List of major marine casualties from 1941 to 1950

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This list of major marine casualties from 1941 to 1950 records accidents in shipping with fatalities or high property damage in the fifth decade of the 20th century .

list

date	Surname	dead	Course of events
9/10 February 1941	Kervegan	26th	The British freighter Kervegan (2,018 GRT), which runs from Halifax to London , got caught in a severe storm off Nova Scotia and (presumably) overturned after the cargo had slipped . Although several emergency calls were made, none of the 26-man crew could be rescued. Only fragments of the ship were washed ashore on the coast of Cape Breton Island a few days later .
February 17, 1941	Gothenburg , Klas Horn and Klas Uggla	31	At the Horsfjärden base near Stockholm (Sweden) there was a boiler explosion on the Swedish destroyer Göteborg (1,040 ts). The resulting heating oil fire also spread to the destroyers Klas Horn and Klas Uggla (1,020 ts each) and a barge, which were moored next to the Gothenburg . The destroyers burned out, the barracks sank. A total of 31 people died and 11 others were injured. Except for the Klas Uggla , the ships could later be repaired and put back into service.
March 16, 1941	Bremen	0	At the Columbuskaje , the Bremen burned down after a ship's boy was set on fire, despite the flooding.
17./18. October 1941	Indra	25th	The Swedish freighter Indra (2,032 GRT) was lost in the Bay of Biscay for unexplained reasons. The ship, on the way from Barry to Huelva , passed Barry Island on October 16 and did not report from then on. Later a lifeboat and debris was washed up near Barry Island. The ship, which is over 40 years old, probably broke in heavy seas around the 17th / 18th. October apart and sank. Submarine attacks or mines are excluded as causes of loss. The entire crew of 25 men was killed.
November 25, 1941	Proteus	58	The Canadian bauxite freighter Proteus (10,563 GRT), which was a former US fleet tender, disappeared for unexplained reasons on the voyage from the Lesser Antilles to Ottawa . Presumably around November 25th, the ship broke apart in a storm in the eastern Caribbean and sank. No one is rescued from the 58-man crew. The approximately 30-year-old ship had lain idle in the port of Norfolk between 1924 and 1940. It is believed that the bulkheads and side walls were rusted through as a result of this long lay time and could have given way under the weight of a bauxite load in the storm. It is interesting here that the sister ships of the Proteus , the Cyclops 23 years earlier and the Nereus only a few weeks later, were lost under similarly mysterious circumstances. An enemy influence (submarine, mine) is excluded for the presumed sinking time and the place of loss.
December 7, 1941	Windflower	23	While securing the SC-58 convoy, the Canadian corvette Windflower (925 ts) collided with the freighter Zypenberg in the North Atlantic and sank. At the time of the accident there was thick fog. 23 crew members went down with the ship. About 70 survivors were saved.
December 12, 1941	Nereus	61	On the way from the Lesser Antilles to Baltimore, the Canadian ore freighter Nereus (10,647 GRT) disappeared for reasons that were not exactly clear. The ship loaded with bauxite, it was a former American fleet tender, probably broke in a strong storm and sank within a few minutes off the coast of Virginia . None of the 61-strong crew survived. Wreckage was never found. It is assumed later that the ship, which was 30 years old at the time, probably sank due to material fatigue . The side walls of the hull were gradually eroded by the coal, which had been transported for years, and could no longer withstand the stresses of the hurricane.
January 9, 1942	Lamoricière	301	The Lamoricière (4,712 GRT), a passenger ship of the French shipping company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique , was on its way from Algiers to Marseille with 394 passengers and crew when she received the emergency call of a freighter in distress. The ship changed course and got caught in a severe storm off the Balearic island of Menorca . Large amounts of seawater penetrated through a leak in the hull and flooded the boiler rooms. The Lamoricière finally sank in severe list . Only 93 people survived the accident.
January 17, 1942	San Jose	0	The two US freighters San José (3,404 GRT) and Santa Elisa (8,379 GRT) collided at dusk off Atlantic City . There were no personnel losses, but the United Fruit Company owned San José sank a short time later. The freighter Santa Elisa caught fire, but could be towed and later repaired.
