List of the most serious shipping disasters

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The list of the worst catastrophes in shipping contains a listing of the worst catastrophes in the history of shipping and shipping in terms of loss of life.

The worst maritime disasters (by number of victims)

Listed are disasters with at least 2,500 people killed.

date Surname Victim description
  -255 Roman fleet from Ecnomus ~ 100,000 Due to a strong storm, about 300 ships of the Roman war fleet (including about 100 previously captured Carthaginian ships) sank after the sea ​​battle at Cape Bon on the return trip from Africa to Sicily in the Mediterranean. An estimated 100,000 soldiers, rowers and prisoners were killed in this disaster. It is considered to be the greatest shipwreck in history.
  1281 Mongol invasion fleet ~ 70,000 In 1281, a typhoon destroyed most of the second Mongolian-Korean force of Kublai Khan during a new attempt to invade Japan after the Battle of Kōan off the island of Kyūshū . Because of the repetition of this event in 1274, the Japanese were strengthened in their belief that they were protected by the gods, so they call the two typhoons the wind of the gods (Japanese: kamikaze ). Probably more than 2,000 ships with an estimated 70,000 people on board failed in the typhoon.
  842 Abbasid fleet ~ 30,000 A fleet of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutasim , about 400 rowing warships ( similar to the Byzantine dromons ) and transporters, which probably had the aim of capturing Constantinople , failed off the southwest coast of today's Turkey, for example in the area of ​​the Kibyrrhaiotai theme , in a series of severe winter storms. The catastrophe probably occurred in early January 842. Only seven ships are said to have returned from the enterprise in the end. An estimated 30,000 seamen, soldiers and rowers were killed.
  -492 Persian fleet ~ 20,000 According to Herodotus (Hdt. VI, 44), during the first Persian expedition under Mardonios, the accompanying fleet was destroyed by a storm while circumnavigating the Athos peninsula in northern Greece. He named almost 300 ships and around 20,000 dead as numbers.
  1588 Spanish Armada ~ 13,000 Around 40 ships (out of a total of 130) of the Spanish Armada were lost in a series of shipwrecks, especially along the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, after the attempt to invade England had to be abandoned. On the way back to Spain around the British Isles, the ships, some of which had already been damaged by combat, were hit by severe storms.

Wrecks of the fleet are still scattered on the sea floor from the French coast to Iceland, the total cargo of gold ducats and works of art is considered the greatest sunken treasure in history. In addition to the 40 ships that were lost due to shipwreck, about 25 ships were previously destroyed in battles with the English fleet, so that a total of around half of all Spanish ships were lost. An estimated 13,000 people, including 9,000 marines, were killed.

  1274 Mongol-Korean invasion fleet ~ 10,000 A typhoon killed an estimated 10,000 men and thus a third of the Mongolian-Korean armed force of Kublai Khan , who wanted to subdue Japan, off the islands of Kyushu and Tsushima .
Jan. 30, 1945 Wilhelm Gustloff ~ 9,000 The German passenger ship Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in the Baltic Sea by the Soviet submarine S-13 , and around 9,000 people drowned. The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff , the Goya , the Steuben and the Cap Arcona towards the end of the Second World War are often referred to as the most lossy ship sinking in world history - the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff as the greatest ship disaster in history. In relation to the overall event, however, this only applies to modern times, since in antiquity and in the Middle Ages even more lossy shipwrecks of entire fleets occurred. However, the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is the most lossy ship sinking in world history, based on a single ship.
 Oct. 1780 Great hurricane of 1780 ~ 8,500 During the hurricane of October 1780 , the hurricane with the highest casualties in the Atlantic to date, a total of eight British warships sank in the area between the Lesser Antilles and Hispaniola , including three ships of the line and five frigates; the French fleet also lost three ships of the line and one frigate. Both navies had drawn together strong naval forces in the eastern Caribbean in the context of the American Revolutionary War . In addition, 40 French and 19 Dutch merchant ships were lost in the storm off Grenada and Martinique . Presumably, more than 8,500 seafarers and marines drowned (about 4,000 soldiers died on board the sunken French transport ships alone). In total, the hurricane, combined with the devastation on land, claimed an estimated 22,000 to 27,000 deaths.
Oct 25, 1541 Fleet of Charles V ~ 8,000 At the end of September 1541, Emperor Charles V attempted to wrest the port of Algiers from the Ottoman Empire and the Ottoman governor there. His fleet, mostly consisting of Spanish ships, over 400 ships (including around 80  galleys ) with around 36,000 seamen, rowers and soldiers on board, was hit by a severe storm off Algiers between 23 and 25 October 1541. As a result, 17 galleys and 130 transport carracks sank or stranded . Around 8,000 sailors and soldiers were killed in the storm. Another 9,000 or so soldiers who had previously been landed were completely wiped out by the troops of the Ottoman governor. The company subsequently had to be canceled.
