List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll

List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll is a list of major disasters (excluding acts of war) which occurred in the United Kingdom (including territory that later became the Republic of Ireland) or involved UK citizens, in a definable incident or accident, where the loss of life exceeded 40.

1,000 or more fatalities

750,000 to 1,000,000 – Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849) [estimate]
800,000 – Black Death pandemic, 1347–1350 [estimate]
225,000 – Spanish flu pandemic, September–November 1918 [estimate]
100,000 – Great Irish Famine (1740-1741) [estimate awaiting confirmation]
65,000 – 1816 The Year Without a Summer - Famine and typhoid in Ireland ^[1] and food riots in England and France
60,000 – Great Plague of London, 1665 epidemic [estimate]
20,000 – Laki volcano fissure eruption, Iceland, sulphur haze and volcanic winter deaths, June 1783 to February 1784 [England mortality estimate]
12,000 – Great Smog of 1952, London [estimate]
8,000 – Great Storm of 1703, English Channel, 26 November 1703 [estimate]
5,000+ – Great Famine of 1315–1317 [conjectured British Isles deaths] medieval famine
4,000+ – Blockade of Porto Bello (1726-1727), due to yellow fever
3,500+ – 1782 Atlantic hurricane - Fleet of Admiral Graves scattered off Newfoundland. Loss of HMS Ramillies, HMS Centaur, storeships Dutton and British Queen, captured French prize ships Ville de Paris, Glorieux, Hector and Caton, plus other merchantmen from a convoy of 94 ships. September 1782.
3,000 – London fire and panic, July 1212 [Source for fatalities is Guinness Book of Records, but historical evidence unclear]
2,139 – European heat wave of 2003, 4 to 13 August 2003 [estimate: the difference between the number of deaths in that period and the average number in other years]
2,000 – Bristol Channel floods, (storm surge/tsunami), 30 January 1607 (New style) [estimate]
2,000 – Sweating sickness (sudor anglicus), 1485 and later years [estimate]
1,900+ – Christmas Eve storm of 1811, North Sea – wrecks of HMS St George (739 fatalities, 11 or 12 survived), HMS Defence (5 survived out of c.600) and HMS Fancy, off Thorsminde, Jutland; HMS Hero (all 600 lost), and HMS Archimedes, off Texel. 24 December 1811
1,550+ – HMS Association, HMS Eagle, HMS Romney and HMS Firebrand (Cloudesley Shovell squadron shipwrecks), Isles of Scilly, 22 October 1707
1,490 – RMS Titanic sinking, 1912 (1,517 fatalities per U.S. investigation; 1,490 per British investigation)
1,200 – HMS Sussex treasure fleet shipwrecks (13 ships), off Gibraltar, 1 March 1694 (New style)
1,012 – RMS Empress of Ireland sinking after collision May 1914. Canadian owned but registered in London, UK and the ship's crew were almost entirely from Merseyside.
~1,000 – Hurricane of 1867, RMS Rhone, RMS Wye and up to 50 other vessels driven ashore and wrecked on October 29, 1867 at St. Thomas, Barbados. ^[2]
1,000 – Great Hurricane of 1780, Caribbean Sea, Bermuda and North America - Royal Navy ships lost included HMS Cornwall, HMS Vengeance, HMS Experiment, HMS Ontario, 10 October 1780 onwards. [estimate - further research needed]