January 18, 1942	Rosemonde	25th	In the area of ​​the Azores , the British submarine hunter Rosemonde (364 ts) disappeared with his entire crew of 25 men for unknown reasons . The armed trawler should have looked for two freighters that had drifted off a convoy in the storm, but never returned from this mission. Possibly the ship was in the night of 18./19. Sunk by the German submarine U 581 on January 1st .
February 9, 1942	Lafayette	1	In New York , the French transatlantic liner Normandie (79,280 GRT) of the CGT , which was launched there because of the war, was to be converted into a troop transport of the American Navy called Lafayette . Workers accidentally started fire in a bale of life jackets while cutting. As a result of the extinguishing attempts, the extinguishing water that was brought in in large quantities finally capsized Normandy . There was only one death in the accident, but more than 270 people were injured (mostly from smoke inhalation). The huge ship lay in the mud of the Brooklyn pier for a year and a half before it could be erected. The scrapping was not completed until October 1947.
February 15, 1942	Van Ghent	0	The Dutch destroyer Van Ghent (1,316 ts) ran aground near Tjilatjap on the Bamidjo Reef and was a total loss. The crew was completely rescued from the destroyer Banckert . The accident happened during the night, presumably because the crew was overtired.
February 18, 1942	Truxtun and Pollux	203	Off the coast of Newfoundland, an American convoy consisting of the supply ship Pollux (7,350 GRT) and two destroyers came off course in a snowstorm and ran aground near the Placentia Bay. The supply company and destroyer Truxtun (1,215 ts) stranded on the steep coast and were crushed by the swell . A total of 203 American seamen died, 110 of them were members of the destroyer crew and 93 members of the supply company's crew. 183 people were rescued from the rocks by residents of the nearby fishing village of St. Lawrence with chairs attached to ropes.
March 23, 1942	Launch and Scirocco	460	On the march back from the second battle in the Gulf of Syrte , the two Italian destroyers Lanciere (1,620 ts) and Scirocco (1,430 ts) got into a severe storm southeast of Sicily . After the failure of the engines, both ships overturned in waves several meters high and sank. A total of 460 sailors (226 on board the Launchers and 234 on board the Scirocco ) were killed here. Only seven survivors were rescued by sea planes the following day.
May 1, 1942	Punjabi	49	During the securing of the Allied Arctic convoy PQ 15 , the British battleship King George V rammed the zigzagging destroyer Punjabi (1,854 ts) in thick fog , which broke in two and sank. 49 sailors went down with the ship. 209 crew members of the destroyer were rescued. As a result of the collision, the battleship was also severely damaged at the bow and the underside of the hull, as the depth charges stored in the demolished stern section of the destroyer exploded under the ship.
August 6, 1942	U 612	2	The German submarine U 612 (769 ts) sank near Gotenhafen after a collision with the German submarine U 444 . Both boats collided during a training voyage. Two men of the crew of U 612 were killed, 43 men were rescued by U 444 . The sunken boat was later raised and put back into service.
August 22, 1942	Ingraham	218	While securing the AT-20 convoy, the American destroyer Ingraham (1,839 ts) collided with the American tanker Chemung off Nova Scotia . At the time of the collision there was thick fog. The destroyer sank immediately after the collision, tearing 218 crew members with it. Only ten sailors were saved.
September 2, 1942	U 222	42	In the Baltic Sea, west of Pillau , the two German submarines U 222 (769 ts) and U 626 collided in the dark during a training mission. U 222 sank within a few minutes, with 42 crew members being killed. Only three survivors were rescued by U 626 , which was later able to return to the port of Pillau, severely damaged.
September 26, 1942	I 33	32	In the port of Truk , the large Japanese submarine I 33 (2,584 ts) sank as a result of water ingress caused by the accidental opening of the valves on the aft trim tanks. The submarine sank in two minutes, with 32 sailors drowning. I 33 was lifted in December 1942 and put back into service.
