List of maritime disasters in the 20th century

Titanic

A maritime disaster is a disaster that occurs at sea, usually involving a ship which sinks or is lost in storms. Because of the nature of maritime travel, there is often a large loss of life.

Notable disasters

The sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 is one of the most famous shipwrecks that many feel had the highest loss of life that has ever been recorded. It may surprise many to learn that there has been many other shipwrecks and disasters that have resulted in a loss of life that has exceeded the approximate 1,500 lost aboard the Titanic. The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff during World War II, for example, with an estimated loss of around 9,300 people in 1945 remains the greatest maritime disaster ever.

Peacetime disasters

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Doña Paz

• Doña Paz (Philipines) On 20th December 1987 the Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector. The resulting fire and sinking left an estimated 4,386 dead.

• SS Kiangya (China) The Kiangya was a passenger steamship which blew up and sank in the mouth of the Huangpu River fifty miles 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 to 1,000 survivors being picked up by other vessels.

• Le Joola (Senegal) On 26th September 2002 the overloaded ferry Le Joola capsized in rough seas with an estimated 1,863 dead.

• Tek Sing (China) A Junk that struck a reef near Indonesia and sunk on 6 February 1822 leaving an estimated 1,600 dead.

• Toya Maru (Japan) A Japanese passenger ferry that sank during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait between the Japanese islands of Hokkaidō and Honshū on September 26, 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 ride the ship and those who cancelled their rides just before the incident.

• 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 1,020 were lost.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 (Germany) on 28 September, 1994 in the Baltic Sea claimed 852 lives.

• 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.

• MV Bukoba (Tanzania) The overloaded Bukoba sank May 21, 1996 on Lake Victoria. While the ships manifest showed 443 aboard, it is estimated that about 800 people died in the sinking.

• SS Camorta (Great Britian) 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Ertuğrul (Ottoman Empire) Sank 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 Britian) The Sussex was lost in a severe storm on 1 March 1694 off Gibraltar. There were only two survivors out of a crew of 500.

• SS Valbanera (Spain) Sank in the Gulf of Mexico 45 miles west of Key West, Florida during a hurricane September 1919. All of the 488 crew and passengers aboard were killed.

• HMS Captain (Great Britian) 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.

• MV Salahuddin-2 (Bangladesh) On the night of May 3, 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 August 31, 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.

• The 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 incident, claiming the lives of 400 people.

• MV Nasrin-1 (Bangladesh) At midnight on July 8, 2003 the passenger ferry Nasrin-1 capsized and sank in the Meghna River near Chandpur, Bangladesh killing more than 400 people.

• Lady Elgin (United States) - Sunk in a collision with schooner Augusta of Oswego on Lake Michigan 8 September, 1860 with the loss of about 400 lives.

• HMS Invincible (Great Britian) On 16 March 1801 she was damaged in a storm and diven on a sandbar off the Norfolk Coast. The following day the Invincible drifted off the sandbar and sank in deep water. Over 400 of sailors drowned in the disaster with 196 being saved.

• RMS Tayleur the "first Titanic." A White Star Line clipper sank on its maiden voyage off Lambay Island, Dublin Bay on 21 January 1854. 380 died.

• HMS Victoria (Great Britian) 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.

• 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.

• HMS Athenienne (Great Britian) 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 two women were rescued

• USS Maine (United States) On 15 February 1898, while at anchor in the harbor at Havana, Cuba, an explosion of undetermined origin in the ships magazine damaged and sank the ship. Of the three hundred seventy-four officers and men aboard, two hundred sixty-six died immediately and another eight 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. Seven more ships were damaged beyond repair and an additional 19 ships that had been stranded were later salvaged.

• HMS Avenger (Great Britian) 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.

• Iolaire

• SS Heraklion (Greece) On 8 December 1966, while enroute from the port of Souda to Piraeus in Athens, the 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 20 August 1852. It is estimated that between 150 and 200 people lost their lives of the more than 500 persons onboard.

• MS Herald of Free Enterprise (Great Britian) Capsized and sank on the 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 capsise. Of the 539 aboard, 193 passengers and crew killed.

• 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.

• MV Princess of the Orient (Philipines) On September 18, 1998 the Princess of the Orient, while traveling from Manila to Cebu, sailed into a typhoon. She capsized at 12:55 p.m. near Fortune Island in Batangas. Of 388 passengers on board an estimated 150 perished. Passengers were floating at sea for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to reach survivors

• MS Express Samina (Greece) On Tuesday 26 September 2000 the ro-ro ferry Express Samina hit a reef and sunk at 23:02 near the island of Paros. Eighty-two of the 473 passengers and 61 crew members a total 143 people were lost at sea.