500-999 fatalities

900 + – Storm of 3 September 1691, wrecks of HMS Coronation (1685) and HMS Harwich (1674), Plymouth Sound
~900 – HMS Victory wrecked on the Casquets in the Channel Islands, 3 October 1744
890 + – The Walker Expedition to Quebec August 22 1711, wrecks of seven transports and one storeship, Saint Lawrence River
843 – HMS Vanguard magazine explosion, Scapa Flow, 9 July 1917
800 – HMS Royal George capsize, Spithead, 29 August 1782
748 – Royal Charter Storm – wreck of Royal Charter, Lligwy Bay, Anglesey (455 fatalities) and others, 27 October 1859
738 – HMS Bulwark, magazine explosion, Sheerness, 26 November 1914
699 – HMS Ramillies ran aground off Bolt Head, Devon, 15 February 1760
690 – HMS Queen Charlotte fire, off Livorno, 17 March 1800
646 – SS Mendi (Elder Dempster Line), troopship rammed by SS Darro, off Isle of Wight, 21 February 1917
~640 – Princess Alice and Bywell Castle collision, River Thames, Woolwich, 3 September 1878
635 – SS Norge shipwreck, Rockall, 28 June 1904
612 – Tramore Bay storm, shipwrecks of Seahorse (c350 fatalities), Lord Melville (12) and Boadicea (c250), County Cork, 30 January 1816 [ref: Grocott]
563 – SS Utopia disaster, collision with HMS Anson, off Gibraltar, 17 March 1891 (mostly Italian passengers) ^[3]
546 – RMS Atlantic sinking, Nova Scotia, 1 April 1873
531 – North Sea flood of 1953 and storm, 31 January – 1 February 1953 (307 land fatalities, 224 sea fatalities including ferry MV Princess Victoria) [UK victims only]
500+ – 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak, London, cholera epidemic, 1854
500 – HMS Minotaur wrecked on Haak Bank off Texel, 22 December 1810 (painted by JMW Turner)
500 – "Black Monday" massacre, Dublin, Easter Monday, 1209

300–499 fatalities

491 – HMS York struck the Bell Rock off Arbroath in January 1804 and sank with the loss of her entire crew on what was a routine mission.
481 – HMS Captain shipwreck and capsize due to controversial instability off Cape Finisterre, Spain, 6 September 1870
480 – SS City of Glasgow Inman Line disappeared after leaving Liverpool for Philadelphia some time after 1 March 1854
473 – Cospatrick a Blackwall Frigate emigrant ship fire, panic, 6 weeks adrift with 61 survivors reduced to 5 who survived through cannibalism South Atlantic, 18 November 1874
470 – French ship Courageux (1751) shipwreck - swept from Gibraltar in a storm, wrecked on Apes' Hill, Barbary Coast (now Monte Hacho, Ceuta, Africa), 18 December 1796.^[4]
454 – Vryheid (ship) (ex-Melville Castle (ship)) shipwrecked in gale on the Kent coast between Hythe and Dymchurch out of Rotterdam, 23 November 1802. Only 18 of 472 survived.
450 – HMS Birkenhead shipwreck, near Cape Town, 25 February 1852
439 – Universal Colliery, Senghenydd, Caerphilly, Glamorgan Gas explosion 14 October 1913, Britains worst mining accident
431 – HMS Otranto shipwreck, Islay, 6 October 1918 taking 351 US troops and 80 crew
421 – HMS Natal, magazine (artillery) explosion, Cromarty, Scotland, 30 December 1915 (421 is the highest estimate, precise figure is disputed).
406 – Cataraqui, emigrant ship out of Liverpool shipwrecked off King Island, Tasmania, 4 August 1845
400+ – Rochdale and Prince of Wales troops leaving Dublin for Napoleonic Wars, 19 November 1807
400+ – HMS Invincible sinks off Norfolk, 16 March, 1801 missing the Battle of Copenhagen
400 – HMS Winchester shipwreck, reef off Key Largo, Florida, 1 September 1695
400 – The Pomona clipper shipwreck, Blackwater Band, Wexford, Ireland 30 April 1859
389 – PS Arctic collided with The Vesta off Cape Race, out of Liverpool, 20 September 1854 (sistership of PS Pacific)
388 – The Oaks explosion colliery disaster, Barnsley, Yorkshire 12 December 1866
384 – Annie Jane, emigrant ship out of Liverpool, shipwrecked Vatersay, 28 September 1853
380 – Mary Rose Tudor period Carrack warship sinking, Portsmouth, 18 July 1545
379 – HMS Dasher (D37), accidental fuel explosion, Firth of Clyde, 27 March 1943
377 – HMS Princess Irene minelayer explosion, River Medway, Sheerness, 27 May 1915
374 – The Driver clipper ship, disappeared Atlantic Ocean out of Liverpool, February 1856
372 – Arniston East Indiaman, shipwrecked at Waenhuiskrans, South Africa, 30 May 1815
360+ –Chartered East Indiaman Elizabeth shipwrecked off Dunkirk, 18 December 1810.
358 – HMS Victoria rammed by HMS Camperdown, Mediterranean Sea, 22 June 1893
347 – HMS Athenienne, shipwrecked off Tunisia, 20 October 1806, 100 survivors crammed into the ships launch (boat)
344 – Pretoria Pit Disaster, Westhoughton, Lancashire, 21 December 1910
340 – troopship Aeneas shipwrecked on the Îles aux Mortes on the Canadian coastline whilst carrying troops to Quebec, 23 October 1805.
338 – HMS Curacoa a British light cruiser run down and split in two by RMS Queen Mary, 2 October 1942
335 – SS Schiller shipwreck of a German ocean liner, Isles of Scilly, 7 May 1875
317 – HMS Eurydice shipwreck, Isle of Wight, 22 March 1878 (commemorated by Gerard Manley Hopkins in "The Loss of the Eurydice") (317 named fatalities^[5])
300 – Wreck of the White Ship, off Barfleur, Normandy 25 November 1120 taking the only legitimate son of King Henry I of England and other nobles [estimate]
300 – Sibylle, emigrant ship wrecked St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia, out of Cromarty, 11 September 1834
300+ – HMS Amphion gunpowder explosion, Plymouth, 22 September 1796

