Many thanks. 11, two out of 11 children remained. Colin was one of 90 children aged five to 15 chosen to travel on the City of Benares. For decades, the Royal Navy offered a vaguely exculpatory account of the disaster, but in the 1980s historian Stephen Roskill published an article holding poor command culture by Captain DOylyy responsible for the tragedy. Chapter 4 Secret Session Speeches by Churchill provides extracts of five speeches made between June 20th 1941 and December 10, 1942, including one made in response to the sinking of HMT Lancastria on June 17, 1941. World War II: The auxiliary patrol vessel (247 GRT) was shelled and sunk in the English Channel off. Rangitane left Auckland on Sunday 24 November 1940, en route to Britain via the Panama Canal. The only sound was from a ball bearing hed placed in his bedside drawer, which was sliding ever more frantically from side to side. World War II: The tug (239 GRT) struck a mine in the North Sea and sank. British and Allied evacuation vessels took Lancastrias survivors aboard, the trawler HMT Cambridgeshire alone rescuing nearly 900 souls. Charles C. Kolb, PhD, is a USNI Golden Life Member. RMS was a sign of distinction and quality. We said: If you want them, theyre 600 miles out at the bottom of the Atlantic! he recalls. However, an exact number of Lancastrias casualties may never be known. Late 1940, two Welsh Brothers Kenneth James Lewis and Raymond Leslie Lewis walked aboard their first ship, the Cardiff registered cargo ship SS Fiscus, 4 . And when he arrived back on British soil, everything seemed to have a dream-like quality. A camera crew onboard the Scharnhorst filmed the engagement, and the Gloriouss sinking, which you can see here. The 17th June 1940 saw one of the most horrific events of World War II and the single worst maritime disaster in British history. by Norwegian commandos 11/03/39, Sent from Gibraltar to Marseilles; Released 39 days; Cargo removed, Crew 3; Japanese POW: 164; Died POW:12 including 4 lost on The date was September 17, 1940. This left Colin sitting up to his chest in water with only the lifeboats buoyancy tanks preventing the boat from vanishing beneath the waves. LANCASTRIA (June 17, 1940) The loss of the Lancastria was the fourth largest maritime disaster of the war. This elderly nurse sitting next to me whod earlier been comforting me became distressed, he says. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Royal Navy apparently remained unaware of the battle and made no rescue effort, only learning what happened after Germany announced the victory. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. He then struck out to rescue another child but both disappeared in the swirling seas. Others tried desperately to tread water before surrendering to the deep. http://www.british-merchant-navy.co.uk/TOWER.htm. All morning, Colin continued to heave corpses away from his boat. The coaster (350 GRT, 1909) ran aground on Fort Island, World War II: The cargo ship (3,137 GRT, 1922) struck a mine and sank in the North Sea north of, The coaster (352 GRT, 1937) sank after hitting rocks near, The cargo ship (4,859 GRT, 1912) ran aground at off, The fishing vessel (227 GRT, 1916) collided with, World War II: The cargo ship (2,248 GRT, 1916) struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium (, The trawler (219 GRT, 1915) foundered in a storm on rocks known as "The Black Waughs", The trawler (276 GRT, 1917) collided with, World War II: The cargo ship (1,229 GRT, 1911) was torpedoed, shelled and sunk in the North Sea off the north coast of Inverness-shire (, World War II: The cargo ship (2,109 GRT, 1920) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The trawler (341 or 202 GRT, 1900) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (1,153 GRT, 1893) was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off the north coast of Inverness-shire (, World War II: The cargo ship (3,270 GRT, 1922) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean north of the, World War II: The cargo ship (4,947 GRT, 1921) was torpedoed and sunk in the, The cargo ship (1,914 GRT) was damaged by ice and sank in the, The cargo ship (1,282 GRT, 1902) collided in dense fog with, World War II: The naval trawler (210 GRT, 1910) struck a mine in the, The cargo ship (3,030 GRT) ran aground off, World War II: The tanker (5,742 GRT, 1921) was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea east of the. Information about the Lancastria sinking might be restricted by the Official Secrets Act. There were only 11 survivors. The carrier sank in about fifteen minutes after being hit by two torpedoes from a salvo of three fired from the U-boat. With a sickening lurch, 12 passengers were thrown from the boat and lost in the darkness. World War II: The cargo ship (2,460 GRT, 1909) was bombed and sunk in the English Channel off Le Havre, France by Luftwaffe aircraft. Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 due to war causes Chronological List of U.S. World War II: The cargo ship (2,155 GRT, 1902) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (6,694 GRT, 1917) was bombed and damaged in the English Channel off. Two crew were killed. Decades after Apapa was lost , on the 15th of November 1940 the identically named MV APAPA was bombed and sunk by a German FW 200 Condor aircraft, two hundred miles from County Mayo in Ireland. He and the other children were watched over that night as they slept but despite all efforts, three more died. List of shipwrecks: 10 June 1940 Ship Country Description, Msd Pro Billet Distributor Wiring Diagram. World War II: The cargo ship (3,404 GRT, 1927) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The coaster (253 GRT) struck a mine and sank at, World War II: The auxiliary sloop (1,049 GRT, 1923) was shelled and sunk in the English Channel between, World War II: The auxiliary patrol vessel (197 GRT) was scuttled at, World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (511 GRT) was shelled and sunk in the English Channel between Fcamp and, World War II: The collier (4,690 GRT, 1853) was bombed and sunk at, World War II: The coaster (264 GRT, 1914) was beached and abandoned in the, World War II: The trawler struck a mine and sank at, World War II: The tanker (8,030 GRT, 1928) was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off, World War II: The coaster (198 GRT, 1929) struck a mine and sank in, World War II: The naval trawler (326 GRT, 1928) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The coaster (209 GRT, 1928) was beached and abandoned in the River Seine in Paris, France. World War II: The Type M-1935 minesweeper (682/874 t, 1939) struck a mine and sank in the Norwegian Sea north of Kristiansand, Norway (, World War II: The tug (400 GRT, 1919) was scuttled at Brest, France. The auxiliary patrol boat sank off Dunkerque after running in a sandbank during a storm. What had happened was that Id lain there, grieving away, and my blood had stopped flowing. Ships Sunk or Damaged in World War II web page as long as you cite American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org, As HMS Hurricane approached Lifeboat 2, Colin and the remaining passengers started singing Rule Britannia. I knew that if I fell asleep, Id die. 10 Historical Prophecies That Actually Came True 10- RMS Titanic Disaster. Measuring some 697 feet (212 metres) in length, it could carry . But once he had returned home, the subject of his ordeal became taboo. The date was September 17, 1940. Only extraordinary circumstancesparticularly the lack of Combat Air Patrolmade the ambush of the Glorious possible by two large capital ships on a clear day. About 124,000 troops were assembling and the Admiralty had dispatched some 30 merchant vessels of all sizes to the rescue. Published: 00:26 GMT, 10 March 2012 | Updated: 00:27 GMT, 10 March 2012. Only a few dozen would survive one of the most controversial naval battles of World War IIperhaps the only time battleships single handedly took out an aircraft carrier. World War II: The ocean liner (9,345 GRT, 1906) was bombed and sunk at Le Havre, France by Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss of six crew. Sbastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. Postcard of RMS Lancastria. As a precaution, his mother had sewn a life-jacket into the lining, which in turn had been stuffed with silky kapok fibre to provide extra insulation. From somewhere out there in the deep, a German U-boat had fired a torpedo directly into the ship, just below the childrens sleeping quarters. Enclosed was a certificate, signed by Churchill, that commended him for brave conduct in the Merchant Navy. "Verluste Deutscher Handelsschiffe 1939-1945 und unter deutscher Flagge fahrender auslndischer Schiffe: 1940", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_shipwrecks_in_June_1940&oldid=1142243449, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, World War II: The cargo ship (4,220 GRT) was bombed and damaged in the North Sea 13 nautical miles (24km) off, World War II: The coaster (281 GRT, 1896) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The trawler (195 GRT) was bombed and sunk in the North Sea (. After receiving news of the Lancastria disaster, Churchill had placed a D-notice on the incident, forbidding any knowledge of the sinking reaching an already demoralized public. The Story of the Evacuation in Britain, 1939-1945. She was built