June 25, 1944 Tango Maru and Ryusei Maru ~ 8,000 On the basis of decrypted radio messages, the American submarine USS  Rasher (SS-269) attacked a Japanese convoy near Lombok ( Indonesia ) and sank first the freighter Tango Maru with 3,500 slave laborers and prisoners of war on board, later the troop transport Ryusei Maru , on which 6,600 were carried Soldiers found. A total of around 8,000 people were killed, around 3,000 on board the Tango Maru and 4,998 on the Ryusei Maru .
April 16, 1945 Goya ~ 7,000 The German freighter Goya was torpedoed in the Baltic Sea by the Soviet submarine  L-3 . According to estimates, around 7,000 people drowned, mostly refugees from West and East Prussia and fleeing soldiers.
July 29, 1566 Danish-Luebian fleet ~ 6,000 A storm sank numerous ships of the Danish-Luebian fleet, which lay off Gotland during the so-called Three Crown War. A total of eleven Danish and three (or four?) Lübeck ships sank, with about 6,000 seafarers and soldiers killed. Among the victims was the mayor and commanding admiral of Lübeck , Bartholomeus Tinnappel . Only 82 survivors from all 14 ships were rescued.
Sep 18 1944 Jun'yō Maru ~ 5,620 The Japanese freighter Junyo Maru transported 2,300 Allied prisoners of war and 4,200 civil slave labor from Batavia ( Java ) to Padang ( Sumatra ) and was sunk by the British submarine Tradewind shortly before its arrival . About 5,620 people died when the ship went down.
June 29, 1944 Toyama Maru ~ 5,600 On the Japanese troop transport Toyama Maru were 6,000 soldiers of an infantry brigade, which were to be brought from Kyushu (Japan) to Okinawa , when it was torpedoed by the American submarine USS  Sturgeon (SS-187). About 5,600 soldiers were killed, drowned or burned by the torpedo explosions when the cargo of petrol barrels also on board caught fire.
0Nov 1, 1596 Spanish fleet association ~ 5,500 A Spanish fleet of around 140 ships, including 24  galleons and 53 transporters, which should have supported the rebellion in Ireland against the English claim to rule with troops , got into a severe storm while approaching about 120 nautical miles northwest of Cape Finisterre . At least five galleons and 38 other ships sank. It is estimated that around 5,500 seamen and marines went down with the ships. With the sinking of the large galleons La Capitana de Levante and Santiago , around 60,000 ducats were also lost, which is why the company was also viewed as a financial disaster.
0Nov 7, 1941 Armenia ~ 5,000 The Soviet passenger ship Armenija , used to evacuate the wounded and refugees from the Crimean peninsula in front of the advancing German Wehrmacht , was sunk by German aircraft in front of Hursuf . The steamer sank within a few minutes. There were an estimated 5,000 people on board, including many wounded from the previously evacuated Sevastopol hospitals . Only eight survivors are said to have been rescued, which means that around 5,000 dead can be assumed.
Aug 19, 1944 Tamatsu Maru 4,890 The Japanese landing craft mother ship Tamatsu Maru used as a troop transport was torpedoed and sunk west of Luzon by the American submarine USS  Spadefish (SS-411) in the morning hours of August 19, 1944 . 4,755 Japanese soldiers and 135 sailors sank with the ship.
0May 3, 1945 Cap Arcona ~ 4,500 The German passenger ship Cap Arcona , anchored in Neustadt Bay , was set on fire and sunk on May 3, 1945, shortly before the end of the Second World War, by British Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers, with most of the approximately 4,600 prisoners on board from the concentration camp Neuengamme perished. The high number of victims also came about because the German guards left the prisoners locked below deck. The sinking, along with those of the Wilhelm Gustloff , the Goya and the Steuben, was one of the most lossy ship sinks in the Baltic Sea during the final phase of the Second World War and modern times as a whole.
Dec. 20, 1987 Doña Paz 4,386 The Filipino ferry Doña Paz collided with the tanker Vector on December 20, 1987 en route from Leyte to Manila near Mindoro . There was an explosion and a subsequent fire. Only 24 survivors of the Doña Paz and two crew members of the Vector were rescued. The following official investigation came to a casualty of 4,317 passengers , 58 crew members of the Doña Paz and eleven crew members of the Vector . It is the worst shipping accident in peacetime.