200-299 fatalities

299 – Kapunda (ship), emigrant ship out of London, collided with barque Ada Melmore off Brazil, 20 January 1887
297 – Tayleur shipwreck due to iron hull affecting the compass on Lambay Island Dublin Bay, 21 January 1854 on her maiden voyage. ("the first Titanic")
293 – Northfleet shipwreck, rammed by a Spanish steamer at night while anchored off Dungeness, 22 January 1873 sinking within 30 minutes
290 – HMS Sceptre, Royal Navy Third-rate wrecked during a storm in Table Bay, near Cape of Good Hope, 5 December 1799
285 – Gordon Riots, London, 2–13 June 1780 British Protestant rioters shot by British troops
281 – Albion Colliery, Cilfynydd, Glamorgan, South Wales, Firedamp explosion 25th June, 1894
281 – HMS Atalanta, Royal Navy frigate disappeared at sea out of Bermuda sailing home for Falmouth, after 31 January 1880 (sister ship of HMS Eurydice)
276 – VOC Hollandia shipwreck, Annet, Isles of Scilly, 13 June 1743
270 – Great Sheffield flood, collapse of Dale Dike Dam during first filling, Sheffield, 1864
270 – Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie, 1988 terrorist Plastic explosive bomb in the forward hold at 31,000 ft [total of all victims]
268 – Abercarn Disaster Coal mining disaster, Abercarn, Monmouthshire 11 September 1878
266 – Gresford Disaster Colliery mining accident, Wrexham, North Wales 22 September 1934
260 – Earl of Abergavenny East Indiaman shipwreck, off Portland Bill, 5 February 1805 captained by William Wordsworths brother
253 – HMS Saldanha Royal Navy frigate shipwrecked with all hands in a gale, Lough Swilly, Donegal, 4 December 1811
250 – RMS Royal Adelaide, City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, out of Cork, shipwrecked on a Sandbank with all hands off Margate, 1849.
250+ – Night of the Big Wind, European windstorm natural disaster Ireland, 6 January-7 January 1839 [estimate]
247 - Dodington East Indiaman carrying gold shipwrecked in Algoa Bay, South Africa, 1755 23 crew castaway surviving on birds eggs
246 - HMS Avenger (1845) shipwrecked off Galite Islands, Tunisia, 20 December 1847
240 – HMS Lutine shipwreck carrying gold bullion, Vlieland, 9 October 1799
238 – HMS Tribune, Royal Navy Fifth-rate shipwrecked without a Maritime pilot before a storm close to shore, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 16 November 1797
237 – SS Anglo Saxon shipwreck in dense fog hit rocks and broke up, Cape Race, Newfoundland (out of Liverpool and Londonderry), 27 April 1863
224 – Neva, Penal transportation convict ship out of Cork, wrecked on reefs off King Island, Tasmania, 13 May 1835, some convicts raided the rum cargo making themselves incapable of swimming ashore
227 – Quintinshill rail crash triple collision due to a negligent signalman, Dumfries and Galloway, 22 May 1915
220 – SS London, sank in a gale, Bay of Biscay, 11 January 1866 [1]
220 – Great Blizzard of 1891, 9 March to 13 March 1891
215 – The Lady of the Lake (ship), struck iceberg, North Atlantic, 11 May 1833
212 – Sovereign (1803), wrecked St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia, out of Portsmouth, 18 October 1814 [ref: Grocott]
210 – British steamship Rinaldo collision with French steamer Byzantin on 18 December 1878 in the Dardanelles^[6]
208 – Harpooner military transport ship, shipwrecked Newfoundland, November 1818
207 – Blantyre mining disaster, Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, gas explosion, 22 October 1877
205 – Iolaire an Admiralty yacht bringing returning WWI soldiers back to Scotland sinking on New Year's Day, Stornoway, 1 January 1919
205 – SS Hungarian, Allan Line out of Liverpool and Queenstown, wrecked Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, 20 February 1860^[7]
204 – Hartley Colliery Disaster, steam engine metal fatigue Northumberland, England 16 January 1862

