Maritime Disasters of wwii 1939

1945

American aircraft carrier of 27,000 tons, hit by a Japanese suicide plane while patrolling the waters off Formosa. Although the ship was not sunk it suffered casualties of 144 men killed and around 200 injured. This tragedy was not revealed until six months after the event.

The German passenger liner Berlin (15,286 tons) part of the 'Strength Through Joy' cruises, was later converted to a hospital ship and helped in the evacuation of refugees from the Hela Penninsula. Damaged after striking a mine off Swinemunde it was taken in tow for the port of Kiel but later that same day it hit another mine and this time the ship sank. No lives were lost. After the war ended, the Russians raised the vessel and after repairs it entered the Soviet navy under the name Admiral Nachimov. In May, 1957, it was delivered to Soviet state shipping line and placed into service in the Black Sea serving the Odessa-Batum route. On September 1, 1986, it was involved in a serious collision off Novorossiysk with the motor vessel Pjotr Wassjew after which it sank. Unfortunately on this occasion 398 lives were lost. Other German hospital ships sunk during the war were the Birka, sank after hitting a mine at Altafjord, Norway. Casualties were 115 killed. The Posen was bombed by Russian aircraft off Hella on April 11, 1945. Around 300 lives were lost.

A few days after the Gustloff had been sunk, the 14,600 ton liner General von Steuben of the Nord German Lloyd shipping line, set sail from Pillau in the bay of Danzig, her destination being Swinemunde. On board were 2,800 wounded soldiers, 320 nurses and 30 doctors as well as over 1,500 refugees and 165 crewmen. Just after midnight, torpedoes from Marinesko's S-13 hit the Steuben. She sank in seven minutes, the wounded lying helpless, strapped to their stretchers. In those seven minutes some 3,608 persons died, around 659 being picked up by escorting ships. Sixty years later in May, 2004, the wreck of the Steuben was found lying on its side at a depth of 45 meters (150 feet) and scattered all around the wreck are human remains, skulls and bones. Within ten days, Captain Alexander Marinesko had sunk two of Germany’s largest liners and in the process had taken the lives of over 10,000 people. (Captain Marinesko died in October, 1963, from cancer and only in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev posthumously awarded Marinesko with the title 'Hero of the Soviet Union')

The 10,982 ton escort carrier was launched in 1944 under the name 'Alikula Bay' and later renamed Bismark Sea. Joined the US 7th Fleet and saw action off Leyte and in the Lingayen Gulf landings. While taking part in the Iwo Jima invasion, the Bismark Sea (Captain J.L. Pratt) was attacked by three Japanese kamakazi planes from the island of Kyushu, Japan. One of the planes crashed onto her deck, the other two were shot down. An explosion in her ammunition store caused uncontrollable fires and in spite of all efforts of her crew to save the ship, the carrier sank ninety minutes later. Of her complement of 860, a total of 318 men lost their lives.

American aircraft carrier attacked by Japanese planes off Samar Island. Two direct hits by 550lb bombs caused fires and internal explosions but failed to sink the ship. A total of 725 men were killed and 265 injured. The Franklin had a crew of 3,450 officers and men. After the war, 393 bravery decorations were awarded to the crew, including one Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to naval chaplain Lt. Commander Joseph O'Callahan for heroism, the first naval chaplain to be so honoured. The Franklin (commanded by Captain Gehres) was the most severely damaged US ship to survive but managed to make her way back to Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands and finally to the US for repairs, a voyage of nearly 12,000 miles.

Japanese passenger/cargo ship of 11,249 tons, (Captain Hamada Matsutaro) sunk while homeward bound after having delivered Red Cross relief supplies to American and Allied POWs in Japanese custody under an agreement between Japan and the US Government which guaranteed safe passage for such ships. The third ship to carry out this relief programme was the Awa Maru which picked up the Red Cross parcels from the stockpile at Nakhodka, one hundred miles south of Vladivostok. They had been transported there by five Soviet ships which had sailed from Portland, Oregon, in December, 1943, loaded with 2,500 tons of supplies. The Awa Maru was painted green with large white crosses on her sides and funnel, all illuminated by special spot lights. Loaded with 175 tons of Red Cross supplies, the Japanese also loaded crates of aircraft parts, munitions and other commodities desperately needed by Japanese troops in Southeast Asia.