• MV Cebu City (Philipines) On December 2, 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 April 10, 1991 the ferry Moby Prince collided with the oil tanker Agip Abruzzo in Livorno harbour and caught fire killing 140 people.

• 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 Daphne (Great Britian) 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. Seventy lives were saved, however, an estimated 124 to 195 died which included many young boys.

• 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.

• SS Kuru (Finland) Was a steamship which sank after capsizing in high winds on 7 September 1929 in Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere, Finland. It estimated that between 136 to 138 people lost their lives.

• 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_Yongala

• 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.

• 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

• STV_Royston_Grange

Wartime disasters

As one would expect, disasters with high losses of life occur during times of armed conflict. Below are some of the known disasters with major losses.

• 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.

• 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 leaving an estimated 1,800 dead and 500 injured.

• 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.

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

• 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 were lost.

• HMS Revenge (Great Britian) 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.

World War II

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

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

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

• Cap Arcona (Germany) On 3rd 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.

• Thielbek, sunk by British planes on 3 May 1945

• AHS Centaur - An Australian hospital ship sunk by a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 persons on board at the time of the sinking, only 64 survivors were rescued.

• 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.

Ships sunk in wartime that were current or former passenger ships

Wilhelm Gustloff

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The Arandora Star

The sinking of the Cap Arcona

90th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Leinster

During World War I

• RMS Leinster, sunk by UB-123 on 10 October 1918, 514 died - just a month before the end of the Great War
• RMS Lusitania, sunk by U-20 on 7 May 1915, 1,198 died.

During World War II

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

• Cap Arcona, sunk by British planes on 3 May 1945

• 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.

• Iosif Stalin

• Deutschland, sunk by British planes on 3 May 1945

• 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

• Lancastria, sunk by the Germans in June 1940, estimated over 4,000 deaths {1,738 known dead}

• Laconia, sunk by the Germans in September 1942 during the Laconia Incident, giving rise to the Laconia Order

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

• SS City of Benares (Great Britian) The City of Benares was sunk by U-48 on 17 September, 1940. Two hundred and sixty people out of four hundred and seven were lost including seventy-seven children of the Children's Overseas Reception Board (CORB) program. The loss of the ship caused the CORB program to be immediately cancelled.

• Arandora Star (Great Britian) On July 2, 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 lost.

• SS_Leopoldville

• HMS Rawalpindi (Great Britian) While on patrol, the Rawalpindi encountered two German warships and was sunk on 23 November 1939. Two hundred and thirty eight men died out of a crew of two hundred seventy-six.

• 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.

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.

During World War I

• HMS 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 Britian) 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 Britian) 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.

• HMS Goliath (Great Britian) 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.

• 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.

• HMS Irresistible (Great Britian) 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.

During World War II

HMAS Sydney with her 645 crew

• Bretagne (France), a 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 three British warships Hood, Valiant and Resolution with a loss of 977 men.

• HMS Hood (Great Britain) on 24 May 1941, while engaged in combat with the German battleship Bismark the Royal Navy battlecruiser Hood was hit, exploded and sank. Of the 1,418 crewmen aboard three survived.

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

• HMAS Sydney (Australia), a light cruiser was sunk, presumably by the German ship Kormoran on 19 November 1941 with the loss of all 645 sailors on board, making it the greatest loss of life with all hands lost by allied shipping during World War II.

• USS Arizona (USA) on 7 December 1941. While docked in Pearl Harbor, the battleship was attacked by Japanese torpedo and dive bombers. 1,177 crewmen were lost out of a complement of 1,400. The wreck was not salvaged, and continues to lie at the floor of the harbor where she remains a memorial to all those who perished on that day.

• HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse (Great Britain). On 10 December 1941 just 3 days after Pearl Harbor, these two great ships as part of Force Z sent to intercept Japanese landings in Malaya were sunk by Japanese bombers and torpedo planes 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...".

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The survivors of Z27, T25 and T26 interned in the Curragh Camp

• Z27, 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 tiny 142 ft (43 m) neutral Irish coaster MV Kerlogue rescued 168 survivors of the 700 crews.

• 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.

• Tirpitz (Germany) on 12 November 1944 by Lancaster bombers from 9 and 617 Squadrons armed with Tallboy bombs. Battleship Tirpitz finally sank west of Tromsø, Norway, with a loss of 1,000 of her crew of 1,700.

• Yamato (Japan) on 7 April 1945 by torpedo planes from 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, and effectively decimated the cream of the Japanese navy.

• USS Indianapolis (USA) on 30 July 1945. A heavy cruiser sunk by a Japanese submarine attack on the way back to the Philippines from Guam, having delivered parts for the Hiroshima atomic bomb there. 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.

See also

• Shipwreck
• List of shipwrecks
• List of disasters

External links

• G. Duncan. Maritime disasters of World War 2