October 2, 1942	Curacoa	338	During an escort mission in the North Atlantic, about 60 nautical miles northwest of Ireland, the zigzag course British anti-aircraft cruiser Curacoa (4,850 ts) was rammed by the British luxury liner Queen Mary , which was marching at high speed (28 knots) and broke in two. 338 sailors went down with the cruiser. Only 26 survivors, including the commander, were rescued by other escort vehicles. The luxury liner made no rescue attempt because of the threat from submarines.
November 22, 1942	Sokrushitelny	35	On November 21, 1942 , the Soviet destroyer Sokrushitelny (1,635 ts) lost its bow in a heavy storm in the Barents Sea during a security mission for the allied convoy QP 15 , which was running from Murmansk to Iceland . The damaged ship sank the following day. 35 seafarers were killed. Most of the crew, a total of 187 seamen were rescued, was taken up by three other Soviet destroyers.
November 30, 1942	Uckermark and Thor	54	In the port of Yokohama , a cargo tank on board the German tank and supply ship Uckermark (10,698 GRT) exploded for reasons that were not exactly clarified (flying sparks from welding work? ). The explosion was so violent that the German auxiliary cruiser Thor (3,862 GRT) lying next to the ship was completely destroyed. Both ships were lost. The explosion and fires killed a total of 54 people, including 13 on board the Thor .
December 12, 1942	CJ Barkdull	58	In the North Atlantic , probably about 100 nautical miles east of Halifax, the Panamanian flagged US tanker CJ Barkdull (6,773 GRT) was lost for reasons that were not exactly clear. Neither the cause of the loss nor the place of destruction are known. The entire 58-man crew went down with the ship, which was considered lost. The ship, which originally belonged to convoy UGS-3, lost contact with the other steamers in the fog on December 12, 1942 and has not been seen again since then. Presumably the tanker sank in a storm or fell victim to a floating mine. Submarine attacks can be ruled out for the presumed time of the sinking.
January 12, 1943	Been	14th	The American destroyer Worden (1,726 ts) was hit by a large wave during a landing maneuver on the Aleutian island of Amchitka and pushed onto the rocky coast near Constantine Harbor . The ship broke apart and eventually had to be abandoned. 14 crew members were killed in the shipwreck. Around 180 men were rescued from the destroyer Dewey .
January 24, 1943	Ville de Tamatave	88	The former Vichy-French freighter Ville de Tamatave (4,933 GRT) sailing under the British flag , on the way from Cardiff to New York , was in distress on January 24, 1943 in a storm in the North Atlantic. The ship also made an emergency call in which it was reported that the rudder had been damaged, and then did not respond. The freighter sank most likely on the same day with its crew of 71 men and 17 passengers in an unknown position and is considered lost.
February 24, 1943	Vandal	37	The British submarine Vandal (540 ts) sank during a training voyage about 1.5 nautical miles north of the Isle of Arran ( Firth of Clyde ) as a result of a diving accident. The entire crew of 37 men was killed. The wreck was found in 1994.
March 6-12, 1943	Thomas Hooker	0	The American Liberty freighter Thomas Hooker (7,176 GRT), part of Allied convoys ON-168, broke apart in a severe winter storm about 600 nautical miles south of Cape Farvel in the early morning of March 6, 1943 . Although the ship broke through in the middle, the two halves of the hull remained connected. The entire crew (62 men) was rescued by the British corvette Pimpernel . The half-sunken wreck of the ship drifted around the Atlantic for six days before it was accidentally sighted by the German submarine U 653 on March 12, 1943 and sunk with torpedoes.
March 27, 1943	Dasher	379	During a take-off and landing exercise in the Firth of Clyde , a Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber fell on the deck of the British escort aircraft carrier Dasher (8,200 ts) and exploded. The fire ignited gasoline vapors in the lower hold, which triggered further subsequent explosions. Within five minutes the carrier was completely destroyed and sank. A total of 379 sailors and pilots died in the disaster. 149 crew members survived, some with severe burns, and were rescued by coastal vehicles.
May 30, 1943	Untamed	37	The British submarine Untamed (540 ts) sank in the Firth of Clyde during a maneuver as a result of water ingress in the torpedo room, which was probably caused by an incorrectly installed valve. The entire crew of 37 men was killed. The submarine was later lifted and put back into service as Vitality .