100-199 fatalities

196 – SS Cambria Anchor Line shipwreck, Inishtrahull, 19 October 1870
193 – MS Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, Zeebrugge, 6 March 1987 unlawful killing verdict after RORO bow doors are left open causing a capsize in under one minute
189 – Wood Pit Colliery underground explosion, Haydock, Lancashire 1878 including one man and all his five sons
189 – HMS Orpheus Royal Navy shipwreck due to outdated Nautical charts and shortcuts off Auckland, 1863
189 – Eyemouth fishing fleet storm disaster, Scotland, 14 October 1881 [2]
186 – Theatre Royal, Exeter Victorian era gas light theatre fire disaster and panic, 5 September 1887
183 – Victoria Hall theatre panic, Sunderland, 16 June 1883 stampede after a childrens Variety show to get prizes and gifts results in compressive asphyxia and trampling
178 – Ferndale, Rhondda Disaster Colliery mining disaster,Rhondda Valleys, South Wales, 8 November 1867
178 – Ocean Monarch fire and shipwreck, off Great Orme, Llandudno 24 August 1848 caused by steerage passengers smoking materials
178 – Clifton Hall Colliery firedamp gas explosion, Salford on 18th June, 1885
177 – SS City of Boston Inman Line disappeared Atlantic Ocean out of New York City and Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, possibly struck iceberg some time after 28 January 1870
176 – Llanerch, Cwmnantddu Colliery gas explosion in a mine refused safety lamps by its MD two months earlier, Pontypool, Monmouthshire, South Wales, 6 February 1890
173 – Bethnal Green tube station panic, stampede and compressive asphyxia caused by British anti-aircraft battery salvo, 3 March 1943
172 – HMS Serpent Royal Navy torpedo cruiser launched in 1887 shipwrecked off Camariñas, Galicia, 9 November 1890
168 – Burns Pit Disaster, Stanley, County Durham, 16 February 1909
167 – Piper Alpha oil platform gas leak, explosion and fire 30m above cold seas North Sea, 6 July 1988
164 – Seaham Colliery mining accident, Durham, 8 September 1880
159 – Ferndale Colliery, Rhondda Valleys, Glamorgan explosions caused by gas and miners tampering with safety lamps 8 November 1867
157 – Deutschland shipwreck in winter blizzard, Kentish Knock sandbar, Thames Estuary, 6 December 1875 with tug rescue delayed until the next day most died of hypothermia
155 – Minnie Pit mining disaster, Podmore Hall, Staffordshire, 12 January 1918
150 – Clifford's Tower fire massacre of medieval Jews by a mob, York, 1190 [Estimate]
146 – Risca Blackvein Disaster Coal mining disaster, Risca, Monmouthshire, South Wales, 1 December 1860 casued by gas and naked flames despite safety lamps being available
146 – Dan-Air Boeing 727 G-BDAN, from MAN, Tenerife North Airport, Canary Islands, 25 April 1980 in a holding pattern the plane flew into a mountain after turning the wrong way
145 – Aberfan Mass wasting and Thixotropy bring a coal waste tip sited on a stream in a 30 ft wave onto a Junior school, Glamorganshire, 21 October 1966
140 – RMS Amazon steam engine fire on a wooden paddle wheel mail steamer, 60 miles west of Isles of Scilly, 4 January 1852 causing the magazine (artillery) to explode
141 – SS Berlin shipwreck, Hook of Holland, 21 February 1907 (Great Eastern Railway steamship out of Harwich)
140 – 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami, 26 December 2004 [UK victims only] see Countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake)
139 – George III, convict ship shipwrecked in D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania, 12 April 1835 enduring fire,scurvey, panic and gun shots left convicts drowning in their sickbeds
136 – Wellington Colliery coal mining disaster, Whitehaven, Cumbria 11 May 1910
135 – East Indiaman Alexander is shipwrecked near Portland 27 March 1815 within sight of shore from Bombay the ship was caught in a gale and ran ashore at night
