Maritime Disasters of wwii 1939

1941

Passenger liner of 14,118 tons (Capt. H. Croft) built in 1920 at the Cammel Laird shipyard at Birkenhead for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. In 1921 she was chartered to the Royal Mail for the Hamburg-Southampton-New York service. In 1931 she carried the Prince of Wales and Prince George to South America. In September, 1939, the ship was taken over and converted to a troopship and on January 16, 1941 while en route from Mombasa, East Africa, to the UK, was sunk by three torpedoes from the U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) about 100 miles off County Donegal, Ireland. Of the 249 crew and passengers on board, 113 were killed. The same day, another U-boat, the U-106, sank the cargo-liner Zealandic (10,578 tons) of the Shaw Savill & Albion Co. All 73 crew and passengers were lost. The U-96 was sunk by US bombers on March 30, 1945 at Wilhelmshaven. The U-106 was sunk by depth-charges dropped from a Sunderland aircraft on August 2,1943, there were 36 survivors but 22 of the crew were killed.

The 14,935 ton Blue Star Line passenger liner (Captain H.C. Howard) was sunk by the U-96 (Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock) while en route from Liverpool to the River Platte. The attack occurred about 250 miles west of the Island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. There were no survivors. A total of 166 crew and 194 passengers lost their lives. The U-96 was later bombed and sunk by US aircraft at Wilhelmshaven.

Italian cruisers of the 1st Naval Division, each of 10,000 tons, together with two escorting destroyers, the Alfieri and Carducci were sunk at the Battle of Cape Matapan off the southern tip of Greece. In this night action the Italian ships were engaged by the British battleships, HMS Warspite, Valiant and Barham. Caught completely by surprise in searchlights from the destroyer Greyhound, the Fiume (13,260 tons) was hit by five 15-inch shells from Warspite, the Zara (13,580 tons) by a broadside of 15-inch shells from Valiant and Barham. The Pola (13,531 tons) crippled and on fire, lay dead on the water and after her crew were taken off she was sunk by torpedoes. The Italian force suffered a crushing defeat, 2,303 men from the five ships were killed. Thirteen officers and 147 ratings were picked up by the Italian hospital ship Gradisca sent in response to a radio message transmitted to the Italian Admiralty from the Royal Navy ships. Another 110 were rescued by Greek destroyers, and the rest, numbering around 700, were picked up by the British destroyers. (During World War II, around 33,000 Italian sailors lost their lives)

The 11,636 ton Dutch passenger liner was taken over for service as a troop transport and while engaged in the evacuation of British and New Zealand troops from Crete, she was attacked for the second time by German aircraft of Luftwaffe JG-77 and sank with the loss of 193 men. Of the troops on board, around 700 were rescued by the destroyers HMS Diamond and HMS Wryneck, both of which were later bombed and sunk, drowning most of the survivors of the Slamat. There was one officer, 41 seamen and 8 soldiers saved from this triple disaster, leaving a death toll of 843 men.

For more, see http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~popta/slamat/index.htm.

SS NERISSA (April 30, 1941)

Canadian 5,583 ton passenger vessel built in Scotland in 1926 for the Warren Line. Engaged on the New York-Bermuda run before the war, she was pressed into service as a troop carrier and was sunk during her 40th wartime crossing of the Atlantic by the U-552 (Erich Topp) while en route from Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England. Carrying 175 passengers, mostly Canadian Army personnel and a class of newly graduated RAF pilots, the Nerissa, under the command of Captain Gilbert Watson, sank in less than four minutes with the loss of 124 passengers and 83 crewmembers including Captain Watson who stood on the bow of his ship as it went down and yelling to his men in the water 'Good luck boys'. The 84 Survivors were picked up by the destroyer HMS Veteran and eventually landed at Londonderry in Northern Ireland 200 miles away. (Erich Topp, who sank the American destroyer Reuben James on October 31, 1941, survived the war and died in Germany on December 26, 2005, at age 91)

German cruiser, commanded by Capt. Krüder, sunk in the Indian ocean by the British heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall near the Seychelles. The Pinguin, on a mission as a raider, had sunk or captured a total of 32 ships. Casualties on board the Pinguin were 3 officers and 341 crewmembers as well as around 200 prisoners. Twenty two prisoners and 60 crewmembers were rescued from the sea by the Cornwall (Capt. Manwaring)

British cruiser of the Mediterranean Fleet (Force C) sunk by bombs from German JU87s during Operation Merkur, the German airborne attack on the island of Crete. The crippled ship lay dead in the water, on fire and listing to port. The "Abandon Ship" order was given and she sank at 5.15pm. The Gloucester's commander, Captain Rowley, 45 officers and 648 crewmembers were lost.

British cruiser of 8,000 tons (Captain P.William- Powlett) sunk by bombs from German and Italian aircraft during the Battle of Crete. She sank forty nautical miles south-west of Crete near the island of Antikithera. In September, 1940, the Fiji was torpedoed off the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, while escorting troop transports heading for the port of Dakar (Operation Menace). After repairs which lasted almost six months, she returned to duties in the Mediterranean. The Fiji had survived about twenty bomb attacks during the four hour engagement off Crete but later another three direct hits proved fatal. Casualties were 17 officers and 224 ratings killed. A total of 523 survivors were picked up by the destroyers Kingston and Kandahar which had earlier rescued survivors from the sunk destroyer Greyhound. The Fiji's place was taken by the Australian cruiser HMAS Australia.

Italian passenger liner of 17,879 tons, built in 1921 and converted to a troopship in 1940, and now belonging to the Italian Merchant Marine, was sunk by the British submarine HMS Upholder (Lt-Cdr. Malcolm Wanklyn) about 80 miles off Tripoli, North Africa. The Conte Rosso was carrying 2,729 Italian troops on their way to Tripoli when attacked. A total of 1,209 lives were lost. Lt-Cdr. Wanklyn was awarded the Victoria Cross in recognition of this. Also sunk by the Upholder were the two 19,475 ton motor vessels Neptunia and Oceania part of a convoy bound for the Axis occupied part of Libya. On September 18, 1941 the Italian passenger liner Neptunia, taken over for service as a troop transport, was torpedoed fifty-eight miles from Tripoli. The same day, the Upholder sank her sister ship Oceania, also converted to a troop carrier. The death toll from both ships was 384 men, some 6,500 being rescued. On April 14, 1942, the Upholder and its entire crew were lost when depth-charged while on its 23rd patrol.

For more, see the excellent Battle Cruiser Hood website at http://www.H.M.S.hood.com/.