June 8, 1943	Mutsu	1,121	In the Bay of Hiroshima, near the island of Suo Oshima, on board the Japanese battleship Mutsu (39,100 ts) , which was anchored, a serious explosion occurred in the aft ammunition magazine for unknown reasons. The ship broke into two parts and sank, with the torn stern able to stay afloat for almost twelve hours. 1,121 sailors died in the disaster. Only 354 survivors were saved. Later investigations showed that the loss of the ship could clearly be traced back to an internal explosion, whereby both powder self-ignition and sabotage could be possible.
June 13, 1943	Escanaba	103	The American coast guard ship Escanaba (1,005 ts) used to secure the Allied convoy GS-24 sank near Ivittuut (Greenland) after a violent explosion. Only two survivors out of 105 crew members were recovered from other US coast guard vessels. What ultimately caused the explosion could never be determined for sure. Both an internal explosion (from ammunition?) And a floating mine could have caused the sinking.
November 29, 1943	Perkins	9	The American destroyer Perkins (1,465 ts) sank east of New Guinea after a collision with the Australian troop transport Duntroon . Nine of the destroyer's 237-man crew were killed.
January 3, 1944	Gymnast	138	On the morning of January 3, 1944, after a maneuver, two powerful internal explosions occurred within an hour on board the American destroyer Turner (1,630 ts) anchored off New York City , which caused the ship to sink. 138 crew members went down with the destroyer. About 140 survivors were rescued by harbor vehicles hurrying to the area. The accident was probably caused by the ammunition self- igniting.
5th / 6th January 1944	St. Augustine	115	On the night of the 5th and 6th of the year, a collision off the coast of New Jersey . January 1944 the American gunboat St. Augustine accidentally with the American tanker Camas Meadows . The approximately 1,700 ts large gunboat sank within just five minutes and dragged 115 crew members with it. Only 30 survivors were later rescued by the tanker.
April 13, 1944	Fort Stikine	1,500	In the port of Bombay (then British India ), a cotton cargo fire broke out on the British cargo ship Fort Stikine (7,142 GRT). The fire later spread to the other holds, causing the explosives on board to explode, including around 1,400 tons of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and ammunition. The devastating explosion caused severe damage to both the port and the city of Bombay. 13 ships with a total of around 50,000 GRT were destroyed in the port . There was considerable loss of life on board the ships, among the fire-fighting and rescue workers and the population. Around 1,500 people died or were missing, and around 3,000 people were injured. Only the use of the British-Indian Army prevented an even greater catastrophe. The last fire could not be extinguished until four days after the explosion.
April 19, 1944	John Straub	55	The American tanker John Straub (7,180 GRT ) sank near the island of Sanak ( Aleutian Islands , Northeast Pacific) after a violent cargo explosion, killing 55 of 68 people on board. The ship broke apart and sank. The cause of the loss is not exactly certain, and a mine hit or a torpedo by the Japanese submarine I-180 could have caused the sinking.
May 2, 1944	Parrot	3	Off Norfolk , the US destroyer Parrot (1,190 ts) was badly damaged after a collision with the US freighter John Norton and had to be set aground. Three people were killed. The destroyer was scrapped from 1947.
May 21, 1944	LST-353	163	In a part of the port of Pearl Harbor called West Loch and off the coast, the landing ship LST-353 (1,780 ts), loaded with ammunition and fuel, exploded for unknown reasons . The explosion sank or damaged 14 other ships, killing a total of 163 sailors and soldiers. About 400 men were wounded. The disaster is commonly referred to as the West Loch Disaster .
June 14, 1944	Shiratsuyu	104	During an escort operation, the Japanese destroyer Shiratsuyu (1,685 ts) and the tanker Seiyo Maru secured by it collided around 90 nautical miles southeast of the Strait of Surigao . As a result of the collision, the depth charges exploded on board the warship, which then sank quickly. 104 crew members of the destroyer were killed.
