of the Captain and other crew members. This was to be the last leg of the ship’s third voyage and also the end of Commander Richard Pierce’s career, as he was set to retire.
Setting off for London, the ship was caught in a heavy gale for four days and finally forced onto cliffs on the south coast of England at Dorsetshire.
The shipwreck took place on January 6, 1786 before daybreak. At this point, much of the crew had all but given up and were hiding below decks. The ship ran aground against high, treacherous cliffs that ripped the vessel nearly in half. It was here that many of the stronger men were able to escape by swimming a short distance to a small cave. However, many of those that attempted this feat were swept away by the sea or simply pounded to death against the sharp rocks. The women and Captain were not so lucky, before all on board realized that this perilous escape was an option, the battered ship capsized and sank. According to the account given in “Remarkable Shipwrecks,” Captain Pierce died clutching his daughters to him.
All but 74 of the more than 240 crew and passengers died, including the Captain’s two daughters and two other women relatives, and the wives and daughters of friends and fellow officers.
The loss and the sufferings of the survivors stunned the whole nation. King George III and several members of the Royal Family traveled to the coast to see the site of the catastrophe. A memorial poem, written in 1786 by an unknown author, titled “Monody on the Death of Captain Pierce,” lamented the tragic loss of life on The Halsewell and further fueled the grief and interest of the nation. Years later, the novelist Charles Dickens wrote “The Long Voyage,” a short story that tells the dramatic tale of the ship’s sinking.
Setting off for London, the ship was caught in a heavy gale for four days and finally forced onto cliffs on the south coast of England at Dorsetshire.
The shipwreck took place on January 6, 1786 before daybreak. At this point, much of the crew had all but given up and were hiding below decks. The ship ran aground against high, treacherous cliffs that ripped the vessel nearly in half. It was here that many of the stronger men were able to escape by swimming a short distance to a small cave. However, many of those that attempted this feat were swept away by the sea or simply pounded to death against the sharp rocks. The women and Captain were not so lucky, before all on board realized that this perilous escape was an option, the battered ship capsized and sank. According to the account given in “Remarkable Shipwrecks,” Captain Pierce died clutching his daughters to him.
All but 74 of the more than 240 crew and passengers died, including the Captain’s two daughters and two other women relatives, and the wives and daughters of friends and fellow officers.
The loss and the sufferings of the survivors stunned the whole nation. King George III and several members of the Royal Family traveled to the coast to see the site of the catastrophe. A memorial poem, written in 1786 by an unknown author, titled “Monody on the Death of Captain Pierce,” lamented the tragic loss of life on The Halsewell and further fueled the grief and interest of the nation. Years later, the novelist Charles Dickens wrote “The Long Voyage,” a short story that tells the dramatic tale of the ship’s sinking.
History's Little-Known Naval Disasters
Comparing the Titanic Sinking
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.
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.
miércoles, 18 de agosto de 2010
TRINIDAD Y TOBAGO: patrolboats hit drug dealers
Drug dealers are finding it difficult to source their supply of marijuana because of the intensified border patrols instituted by T&T, says Prime Minister Patrick Manning. “I spoke to a man on Sunday morning and he told me marijuana hard to come by and they ascribed that to those boats,” Manning told a cottage meeting in Princes Town on Monday, in reference to Saturday’s launch of six-fast patrol vessels. He lauded the results of this country’s crime-fighting arsenal, but said the rest of the region remained vulnerable to drug traffickers.
To this end, Manning pledged to make Trinidad and Tobago the guardian of the Caribbean to protect the region’s borders from drug traders. After a walkabout in the Princes Town North constituency, Manning told the cottage meeting at St Michael’s Anglican Primary School: “T&T must be our brother’s keeper.” Manning said the Government would be installing radar sites, similar to those established here, in Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia. “I expect that as we build ‘Fortress Trinidad and Tobago,’ they (drug dealers) are going to move on… and what my fear has been for a long time is that they will move from T&T to countries in the region that are much more vulnerable than T&T,” he said
To this end, Manning pledged to make Trinidad and Tobago the guardian of the Caribbean to protect the region’s borders from drug traders. After a walkabout in the Princes Town North constituency, Manning told the cottage meeting at St Michael’s Anglican Primary School: “T&T must be our brother’s keeper.” Manning said the Government would be installing radar sites, similar to those established here, in Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia. “I expect that as we build ‘Fortress Trinidad and Tobago,’ they (drug dealers) are going to move on… and what my fear has been for a long time is that they will move from T&T to countries in the region that are much more vulnerable than T&T,” he said
Italy: Xenophobic immigration policy leads to hundreds of deaths in the Mediterranean
A further 73 African refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea as they attempted to sail from Libya to Italy. According to the UN refugee aid organization, 525 boat refugees died at sea in 2008 and several hundred have already drowned this year.