Feb 11, 1944 Oria ~ 4,100 The cargo ship Oria used by the German Wehrmacht to transport prisoners was stranded in a heavy storm on the rocky coast near Cape Sounion and broke apart. On board the completely overloaded steamer running from Rhodes to Piraeus were 4,046 Italian military internees , 90 German soldiers and 13 Greeks. The first rescue vehicles only reached the site of the disaster 24 hours later, but were only able to rescue 21 Italians (other sources speak of 49), six Germans and seven Greeks. Around 4,100 people were killed.
Nov 22, 1270 Fleet of Charles I. ~ 4,000 As part of the preparations for the seventh crusade , a fleet of the Sicilian King Charles I of Anjou got into a severe storm off the port of Trapani around November 22, 1270 . At least 28 larger transport ships and 30 to 40 smaller ships sank or were lost due to stranding. It is estimated that around 4,000 sailors and soldiers were killed in the process. After this disaster, Charles I had to cancel his participation in the crusade.
Oct 18, 1562 Spanish galley squadron ~ 4,000 Off the Spanish coast, near Málaga , a Spanish squadron consisting of 28 galleys got caught  in a strong hurricane. 25 galleys capsized and sank in meter-high waves, with around 4,000 seamen, marines and rowing slaves drowning. Don Juan de Mendoza , the Spanish squadron commander, was among the dead . Only three galleys later reached the port of Málaga damaged.
  1728 British Navy Association ~ 4,000 During the Anglo-Spanish War from 1727 to 1729, a British naval formation of 20 ships, including eleven ships of the line , attempted to block the Spanish-controlled port of Portobelo (in present-day Panama ) . The blockade was unsuccessful, but between the summer of 1726 and January 1728, an estimated 4,000 British seamen and marines died from the stressful tropical climate and from diseases, especially yellow fever , without any combat . Among the dead were the commanders of the association, Vice Admiral Francis Hosier and his successor, Rear Admiral Edward St. Lo .
Feb 10, 1945 Steuben ~ 4,000 The German passenger ship Steuben , loaded with 2,800 wounded, 800 refugees from West and East Prussia and around 500 soldiers as well as members of the medical personnel, was torpedoed and sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13 in the night hours off Stolpmünde . A small escort vehicle was able to save around 300 survivors. An estimated 4,000 people were killed.
18 Mar 1648 Venetian Fleet Association ~ 3,600 During the war for Crete , a Venetian fleet of 20 galleys and 17 sailing ships was hit by a severe storm off Psara . 18 galleys and at least nine sailing ships were shipwrecked in the storm. Around 3,600 seafarers, embarked soldiers and rowers were killed. The Venetian fleet chief, Giovanni Battista Grimani, was among the victims .
Nov 17, 1944 Mayasan Maru ~ 3,600 The Japanese cargo ship Mayasan Maru , used as a troop transport , with over 5,000 Japanese soldiers on board en route from Imari to Shanghai , was torpedoed and sunk in the East China Sea by the American submarine USS  Picuda (SS-382). As a result of an approaching storm, only around 1,400 survivors were rescued. Around 3,600 people drowned.
17 Sep 1782 British Navy Association ~ 3,500 After the Battle of Les Saintes , a British naval unit under Admiral Thomas Graves on the way home to England got caught in a hurricane off Newfoundland . Five ships of the line, including three captured French ships, and at least seven other ships sank in the storm. An estimated 3,500 seamen and marines drowned.
June 17, 1940 RMS Lancastria ~ 3,500 The British liner Lancastria was bombed by German planes and sunk in the roadstead off Saint-Nazaire . When the ship (over 6,000?) Was overloaded with refugees, evacuated soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force and British civilians, an estimated 3,500 people were killed. 2,477 survivors were later rescued.
0Dec. 4, 1948 Kiang Ya ~ 3,200 The Chinese passenger ship Kiang Ya , overloaded with an estimated 4,000 people, including many civil war refugees , sank in the mouth of the Huangpu Jiang after a severe explosion on board. The explosion may have been caused by an undiscovered and cleared Japanese sea mine from World War II. It is believed that 3,200 people were killed in the sinking. About 700 (or 1000?) Survivors are said to have been saved.
Oct 29, 1805 British Navy Association ~ 3,000 After the Battle of Trafalgar , the victorious British fleet, which had boarded and conquered a total of eleven French and Spanish ships of the line in the battle , ran into a strong storm that lasted several days northwest of Cape Trafalgar . A total of seven of the prizes , which had already been badly damaged by the battle , sank in the hurricane or were stranded on the coast. A total of around 3,000 seamen and marines were killed, including many wounded who could not save themselves from the ships. The sinking of the French liner Indomptable near Cádiz alone claimed more than 1,000 lives.