July 17, 1944	Port Chicago Disaster	320	In the port of Port Chicago in California , the ammunition freighter EA Bryan (7,212 GRT) and the transporter Quinault Victory (7,608 GRT) exploded while loading ammunition . A total of 320 sailors and soldiers were killed in the disaster, an estimated 5,000 tons of ammunition exploded, including 202 black navy members of the loading battalion working on site. About 390 people were injured. The accident was probably caused by a torpedo falling from a crane . After the tragic accident, the black workers refused to resume dangerous work without adequate occupational safety, which led to the so-called Port Chicago mutiny.
September 13, 1944	Warrington	248	The American destroyer Warrington (1,850 ts) was caught in a hurricane off the coast of Florida during an escort mission . The crew fought the weather for almost ten hours, then penetrating water put out the boiler fires and capsized the ship. 248 sailors went down with the destroyer. Only 73 survivors were later rescued by an 11-ship rescue flotilla.
September 14, 1944	Bedloe and Jackson	47	The two American coast guard ships Bedloe (232 ts) and Jackson (230 ts) sank off Cape Hatteras in the same hurricane that caused the sinking of the destroyer Warrington the day before . Both ships capsized in waves up to 20 meters high and sank about 15 nautical miles from the coast. 47 sailors died. Rescue workers were later able to recover a total of 32 survivors from the two ships.
October 25, 1944	Skeena	15th	The Canadian destroyer Skeena (1,337 ts) sank in a storm off Iceland . The ship sought refuge in Reykjavík harbor from the storm , but was thrown onto the bank by the waves and was completely lost. 15 men of the crew were killed.
November 10, 1944	Mount Hood	432	The American ammunition transporter Mount Hood (7,780 GRT), loaded with 3,800 tons of explosives and bombs, exploded in the port of the Admiralty Island of Manus . The explosion killed all 261 crew members on board the transporter and 171 people on nearby ships. Furthermore, 22 other ships were damaged, some severely, and around 400 people were injured. The accident was probably caused by improperly stowed ammunition. More detailed investigations could not take place because only fragments of the ammunition ship were found.
December 18, 1944	Typhoon Cobra	790	The 3rd US fleet got caught in a severe typhoon during a sea ​​supply maneuver off Luzon . The three American destroyers Hull (1,465 ts), Monaghan (1,465 ts) and Spence (2,050 ts) sank in winds of up to 120 knots (222 km / h) and meter-high waves, and 28 other ships were damaged. 790 sailors died and 80 were injured.
January 9, 1945	Groningen IV	13	On the voyage from Amsterdam to Lemmer , the ferry Groningen IV used on this line collided with the sister ship Jan Nieveen, also used here, and began to sink shortly afterwards. A total of 13 people were trapped in the crash in the passenger compartment and drowned.
January 29, 1945	Serpens	255	In front of Lunga Point on Guadalcanal , on board the American ammunition transporter Serpens (7,180 GRT), the ship was used by the United States Coast Guard , a heavy explosion occurred while reloading depth charges, which has not yet been clarified exactly, in which the ship was completely destroyed . A total of 196 members of the United States Coast Guard, 57 members of the United States Army , a doctor on board and a soldier on land who were hit by flying debris died. To date, this is the worst disaster in the history of the United States Coast Guard.
4th July 1945	Bahia	336	The Brazilian light cruiser Bahia (3,100 ts), an older ship dating from 1909, sank in the mid-Atlantic, near Sankt-Peter-und-Sankt-Peter-und-Sankt , after a severe explosion on board (which was probably caused by a shooting accident during an anti-aircraft exercise) Paul’s Rock . The ship went down in just three minutes, killing 336 sailors. The loss only became known on July 8th, when 22 survivors were rescued from the British freighter Balfe . Speculations that a German submarine is said to have caused the incident turned out to be baseless. Survivors later testified that an anti-aircraft missile accidentally hit and detonated the depth charges on the stern during a target practice.
February 4, 1946	Yukon	11	In Johnstone Bay in Prince William Sound , the Canadian passenger steamer Yukon (5,747 GRT) hit a rock at dusk and sank. Eleven people drowned in the lower hold or froze in the cold water. About 120 people were saved.