134 – Chilwell munitions explosion, Nottinghamshire, 1 July 1918 when 8 tons of unstable TNT exploded in the last year of World War I
133 – Amphitrite (ship), convict ship from Woolwich to Australia shipwrecked Boulogne, 31 August 1833
133 – MV Princess Victoria early RORO ferry disaster, North Channel, 31 January 1953 during a European windstorm
131 – typhoid epidemic, Lincoln, November 1904 to April 1905 caused by polluted drinking water
130 – Rothsay Castle paddle steamer from Liverpool shipwrecked in the Menai Straits 18 August 1831 with a drunk captain, one holed lifeboat (shipboard) and no oars
129 – John Franklins Northwest Passage expedition, HMS Erebus (1826) and HMS Terror (1813) caught in packice the crews endured botulism, lead poisoning and cannibalism before starvation 1845-1848
128 – HMS Gladiator shipwreck in a snowstorm collision with an American steamship, Isle of Wight, 25 April, 1908 the British captain at fault
125 – Brig HMS Primrose shipwrecked on The Manacles, Cornwall, 22 January 1809
125 – SS Hilda shipwreck in snow squalls off Saint-Malo, London and South Western Railway steamer, 18 November 1905
124 – SS Daphne capsize during her Ship naming and launching, River Clyde, Glasgow, 3 July 1883
123 – Ocean Queen clipper ship, disappeared Atlantic Ocean out of London, February 1856
121 – Dunbar, clipper ship out of Plymouth, wrecked Sydney Cove, Australia, 20 August 1857
120 – New Risca pit explosion coal mining disaster, Risca, Monmouthshire, South Wales, 5 July 1880 in an area where the pits were nicknamed the death pits by miners
120 – Dover Straits earthquake of 1580, an earthquake causing freak waves, possible tsunami and flooding in France, Flanders and England 6 April 1580 [estimate]
119 – National Colliery coal mining explosion disaster, Wattstown, Rhondda Valleys, Glamorganshire, 11 July 1905
118 – Staines air disaster, BEA Flight 548, possible coronary artery disease and heart attack in a senior captain (civil aviation) after takeoff 18 July 1972
114 – Cymmer, Porth, Rhondda Colliery gas explosion, Rhondda Valleys, South Wales 13th July, 1856
112 – SS Stella shipwreck on a granite reef in fog at full speed, sinking in 8 minutes London and South Western Railway steamship, the Casquets, Channel Islands, 30 March 1899
112 – Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, three train rail disaster in patchy fog in morning rush hour 12 October 1952
112 – Dan-Air aircrash of a De Havilland Comet G-APDN from MAN to Barcelona crashing into a mountain in Catalonia, Spain 3 July 1970
110 – Park Slip colliery gas explosion due to one holed Davy lamp, Tondu, Glamorgan 26th August, 1892
109 – Faversham Gunpowder mill explosion 2 April 1916
108 – Invicta International Airlines aircrash of Vickers Vanguard flight 435 G-AXOP, from BRS to Basle Switzerland, somersaulting into a forested, snowy hillside 10 April 1973
106 – SS Avalanche Shaw Savill Line collided with Forest Queen, both sank off Isle of Portland, English Channel, out of London for Wellington, New Zealand, 11 September 1877
106 – SS Mohegan shipwreck, The Manacles, Cornwall, 14 October 1898
104 – Coal mining disaster, William Pit, Whitehaven, Cumbria 15 August 1947 - Photograph of William Pit
102 – Sinking of the privateer Pelican in the Mersey, 20 March 1793
102 – HMS Feversham shipwreck, Scatterie Island, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, 7 October 1711
101 – Naval colliery, Penygraig, Rhondda Valleys Coal mining disaster, South Wales, 10 December 1880
100 – "Battle" of May Island, Royal Navy exercise disaster, 31 January / 1 February 1918
100 – Moray Firth fishing disaster, open hulled fishing fleet storm disaster, Scotland, 19 August, 1848