06 Sep 1776 French-Dutch convoy ~ 3,000 A severe hurricane hit a French-Dutch convoy lying in the bay off Pointe-à-Pitre ( Guadeloupe ). Of the around 100 merchant ships, richly loaded with bananas, sugar cane and pineapples, around 60 sank in a storm or crashed on the coast. It is estimated that up to 3,000 seafarers were killed. On land or on the surrounding islands, another 3,000 people died as a result of the storm. It was the Atlantic tropical storm with the highest number of victims up to this point before the hurricane of 1780 (see above).
Sep 10 2011 Spice Islander I. 2,967 The Tanzanian ferry Spice Islander I sank in the early morning hours of September 10, 2011 between the islands of Unguja and Pemba, which belong to the Zanzibar archipelago, as a result of overloading. Although designed for around 700 people, there were over 3,500 people on board. Only 619 survivors were later rescued, 2,967 people were killed.
0May 3, 1945 Thielbek ~ 2,800 The German cargo ship Thielbek , anchored in Neustädter Bucht , was set on fire and sunk by British Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers on May 3, 1945, shortly before the end of World War II and together with the Cap Arcona , most of those on board around 2,800 prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp perished. The high number of victims also came about because the German guards left the prisoners locked below deck.
0Feb 8, 1944 Petrella ~ 2,670 The steamer Petrella , in German service , with 3,173 Italian military internees on board, was torpedoed and sunk off Crete by the British submarine HMS  Sportsman . At the time of the attack, the ship was clearly marked as a prisoner transport and had the identifiers POW ( prisoners of war ) on the sides of the hull, but was attacked nonetheless. An estimated 2,670 prisoners were killed. The high numbers of casualties can also be attributed to the fact that the German guards did not release some of the imprisoned Italians and even shot them.
0December 3, 1941 Iosif Stalin ~ 2,600 The Soviet troop transport Iosif Stalin , used to evacuate the Soviet garrison from Hangö in front of the approaching German troops and with 5,589 soldiers on board, ran into the German "Corbetha" mine lock in the Gulf of Finland . The ship sank after three mine hits and was also hit by Finnish coastal batteries. Almost 3,000 Soviet soldiers were rescued by Soviet minesweepers and later by German outpost vehicles, but around 2,600 soldiers were killed.
Nov 27, 1944 Rigel 2,571 The former Norwegian freighter Rigel , sailing under the German flag , on the way from Bodø to Trondheim , was attacked north of Namsos, near Mosjøen , by Fairey Barracuda bombers from the British aircraft carrier HMS  Implacable . On board the completely overloaded ship were 2,248 Soviet prisoners of war, 103 Norwegian and German prisoners (deserted Wehrmacht soldiers), 29 crew members and 458 members of the Wehrmacht. After several bomb hits, the freighter caught fire and stranded on the rocky coast. Of a total of 2,838 people on board, 2,571 were ultimately killed. Only 267 survivors later reached the bank.
Nov 26, 1703 Great storm of 1703 ~ 2,500 During one of the strongest storm events ever recorded over southern England and in the English Channel , 13 ships of the Royal Navy , including eight ships of the line , stranded or sank in November 1703 , killing an estimated 1,500 seamen and marines. In addition, around 40 to 50 merchant ships failed in the storm. Another 1,000 seafarers perished.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Eickhoff, Ekkehard: Sea war and sea politics between Islam and the Occident: The Mediterranean under Byzantine and Arab hegemony (650-1040) . De Gruyter. Berlin 1966, p. 201.
  2. Pemsel, Helmut: Seeherrschaft. A world maritime history from its beginnings to 1850 . Volume 1, Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1995, p. 148.
  3. ^ Hume, Martin: Treason and Plot: Struggles for Catholic Supremacy in the Last Years of Queen Elizabeth. Kessinger Publishing. Whitefish 2004, p. 229
  4. ^ Reitz, Dirk (2004): The crusades of Ludwig IX. v. France 1248 - 1254 and 1270 . Phil. Diss. Darmstadt, p. 217
  5. ^ Marley, David: Wars of the Americas. A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present . ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara 1998, p. 247.
  6. Pemsel, Helmut: Seeherrschaft. A world maritime history from its beginnings to 1850 . Volume 1, Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1995, p. 212.
  7. ^ Longshore, David: Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones. New Edition. Infobase Publishing. New York 2010, p. 297.