September 13, 1946	Marit II	12	In the Caribbean, the Norwegian tanker Marit II (7,417 GRT) , which ran from Curaçao to New York , sank in a hurricane . Of the 36 people on board, 24 were rescued, but the captain, his wife and ten sailors went down with the ship. The fully loaded tanker probably broke apart as a result of material fatigue.
March 30, 1947	Novadoc	24	The Canadian freighter Novadoc (1,354 GRT) sank in a severe spring storm off the coast of Nova Scotia . None of the 24 people on board survived. Rescue workers later found only debris, but no bodies.
16./17. April 1947	Texas City Explosion	486	The ammonium nitrate cargo on the French cargo ship Grandcamp (7,176 GRT) exploded in a fire in the port of Texas City ( Texas , USA ). Due to the explosion of the Grandcamp , the US naval transporter Highflyer (6,214 GRT) was torn from its berth and hurled against the US naval transporter Wilson B. Keene (7,176 GRT). A fire in the cargo (ammonium nitrate and sulfur ) also broke out on the highflyer , which led to the explosion of the highflyer in the early morning of April 17th . All three ships were destroyed. The explosions caused severe damage in the port and in the city of Texas City. There was considerable loss of life on board the ships, among the fire-fighting and rescue workers and among the population. 468 people died, 100 more were missing and around 3,000 people were injured. Over 15,000 Texas City residents were affected by the effects of the explosions.
April 17, 1947	Sir Harvey Adamson	269	After leaving Rangoon ( Myanmar ) with 269 passengers and crew on board, the British passenger and cargo steamer Sir Harvey Adamson (1,030 GRT) of the British India Steam Navigation Company steamed into a storm coming from the southwest. The ship was never seen again. It is believed that the Sir Harvey Adamson ran into a WWII marine mine and sank before it could make emergency calls.
April 23, 1947	Velvet ampha	39	The British Liberty freighter Samtampa (7,219 GRT) ran aground at Sker Point in the Bristol Channel during a strong hurricane and broke into three parts. The entire crew of 39 men was killed in the accident.
April 23, 1947	Edward, Prince of Wales	8th	While trying to help the British Liberty freighter Samtampa , which was stranded at Sker Point in the Bristol Channel , the lifeboat Edward, Prince of Wales, stationed in Mumbles , was hit by an extremely high wave and capsized. All eight crew members were killed in this accident.
November 20, 1947	Hamburg	3	The motor lifeboat Hamburg stationed in Büsum did not return from a mission for unexplained reasons. It is believed that it fell victim to a WWII mine.
June 11, 1948	Kjøbenhavn	48	On the way from Copenhagen to Aalborg, the Danish passenger ferry Kjøbenhavn (1,670 ts) runs at the sandbar Hals Barre east of Hals on a sea ​​mine from the Second World War. The ship sinks about 5 o'clock in the morning with a heavy list within ten minutes; 6 crew members and 42 passengers drown.
4th December 1948	Kiang Ya	3,520	In the early evening of December 4, 1948, the Chinese passenger ship Kiang Ya left the port of Shanghai on a voyage to Ningbo . Due to the civil war that was prevailing at the time, there were more than three times as many passengers on the ship as permitted. At the mouth of the Huangpu Jiang River, a momentous explosion occurred in the aft ship, which led to its sinking in a relatively short time. No help could be called due to the damage to the radio system during the explosion. The cause of the explosion is believed to be a sea mine laid by the Japanese during World War II. According to official figures, 3,520 people were killed in the accident, and unconfirmed sources even assume 3,900 victims. The event is thus the second largest civil shipping disaster after the Second World War, behind the Doña Paz disaster with 4,386 casualties and before the Le Joola disaster with 1,863 victims.
25./26. August 1949	Cochino	7th	On August 25, the American submarine Cochino (1,526 ts) got into a hurricane off the coast of Norway , which damaged the snorkel. The force of the vibrations caused by the impact of the waves was transferred to the interior of the hull, which in turn caused a fire and two battery explosions. Since the fire could not be contained, the boat had to be abandoned the following day. Almost the entire crew was recovered from the accompanying Tusk submarine . However, six Tusk men and a technician on board the Cochino drowned .