Fewer than 100 fatalities

99 – HMS Thetis submarine disaster; flooded through torpedo tube during pre war sea trials, Liverpool Bay, 1 June 1939, salvaged but sunk by depth charges with all hands in 1943
98 – Britannia Airways Bristol Britannia G-ANBB from LTN, aircrash at Ljubljana, 1 September 1966
97 – Naval Steam Colliery, Tonypandy, Rhondda Valleys, Glamorgan Gas & suspended coal dust explosion, 10th December, 1880
96 – Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, Sheffield, 15 April 1989
95 – Haswell Colliery Blackdamp explosion, County Durham, 28 September 1844
94 – Carlingford Lough disaster, SS Connemara and a coalship SS Retriever collided and sank, Carlingford Lough, County Down, 3 November 1916
93 – St Scholastica riot, Oxford, 1355 a Town and Gown dispute over beer escalates over three days
92 – Felling mine disaster, County Durham, 25 May 1812 firedamp explosion ushered in safety lamps by George Stephenson and Humphry Davy
90 – Lewisham rail crash, December 1957 railway signals missed in the rush hour fog
88 – Armagh rail disaster, 12 June 1889 ten runaway passenger cars on a Sunday school day trip
88 – Cadeby Coal mine disaster, Cadeby Main, Yorkshire, 9 July 1912
88 – Air Ferry aircrash, Douglas C-54 G-APYK, from MSE, Mont Canigou, France, 3 June 1967
87 – Morfa Mine, Port Talbot, Glamorgan Colliery gas explosion, 10 March 1890
86 – SS Egypt shipwreck, off Ushant, Brittany 20 May 1922
85 – Rohilla, ran aground off Whitby, 30 October 1914 with a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic 2 yrs earlier rescued again
84 – British Eagle International Airlines aircrash, Bristol Britannia G-AOVO from LHR, Innsbruck, Austria, 29 February 1964
84 – Paisley canal disaster, canal day-tripper panic and capsize, Paisley, Scotland, November 10, 1810.
83 – East Side pit, Senghenydd, Glamorgan, Colliery gas explosion, 24th May, 1901, precursor to the 1913 disaster
81 – Maerdy Rhondda Valleys Colliery mining disaster, South Wales, 23 December 1885
81 – Easington Colliery, County Durham 20th century coal mining explosion disaster, 29 May 1951
81 – Holmfirth Flood - Bilberry Reservoir dam collapse disaster caused by 'great and culpable negligence', Holme Valley, West Yorkshire, 5 February 1852
80 – PS Pacific, lost at sea out of Liverpool, after 23 January 1856 (sistership of PS Arctic)
80+ – PS Queen Victoria (1838) shipwreck below a lighthouse in a night-time snowstorm, off Howth Head, Dublin 15 February 1853
80 – Llandow air disaster, Fairflight Avro Tudor G-AKBY, Sigginstone, Glamorgan, 12 March 1950 with returning Welsh rugby union supporters on board (highest confirmed death toll of any civil aviation disaster up to that date)
80 – Creswell Colliery mining accident caused by smoke inhalation Creswell, Derbyshire, 26 September 1950
79 – Great Yarmouth Suspension bridge disaster, bridge collapse above a river killing 79 children watching a clown, 2 May 1846
79 – British Admiral wrecked Tasmania out of Liverpool, 23 May 1874
79 – Markham Colliery disaster, underground explosion Derbyshire, 10 May 1938
78 – Barn fire during a puppet show with the barn doors nailed shut, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, 8 September 1727
76 – Maypole Colliery explosion, Abram, Greater Manchester then in Wigan, Lancashire, 18 August 1908
75 – Tay Rail Bridge cast iron bridge collapse with a steam train on it during an evening storm, Scotland, 28 December 1879
75 – HMS Affray mysterious submarine disaster, English Channel, 17 April 1951
74 – SS Naronic, lost at sea, possibly due to iceberg strike off Nova Scotia, out of Liverpool, 19 February 1893 with no Wireless Telegraph to make a distress call
73 – Udston mining disaster, Hamilton, Scotland, 28 May 1887 firedamp explosion during breakfast break on the day shift
73 – Silvertown explosion, 19 January 1917 caused by a fire in a TNT factory in West Ham [3]
72 – Stockport air disaster, British Midland Airways Argonaut G-ALHG, 4 June 1967 an unrecognized flaw in the fuel system made the plane returning from Majorca uncontrollable
71 – Glen Cinema disaster, Paisley, 31 December 1929. Glen Cinema Website
70 – Great Gale of 1871, Bridlington 100 shipwrecks 10 February 1871, incl RNLB Harbinger, plus other losses at sea, estimated total of 70 marine fatalities.
70 – RAF Fauld RAF munitions explosion during WWII, Staffordshire, 27 November 1944 [4]
69 – HMS M1 submarine wreck—collision with Swedish surface vessel—off Plymouth, 12 November 1925
67 – 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, [UK victims only]
66 – BEA Comet G-ARCO bomb disaster, off Rhodes, 12 October 1967 [all nationalities] [5]
66 – Ibrox disaster compressive asphyxia crush at Stairway 13, Glasgow, 1971
65 – Theatre Royal, Glasgow panic, Dunlop Street, Glasgow, 17 February 1849
64 – Middle Duffryn Mine, Aberdare, Glamorgan, South Wales Colliery explosion 10 May 1852