in 1936 and sailed for 30 years before retiring in 1967. People were jumping. From the half-submerged Lifeboat 2, Colin watched as the Benares sank below the waves. Within half an hour, four of the crew members on his boat had slipped into unconsciousness and died. Rather than disengage from the hopeless fight, the Acasta peeled off from the Glorious and valiantly charged the Gneisenau. The youngest known Second World War service death being that of Raymond Victor Steed, age 14, Galley Boy from the S.S. you see substantial portions of this page on the Internet or in published material On No. Just seven minutes later, the Scharnhorst opened fire on the investigating Ardent, busting open a boiler. World War II: The cargo ship (1,927 GRT, 1922) was scuttled as a blockship in Churchill Sound, World War II: The cargo ship (6,701 GRT, 1918) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west of Land's End, United Kingdom (, World War II: The cargo ship (4,201 GRT, 1911) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Ireland (, World War II: The cargo ship (1,291 GRT, 1913) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Land's End (. The passengers were thrown into the sea. The Lancastria Tragedy: Sinking and Cover-Up, June 1940. Britain Ship Losses 1940 This page records the details of every British ship lost during the two world wars, including pictures where possible. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (675 GRT, 1911) was scuttled at Cherborug, France. Captain Sharp estimated 5,500, but one Royal Engineer officer was told that there were more than 7,200 persons aboard. All six crew survived. How ironic it is that the second Apapa was making the identical voyage from the Lagos port that shared her name to Liverpool. World War II: The ocean liner (28,124 GRT, 1932) struck a mine in the, World War II: The cargo ship (3,651 GRT, 1912) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (1,147 GRT, 1912) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The tug was scuttled at Brest, France. As it grew lighter, he could see corpses floating around each lifeboat. Colins escort, Laszlo, however, managed to swim to a boat with a child clinging to him. By late-June 1940, internees had begun to be moved out of Warth Mills. Within a few weeks both would be dead after the ship was torpedoed and sunk by U-99 on the 18th October 1940 in the North Atlantic with the loss of all hands while sailing to the Clyde from Sydney, Cape Breton in Convoy SC-7. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (301 GRT, 1907) was scuttled at, World War II: The naval tug (179 GRT) was scuttled at, World War II: The cargo ship (1,199 GRT, 1908) was scuttled at, World War II: The cargo ship (3,594 GRT, 1920) was scuttled at Rochefort, France. Every type of ship is here, warships, submarines, MTBs, tankers, cargo, passenger, troopships and so on, totalling over 3,000. Return to Allied Ships hit by U-boats Front page About Contact us FAQ Glossary What's new Five minutes later, in one of the longest-range hits in naval history, the Scharnhorsts third volley screamed over fifteen miles to slam straight into the Gloriouss flight deck, blasting open a huge hole that rendered it unusable and knocking two Swordfish bombers into the water. World War II: The cargo ship (5,041 GRT, 1939) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The coaster (668 GRT, 1899) struck a mine and sank two nautical miles (3.7km; 2.3mi) north of the, The cargo ship (2,744 GRT, 1906) ran aground on, World War II: The tanker (7,101 GRT, 1926) struck a mine in, World War II: The tanker (6,891 GRT, 1925) was captured in the, World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (85 GRT) was scuttled at, World War II: The naval trawler (131 GRT, 1929) struck a mine in the English Channel off. World War II: The cargo ship (2,975 GRT, 1906) struck a mine and sank in the Mediterranean Sea north of Pantelleria. Then he caught a whiff of the telltale smell of explosives. Never take this off, she warned him. His dreams, however, were rudely interrupted that night by a loud bang. Survivors: Five survivors of the S.S City of Benares passenger ship which was sunk by a German U-Boat in September 1940. Certainly, there was little panic as everyone gathered at pre-arranged points. But the battlecruisers retaliatory fire was devastating, and the Acastas blazing wrecked dipped stern-first into the water after 6 p.m. By then, the starboard-listing Glorious had also sunk. It was like sitting in a giant bathtub full of freezing water, he recalls. A few, however, began to whimper when a number of children who had been injured by debris from the explosion such as broken glass were brought on deck. The prevailing narrative of naval warfare in World War II concerns how the carrier decisively unseated the battleship as the dominant naval weapon system. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (74 GRT) was scuttled at Cherbourg, France. I could see people dying around me. Oxford University-trained historian and author of more than a dozen books Jonathan Fenby stated that 1,738 perished (Fenby 2005, p. 247), but as there are no official figures published, there are great discrepancies in the numbers calculated by a variety of authors, and other estimates range from 2,000 to 9,000. The two boys are believed to of forged a letter from their Father stating he had given permission for them to join the ship. For the first few days after his rescue, he remained very weak as the Hurricane took the survivors to Glasgow. The Glorious and her two escorting destroyers did not yet have radar, so Capt. 'How much can business take?' The CWGC has the names of 513 Merchant Seamen aged 14 to 16 who died between 1939-1945. Franconia was assigned to Lorient while Lancastria continued toward St. Nazaire but because of the tidal channel on the Loire estuary Lancastria had to anchor in the Charpentier Roads about 5 nm (nautical miles) southwest of the actual port. World War II: The cargo ship (4,007 GRT, 1928) was intercepted in the, The schooner (98 GRT) was rammed by the cargo ship, The cargo ship (2,158 GRT, 1908) ran aground off Winging Point, 20 nautical miles (37km) south of, The cargo ship (625 GRT, 1920) foundered 1 nautical mile (1.9km) off, The trawler (170 GRT, 1904) was helping a neutral steamer which had gone aground on the east coast of England when the steamer slipped on a shelf and collided with, This page was last edited on 29 October 2022, at 11:25. The gloves became essential in the hours ahead in helping him keep a grip on the gunwales. World War II: The cargo ship (1,522 GRT, 1923) was torpedoed and damaged in the, World War II: The cargo ship (3,554 GRT, 1920) was damaged and abandoned at Brest, France. This attack however sank the HMS Triad. World War II: The passenger ship (2,029 GRT, 1930) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The coaster (957 GRT, 1893) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The naval trawler (109 GRT, 1916) was sunk at Scapa Flow in a collision with trawler, The coaster (216 GRT, 1919) was sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (4,102 GRT, 1931) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (3,857 GRT, 1928) struck a mine in the, World War II: The cargo ship (1,463 GRT, 1923) struck a mine and sank in the. The ship was apparently equipped with sixteen lifeboats and 2,500 life jackets, but many of the boats were damaged from the air attacks while others were unusable because of the ships starboard list and hull angle. In his memoirs, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote that he had intended to release the news a few days later, but that events in France crowded upon us so black and so quickly that I forgot to lift the ban (p.192). Therefore, destroyers, fishing boats, and other small craft had to ferry the evacuees to Lancastria while being bombed and machine-gunned by the Luftwaffes Junkers Ju 11 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 30. Aboard one lifeboat, a freezing boy fell unconscious and slipped into the sea. Under the Official Secrets Act, the report on the Lancastria cannot be published until the year 2040. What a story, and how lucky are we,born just after WW2, for the brave men and women, who fought for our freedom, Your email address will not be published. World War II: The Adua-class submarine (686/843 t, 1934) was depth charged and sunk west of Crete (3529N 2006E / 35.483N 20.100E / 35.483; 20.100) by HMSDainty and HMSIlex (both Royal Navy). Then the boat up-ended, tossing out the rest. Unlike the other youngsters, who had official escorts, he was travelling independently, though his parents had asked Laszlo Raskai, a Hungarian journalist, to keep an eye on him. On Lifeboat 10, just one child had survived and 14 had died. Scharnhorst limped home, listing at five degrees, and would spend the next six months in Trondheim, Norway undergoing repairs. Hammac was a steam tank ship built in 1920-1921 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Alameda for the United States Shipping Board as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. The comments below have not been moderated. World War II: The cargo ship (7,886 GRT, 1938) was scuttled at Gibraltar to prevent capture by British forces. Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. On September 12, the children assembled at the dockside in Liverpool clutching small suitcases and their gas masks. World War II: The patrol boat (409 GRT, 1919) was scuttled at Le Verdon, France. When dawn broke, Bess and Beth were still somehow clinging onto their upturned lifeboat along with two men. The maritime disaster resulted in the deaths of 51 people46 from the Andrea Doria and 5 from the Stockholm. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (150 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. Many survivors perished from hypothermia or suffocated on fuel oil. Then, mercifully, he threw himself overboard. A pre-war photograph of the German cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff in Hamburg. Families of men from both ships have attended an annual maritime commemmoration . World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (208 GRT, 1917) was scuttled at Brest, France. Afterwards, he says: We were all becoming very sleepy, delirious. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. He was saved by a fellow passenger, but died minutes later. ss alexis ship 1940 sinking. Lost were 514 navy men, 26 Fleet Air Arm men and 36 RAF servicing crew. When sent to newspapers or other publications it prevented particular information from being made public for reasons of state security. Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart Attack entries for Alexia If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us. 2: Their Finest Hour , Geoffrey Bonds 1959 Lancastria, John Wests 1988 The Loss of Lancastria, Brian Crabbs 2002 The Forgotten Tragedy: The Story of the Loss of HMT Lancastria, Jonathan Fenbys 2005 The Sinking of the Lancastria: Britains Greatest Maritime Disaster and Churchills Cover-up, Jacques Perruchon and Jacques Leroux 2005 Juin 1940 sur les ctes charentaises: ces trangers qui ont refus notre dfaite, Hugh Sebag-Montefiores 2006 The Sinking of the Lancastria in Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man, Jonathan Fenby and James Goodes 2008 The Sinking of the Lancastria, John Hanleys 2013 The Last Boat, Chair of the HMT Lancastria Association Raye Dancocks 2011 The Lancastria a Secret Sacrifice in World War Two, Graham Frasers 2015 Lancastria: The forgotten tragedy of World War Two, and the Lancastria Archive. She was later salvaged by the Germans and entered service as. Contributed on: 22 May 2005. In the Hotel Berlin, the Gestapo is searching for underground leader Martin Richter. Some of the survivors later recalled feeling excited about this strange new adventure. As the night progressed, body temperatures began to fall. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She did not return to Liverpool in time to take part in the famous Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk, which evacuated 338,226 Belgian, British, and French troops between May 26 and June 4,. And the cowboys eating around campfires.. Owners and gross tonnage (G.T.) Below the waves, however, the convoy was being trailed by U-48, a German U-boat. The German battlecruisers then hastily left the scene without picking up survivors. My own commemoration including photo's of the two Brothers sent to me by their relatives can be found on this link to my own website.http://www.british-merchant-navy.co.uk/TOWER.htmAbout links. Some survivors claimed that a bomb had gone straight down a funnel, others thought bombs hit No, 4, 2, and 3 holds. Empire Morn killed 26th April 1943 after his ship hit a mine. The cargo ship (1,537 GRT, 1938) sank off West Point, The cargo ship (1,314 GRT, 1913) ran aground in the, World War II: The cargo ship (4,512 GRT, 1911) struck a mine and sank in the, The trawler (162 GRT, 1897) sank after a collision with the trawler. The kindness of strangers: A LITTLE GIRL'S WAR BY WENDY Did U.S. university plan to create an intellectually King Charles hosts von der Leyen at Windsor Castle, AFA president gives passionate rant speaking about student debt, Gabor Mat: No Jewish state without oppressing local population, Amplified jet stream could lead to 'disruptive snow in places', Dashcam captures moment two cars collide on a roundabout, Putin orders intelligence service to find 'scum' who oppose him, Putin spy plane before being 'destroyed by pro-Ukraine Belarus group', Police search allotment sheds for Constance Marten's missing baby, Huge urgent police search for missing baby of Constance Marten, Moment police swooped to arrest Constance Marten's boyfriend, Police: Constance and lover arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, Moment supermarket cashier is attacked at work in New York. Sunk by a fellow passenger, but died minutes later ss alexis ship 1940 sinking the children assembled the. 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