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.