64 – Masbrough boat disaster, Rotherham, 5 July 1841 [6]
64 – HMS Truculent submarine collision on the surface, Thames Estuary, 12 January 1950 survivors died of hypothermia on mid-winter mudbanks
63 – Great Western Mine Rhondda Valleys Colliery mining disaster, South Wales, 11 April 1893
63 – BEA aircrash, Vickers Vanguard G-APEC flight 706, Aarsele, Belgium, 2 October 1971
62 – Dinas Rhondda, Rhondda Valleys, Glamorgan, Colliery gas explosion. 13th January, 1879
62 – PS Comet II, sank in collision off Gourock, Scotland, 21 October 1825
61 – SS Thames steamer shipwreck in a night-time storm, Isles of Scilly, 4 January 1841
61 – Freckleton Air Disaster, a USAAF B-24 Liberator heavy bomber crashes into a village school in a storm, Freckleton, Lancashire, 23 August 1944 (3 aircrew, 58 ground fatalities)
60 – Great Western Mine, Pontypridd, Glamorgan Colliery explosion followed by smoke inhalation, 11th April, 1893
60+ – Harwich ferry disaster, a 'grossly overladen' coastal vessell capsizes whilst transporting soldiers and their families, 18 April 1807
60 – Dalhousie, "Blackwall Frigate" sank off Beachy Head in October 1853
60 – HMS M2 British M class submarine flooded through her Parnall Peto seaplane hangar doors, Lyme Bay, 26 January 1932
57 – Tylorstown, Rhondda Valleys Colliery mining disaster, South Wales, 27 January 1896
57 – Sneyd Coal mine explosion, Sneyd Colliery, Staffordshire, 1 January 1942
57 – HMS K5 submarine deepwater sinking 120 miles south-west of the Isles of Scilly, 24 January 1921 with a new crew
56 – Bradford City disaster, soccer stadium fire, 11 May 1985 in a 77 year old wooden grandstand
56 – 7 July 2005 London bombings (including 4 Islamist extremist suicide bombers)
55 – Manchester air disaster Flight 28M, 22 August 1985 a Boeing 737-236 engine fire before takeoff on a holiday flight to Corfu
53 – Ferndale Colliery, Ferndale, Rhondda Valleys, Glamorgan, Colliery explosion, 1869
53 – Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead, 6 October 1854 a Victorian era epic firestorm
52 – Lletty Shenklin Mine Aberdare Colliery mining disaster, South Wales,14th August 1849
52 – Yellow fever outbreak, HMS Firebrand, West Indies, July 1861[7]
52 – Loch Ard, clipper ship out of Gravesend, wrecked off Loch Ard Gorge, just off the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia in thick fog on 1 June 1878
52 – HMS Wasp wrecked Tory Island, County Donegal, 22 September 1884
52 – Marine Colliery, Cwm near Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, Coal mine disaster 1 March 1927
51 – Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum fire, London, 27 January 1903 in an early psychiatric hospital holding up to 3,500 mental patients
51 – Summerland fire disaster, Douglas, Isle of Man, 2 August 1973 a leisure centre firestorm and human stampede
51 – Marchioness disaster, River Thames, 20 August 1989 the pleasure boat rammed by a dredger under a bridge
50 – Ariana Afghan Airlines aircrash into a house, Boeing 727 YA-FAR, Gatwick, 5 January 1969
49 – HMS Punjabi collision with the battleship HMS King George V, sinking 750 kilometres NNW of the Shetlands, 1 May 1942
49 – Hither Green rail crash, London, 5 November 1967 a broken rail causing derailment of an express train
49 – Booth's clothing factory fire, Huddersfield , 31 October 1941
47 – Gethin Mine, Merthyr Tydfil, Colliery mining disaster, South Wales, 19 February 1862
47 – R101 airship crash, Beauvais, France, 5 October 1930
47 – Samtampa wrecked off Sker Point in the Bristol Channel (death toll includes 8 Mumbles lifeboatmen), 1947
47 – Auchengeich coal mining disaster, Auchinloch, Lanarkshire, Scotland 18 September 1959
47 – Kegworth Air Disaster, British Midland Flight 92, Leicestershire, 8 January 1989, the pilot shut down the wrong engine and just missed the M1 Motorway
46 – Wreck of Confederate States of America blockade runner PS Lelia (39 fatalities) and lifeboat crew (7 fatalities) in Liverpool Bay, 14 January 1865
45 – Bentley Coal mine disaster, Bentley, South Yorkshire, 20 November 1931
45 – Six Bells Colliery mining disaster, Aberbeeg, Monmouthshire, 28 June 1960
45 – Sumburgh disaster 6 November 1986 a Brent oilfield CH-47 Chinook helicopter crash at sea
44 – R38 (ZR-2) airship crash, River Humber, near Hull, 24 August 1921
44 – MV Derbyshire, Bibby Line bulk carrier sank September 9 1980 during Typhoon Orchid, south of Japan (by tonnage the largest UK-flagged ship loss)
43 – Bourne End rail crash, near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, 30 September 1945, the experienced, conscientious driver had been working for 26 consecutive days
43 – Aquila Airways aircrash, Solent flying boat G-AKNU, near Southampton, 15 November 1957
43 – Moorgate tube crash, London Underground 28 February 1975 in the morning rush hour
41 – Handley Page Hastings aircrash, Little Baldon, Oxfordshire, 6 July 1965 - parachuting flight from RAF Abingdon [8]