Only five refugees from Eritrea—two young men, two boys and a young woman—survived their recent odyssey in a small boat. Their journey took 20 days, one of the survivors reported. A spokesman for the Maltese navy told CNRmedia.com that a German Frontex helicopter had detected seven corpses in Libyan waters thought to have come from the boat.
On Thursday the five exhausted and weakened Eritreans landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa. “We are the only survivors,” they said. The rest of the refugees had died along the way, and their corpses had been thrown into the sea. Several ships had crossed their path, but none of them made any attempt to help. A patrol boat went so far as to give them fuel and rescue vests, but “then they headed off again and left us behind despite our condition.”
A UNHCR spokesman reported that a fishing boat had also given the refugees bread and water but had them left them to their fate.
Such indifference on the part of ships in the Mediterranean is a new development. It completely contradicts the maritime obligation to save those in emergency. This indifference is encouraged by the policy of the Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, which does not permit refugees to land in Italy. It has led a contemptible months-long campaign against African refugees and is quite prepared to accept the deadly consequences.
In accordance with an agreement between Italy and Libya, the Libyan coast and the Straits of Sicily are systematically searched by patrol boats. When refugees are intercepted they are returned directly to Africa. They are not even allowed to set foot on Italian soil to make a request for asylum.
The latest disaster in the Mediterranean led to a heated political exchange. The Catholic newspaper Avvenire criticized the government’s immigration policy. It accused the West of “closing its eyes” to the problem and compared the tragic fate of the boat people in the Mediterranean to the Shoah.
Only five refugees from Eritrea—two young men, two boys and a young woman—survived their recent odyssey in a small boat. Their journey took 20 days, one of the survivors reported. A spokesman for the Maltese navy told CNRmedia.com that a German Frontex helicopter had detected seven corpses in Libyan waters thought to have come from the boat.
On Thursday the five exhausted and weakened Eritreans landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa. “We are the only survivors,” they said. The rest of the refugees had died along the way, and their corpses had been thrown into the sea. Several ships had crossed their path, but none of them made any attempt to help. A patrol boat went so far as to give them fuel and rescue vests, but “then they headed off again and left us behind despite our condition.”
A UNHCR spokesman reported that a fishing boat had also given the refugees bread and water but had them left them to their fate.
Such indifference on the part of ships in the Mediterranean is a new development. It completely contradicts the maritime obligation to save those in emergency. This indifference is encouraged by the policy of the Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, which does not permit refugees to land in Italy. It has led a contemptible months-long campaign against African refugees and is quite prepared to accept the deadly consequences.
In accordance with an agreement between Italy and Libya, the Libyan coast and the Straits of Sicily are systematically searched by patrol boats. When refugees are intercepted they are returned directly to Africa. They are not even allowed to set foot on Italian soil to make a request for asylum.
The latest disaster in the Mediterranean led to a heated political exchange. The Catholic newspaper Avvenire criticized the government’s immigration policy. It accused the West of “closing its eyes” to the problem and compared the tragic fate of the boat people in the Mediterranean to the Shoah.
Gaza Relief Boat Damaged in Encounter with Israeli Naval Vessel
An Israeli navel vessel rammed a boat carrying medical volunteers, relief supplies and journalists to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel denies intentionally hitting it, although The Dignity's crew insists they did.
The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no priror warning. Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio saying they struck the boat because they believed it to be involved in terrorist activities.
The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally, Penhaul said, but Palmor called those allegations "absurd."
"There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody," Palmor said.
"I would call it ramming. Let's just call it as it is," McKinney said. "Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side. Watch Cynthia McKinney discuss the collision »
"Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis - the aggressiveness of the Israeli military," said McKinney.
The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza. Israel controls the waters off Gaza's coast and routinely blocks ships from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza, which has restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies.
The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no priror warning. Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio saying they struck the boat because they believed it to be involved in terrorist activities.
The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally, Penhaul said, but Palmor called those allegations "absurd."
"There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody," Palmor said.
"I would call it ramming. Let's just call it as it is," McKinney said. "Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side. Watch Cynthia McKinney discuss the collision »
"Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis - the aggressiveness of the Israeli military," said McKinney.