September 17, 1949	Noronic	122	The 36-year-old Canadian passenger steamer Noronic (6,095 GRT) of Canada Steamship Lines was anchored in the port of Toronto during an overnight cruise through the Great Lakes when a fire broke out on board that has not yet been clarified. The ship was completely burned out within 20 minutes; 122 of the 695 people on board were killed. Many of the dead could not be identified because of the enormous heat.
21./22. September 1949	Fournier	72	The Argentine mine clearing boat Fournier (450 ts) disappeared in the night of September 21st to 22nd for reasons that were not certain for sure in the Strait of Magellan . After search operations by the Argentine and Chilean navies, some bodies, two boats and the remains of the cargo were found. Based on the clocks of the dead and the weather report, it was assumed that the ship capsized in heavy seas in the morning hours of September 22nd or ran aground on a rock and sank.
4th December 1949	Pieteälf	11	On the voyage from Rügenwalde to Emden , the Hamburg freighter Pieteälf (342 GRT), loaded with grain, sank in the northern part of the Elbe estuary when the captain continued the voyage despite a storm warning and urgent warning from the sea pilot. The captain and all ten crew members died in the sinking.
January 12, 1950	Truculent	57	On the Thames, the British submarine Truculent, which was on a test drive, collided with the Swedish tanker Divina and immediately began to sink. Only 15 of the 75 people on board, including 18 shipyard workers, could be rescued.
January 31, 1950	Fidamus	8th	On the voyage from Wismar to Antwerp, the Bremen freighter Fidamus (743 GRT) loaded with 900 tons of potash sank about four nautical miles north of Langeoog. Eight of the 16 crew members died, although an oncoming British tug immediately initiated rescue measures. The cause of the sinking could not be clarified.
February 12, 1950	Karhula	11	On the voyage from Hangö to Port Saint Louis with a cargo of cellulose, the 40-year-old Finnish freighter Karhula sank in a severe storm in the sea area 15 nautical miles west of Den Helder . Of the 29 people on board, including three stowaways , only 18 were rescued.
March 7, 1950	Cranz	19th	On the way back from a fishing trip in the European Arctic Ocean, the Hamburg trawler Cranz sank in heavy seas near Lofoten , after it was probably capsized by a monster wave . Rescue measures were unsuccessful. The 19-person crew was killed.
June 22, 1950	Ormen Friske	15th	On the voyage from Stockholm to Rotterdam, the Viking ship replica Ormen Friske got caught in a severe storm in the German Bight and broke apart. All 15 crew members were killed. Since no radio devices were carried, no emergency call could be made. The cause of the accident could not be sufficiently clarified, but investigations on parts of the wreck showed that construction defects could have had a significant influence on the sinking.
August 25, 1950	Bennevolence	18th	The US hospital ship Benevolence (11,800 t) sank in the Bay of San Francisco after a collision with the freighter Mary Luckenbach . 18 people were killed.
3rd December 1950	IP Suhr	20th	The Danish freighter IP Suhr (1,999 GRT) ran aground on the voyage from Gdansk to Aarhus off the southern tip of Sweden and sank. Of the 21-man crew, only the machinist could be rescued.
December 15, 1950	Aghios Spyridon	27	During a hurricane, the Greek freighter Aghios Spyridon (3,650 GRT) sank off the north-west coast of France. In a large-scale rescue operation, only eight of the 35 crew members were rescued by other ships hurrying to help.

See also

• List of disasters

Footnotes

1. ↑ Whitley, Mike J .: Destroyers in World War II. Technology, classes, types . Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1991, p. 161.
2. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-03.htm
3. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-11.htm
4. ↑ http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?58898
5. ↑ http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2770.html
6. ↑ Whitley, Mike J .: Destroyers in World War II. Technology, classes, types . Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1991, p. 193.
7. ↑ http://www.ssi.tu-harburg.de/doc/webseiten_dokumente/ssi/veroeffnahmungen/Grim100_Krueger.pdf
8. ↑ Abendblatt.de
9. ↑ Using Full-Scale Capsizing Accidents for the Validation of Numerical Seakeeping Simulations (THH)