Unknown fatalities

? -a transport {name unknown} lost November 14 1760 ^[8] on Sable Island carring troops of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot-later part of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. {See Sable Island link to Ships of war lost in 18th Century}

Sources

^ Bill Bryson; A Short History...;p 372; ISBN 0385 408188
^ Marshall, Logan, Sinking of the Titanic and Great Disasters of the Sea 1912.
^ clydside.co.uk - Shipping times
^ Grocott, p41.
^ [http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/churches/st_anns/eurydice.htm Memorials & Monuments in St Ann's Church - HMS Eurydice -]
^ Marshall, Logan, Sinking of the Titanic and Great Disasters of the Sea 1912.
^ On the Rocks: Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia
^ Canadian Biographies online - ELLIOT (Elliott), ROBERT

Terence Grocott - Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras (1997)

External links

[1] Bill Bryson; A Short History...;p 372; ISBN 0385 408188

[2] Marshall, Logan, Sinking of the Titanic and Great Disasters of the Sea 1912.

[3] ydside.co.uk - Shipping times

[4] Grocott, p41.

[5] [http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/churches/st_anns/eurydice.htm Memorials & Monuments in St Ann's Church - HMS Eurydice -]

[6] Marshall, Logan, Sinking of the Titanic and Great Disasters of the Sea 1912.

[7] On the Rocks: Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia

[8] Canadian Biographies online - ELLIOT (Elliott), ROBERT

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