The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza. Israel controls the waters off Gaza's coast and routinely blocks ships from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza, which has restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies.
Navy ship sinks in West Sea after explosion
A Navy patrol boat with 104 crew members on board sank near the western maritime border with North Korea after an explosion on Friday, the Joint Chief of Staff said.
The 1,200-ton Cheonan began to sink around 9:45 p.m. off Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea. There was an explosion in the rear of the ship, Lee Ki-shik, a senior intelligence operation official of the JCS said.
President Lee Myung-bak called an emergency security ministers’ meeting at 10 p.m.
Fifty-eight sailors had been rescued, the JCS official said.
The disputed border was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
The JCS said there was a possibility that the explosion was caused by an attack from North Korea or the boat’s own explosives.
“We do not know the cause of the incident, so we cannot clearly say the sinking was caused by North Korea,” Rear Admiral Lee told reporters.
A South Korean vessel fired warning shots toward the North around the time of the incident after its radar detected a suspicious object, he said. It was believed to be a flock of birds, he added.
Earlier in the day, North Korean forces conducted artillery firing drills in the area, according to military sources.
North Korea`s military also threatened South Korea and the United States with “unprecedented nuclear strikes" in response to a report that the two countries preparing for a contigency in the communist regime.
Immediately after the incident, the Navy sent helicopters and ships to the scene to rescue the crew of the Cheonan.
The JCS said there were no unusual military movements on the North Korean side.
President Lee ordered the military to focus efforts on rescuing the sailors.
"President Lee ordered the military to do its best to rescue the soldiers," the president was quoted as saying during the three-hour emergency meeting by presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
"For now, it is not certain whether North Korea is related" to the incident, she added.
The president will convene the meeting again in the morning, she said.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, Senior Presidential Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Security Kim Sung-hwan, National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon and other top officials attended the meeting.
The incident occurred near the Northern Limit Line, a disputed maritime border off the west coast.
North Korea which does not recognize the NLL and has been taking measures aimed at nullifying the de-facto maritime border drawn up by the U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In June 1999, at least 17 South Korean and tens of North Korean sailors were killed in a naval firefight in the western sea border. In June 2002, six South Korean sailors and an estimated 13 North Koreans were killed in a clash and one South Korean frigate sank.
Last November, the navies of the two sides exchanged fire in the area. A North Korean patrol boat had retreated in flames but its casualties were unknown. No South Koreans were hurt.
The 1,200-ton Cheonan began to sink around 9:45 p.m. off Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea. There was an explosion in the rear of the ship, Lee Ki-shik, a senior intelligence operation official of the JCS said.
President Lee Myung-bak called an emergency security ministers’ meeting at 10 p.m.
Fifty-eight sailors had been rescued, the JCS official said.
The disputed border was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
The JCS said there was a possibility that the explosion was caused by an attack from North Korea or the boat’s own explosives.
“We do not know the cause of the incident, so we cannot clearly say the sinking was caused by North Korea,” Rear Admiral Lee told reporters.
A South Korean vessel fired warning shots toward the North around the time of the incident after its radar detected a suspicious object, he said. It was believed to be a flock of birds, he added.
Earlier in the day, North Korean forces conducted artillery firing drills in the area, according to military sources.
North Korea`s military also threatened South Korea and the United States with “unprecedented nuclear strikes" in response to a report that the two countries preparing for a contigency in the communist regime.
Immediately after the incident, the Navy sent helicopters and ships to the scene to rescue the crew of the Cheonan.
The JCS said there were no unusual military movements on the North Korean side.
President Lee ordered the military to focus efforts on rescuing the sailors.
"President Lee ordered the military to do its best to rescue the soldiers," the president was quoted as saying during the three-hour emergency meeting by presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
"For now, it is not certain whether North Korea is related" to the incident, she added.
The president will convene the meeting again in the morning, she said.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, Senior Presidential Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Security Kim Sung-hwan, National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon and other top officials attended the meeting.
The incident occurred near the Northern Limit Line, a disputed maritime border off the west coast.
North Korea which does not recognize the NLL and has been taking measures aimed at nullifying the de-facto maritime border drawn up by the U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In June 1999, at least 17 South Korean and tens of North Korean sailors were killed in a naval firefight in the western sea border. In June 2002, six South Korean sailors and an estimated 13 North Koreans were killed in a clash and one South Korean frigate sank.
Last November, the navies of the two sides exchanged fire in the area. A North Korean patrol boat had retreated in flames but its casualties were unknown. No South Koreans were hurt.
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