The SS Goslar, a steamboat, was at port in Suriname when Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, causing the country (then a colony of the Netherlands) to begin to intern German men living in the . But a carrier could deploy over a hundred airplanes that could strike targets hundreds of miles away with torpedoes and bombs. . Just seven minutes later, the Scharnhorst opened fire on the investigating Ardent, busting open a boiler. 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. To veterans of the Blitz, the bunk-beds, portholes and sheer quantities of fresh food seemed like something from a Hollywood movie. LANCASTRIA (June 17, 1940) The loss of the Lancastria was the fourth largest maritime disaster of the war. If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us. From the half-submerged Lifeboat 2, Colin watched as the Benares sank below the waves. To order a copy for 16.99 (incl p&p), call 0843 382 0000. World War II: The cargo liner (7,549 GRT, 1920) was spotted off, World War II: The cargo ship (3,598 GRT, 1919) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west north west of. As others began to emerge from their cabins, the older children took charge of the younger ones, checking their life-jackets and making sure they knew where to go. The site of the sinking is not an official War Grave safeguarded by The Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986 because the British have no jurisdiction over the French territorial waters where Lancastrias wreck lies, but the French government has provided an appropriate level of protection to the site, prohibiting diving on the wreck, for example. Even so, he was already freezing and soaked to the skin. She was later salvaged by the British, repaired and re-entered service. Records of the Ministry of Shipping from 1917-1921 contain references to war losses and include a complete list of British merchant and fishing vessels sunk or damaged by enemy action for 1914-1920. Like many boys of his era, Colin had been circumcised, and they knew that if the Germans invaded, he risked being wrongly identified as a Jew. There are no actual transcripts of these speeches, but they have been reconstructed from Churchills notes given to Charles Eade. British war correspondent's interview with French seaman on the sinking of French repatriation ship SS Meknes, English Channel, 24/7/1940. Some like it, NOT! Some survivors claimed that a bomb had gone straight down a funnel, others thought bombs hit No, 4, 2, and 3 holds. He had a good war by late 1940, sinking eight ships in six wartime patrols, mostly in the North Sea, before the prestigious commission on U-123. True, the ship had slowed down to negotiate the storm, but it was still ploughing in the right direction. 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. Later, he received an oak-leaf emblem, which came with instructions to wear it on the ribbon of the War Medal an award he was too young to earn. Most likely rammed and sunk Oct. 4; 1940 by Antonietta Costa (Italian Cargo ship) 60 NM ENE of Bari . Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 due to war causes Chronological List of U.S. ss alexis ship 1940 sinking. The wording was puzzling: at 11, hed obviously never served in the Merchant Navy. World War II: The water carrier (107 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. You must stay awake., Safe: Survivors of the torpedoed S.S City of Benares passenger ship huddle together on one of the life rafts awaiting rescue. As he worked, he knew that a single wave could sweep him away. She was responsible for the sinking of the HMS Curacoa in 1942 but the Queen Mary survived the war without sinking. I was just waiting for someone to say: What are you doing in your pyjamas at this time in the morning? But no one even looked at me.. At 3:45 p.m., crew on the German capital ships spotted the funnel smoke of the British warships and surged forward to close the distance. And the cowboys eating around campfires.. If it can be proved that Captain Sharp ignored the Ministry of Defence instructions not to exceed the maximum loading capacity of 3000 persons, grounds for compensation claims could be enormous. My late uncle Richard Gleasure, an aircraft technician, was due to be on the SS Lancastria, rescue ship , but as his air force colleges were leaving with a full aircraft, several yelled to him to RUN, Quick,, as they then pulled him onto an already taxing plane through the floor door, he was saved. Armed Guard Casualties "Naval Events, June 1940, Part 1 of 4, Saturday 1st Friday 7th", "Norwegian Homefleet - WW II, Ships starting with Sa through SN", "The History of the Eastbourne Lifeboat Station", alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (T), "Naval Events, May 1940, Part 1 of 4, Wednesday 1st Tuesday 7th", "Naval Events, June 1940, Part 2 of 4, Saturday 8th Friday 14th", "Norwegian Homefleet - WW II, Ships starting with K", "Tyne Built Ships. Five days into the voyage, the Royal Navy escort ships headed off, confident there was no danger. : Carron United Kingdom World War II: The Admiralty-requisitioned cargo ship . Sbastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. They werent the only parents desperate to send their children abroad. Britain Ship Losses 1940 This page records the details of every British ship lost during the two world wars, including pictures where possible. But once he had returned home, the subject of his ordeal became taboo. (RIN SS) is sometimes credited with sinking Rainbow on Oct. 15. Empress of Ireland: Directed by Stephan Parent. Up went the bows and down she went.. Hold No. The RAF Hurricanes of No.46 squadron were relatively fast and lacked arrestor hooksbut by tying on sandbags, the pilots managed to weigh their tails down and pull off short carrier landings. People were jumping. Details of the British ships sunk during July - December 1940. This elderly nurse sitting next to me whod earlier been comforting me became distressed, he says. The D-notice, or Defence Notice, also called DA-notice (Defence Advisory Notice), was a unique British government instruction devised in 1912. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (208 GRT, 1917) was scuttled at Brest, France. She once described him affectionately as a big child. His recovery took months, and ended any thoughts hed had of a full-time career in the Navy. For the scuttling of RFA Oleander on this day, see the entry for 26 May 1940. Within four months of the outbreak of World War II, Lancastria was requisitioned by the Admiralty as His Majestys Troopship (HMT) Lancastria under the command of Captain Rudolph Sharp. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at member@usni.org or by phone at 800-233-8764. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (74 GRT) was scuttled at Cherbourg, France. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, first carrier-launched naval air strike in history, North Korea: We Asked 27 Experts What They Think Will Happen in 2019. It was the first time Id really been able to grieve, he says. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (150 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. Splinters also pierced one of the carriers boilers, slowing her down. She was subsequently salvaged by the Germans and re-entered service as. Row 1. By then Glorious had transmitted a distress message which was picked up by the heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire thirty to fifty miles away. The youngest known Second World War service death being that of Raymond Victor Steed, age 14, Galley Boy from the S.S. Oscar Cainer tells all. by Sebastien Roblin. Just two weeks after being set up, it received more than 200,000 applications from worried parents for just 20,000 places. 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However, he was told to embark as many as possible. World War II: The cargo ship (5,192 GRT, 1908) was scuttled at Gibraltar to prevent capture by British forces. The term RMS dates to 1840 when only the fastest and most reliable ships were contracted by the British government to carry mail. When Bess and Beth were rescued, their frozen fingers had to be prised off their capsized lifeboat. World War II: The cargo ship (1,002 GRT, 1904) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship (1,766 or 1,894 GRT, 1918) was scuttled at Rochefort, France. My Great Great Grandfathers son, would it be my Great Nephew, he is was on this vessel, and lived to tell about it, on the RMS Lusitania off the south coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915. She was carrying between 800 and 1,200 people, mainly refugees, and most were lost when her ammunition cargo exploded. Lancastria was attacked, apparently by five Junkers Ju 88 dive bombers, and the ship capsized, and sank within twenty minutes mid-afternoon on June 17 off the French port of St. Nazaire. 2012 Sean Longden. This is the story of Michael McShane and how he survived the sinking of the SS Athenia, the first ship torpedoed by a U-boat in World War II. Despite his mothers disapproval, Colin developed a curious desire to return to the sea. Abandoning his grip on the gunwales, Colin helped pull out the corpses and consign them to a watery grave. It was his mother who came to collect him. He then struck out to rescue another child but both disappeared in the swirling seas. 2 held about 800 RAF personnel. The RMS Queen Mary is now a floating hotel located in . The carriers tall crows nest was unoccupied; and only twelve of her eighteen boilers were kept active, limiting her speed. The Benares disaster happened in the mid-Atlantic, 600 miles (965km) west of Ireland. Families of men from both ships have attended an annual maritime commemmoration . (Look 18/06/1940), World War II: The naval trawler (348 GRT, 1929) ran aground at Brest, France and was abandoned without loss. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 08:28. The ship was among twenty others that participated in the evacuation of 2,653 British, French, and Polish troops from Norway when Operation Alphabet began on May 24,1940. World War II: The captured ex-Dutch coastal defence ship (5,002 t, 1904) was bombed and sunk at, World War II: The naval yacht (196 GRT, 1938) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean (, World War II: The cargo ship (1,888 GRT) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The tanker (7,011 GRT, 1922) was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay by, World War II: The cargo ship (5,154 GRT, 1918) was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay (, The cargo ship (2,724 or 2,608 GRT, 1929) collided with another vessel and sank in the. In fact, the Northampton was secretly evacuating the Norweigian royal family to the UK, and commanding Vice Admiral John Cunningham had strict orders to maintain radio silence, and thus neither intervened nor relayed the message. The reason? Owners and gross tonnage (G.T.) The SS Orama was built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness in 1924 for the Orient Line with accommodation for 1,700 passengers. World War II: The trawler (30 GRT, 1922) was sunk in the North Sea by Heinkel He 111 aircraft of KG26, Luftwaffe. About 124,000 troops were assembling and the Admiralty had dispatched some 30 merchant vessels of all sizes to the rescue. Captain Sharp would lose his life on September 12, 1942, when the HMT Laconia, was sunk northeast of Ascension Island off the coast of West Africa by Kriegsmarine U-156, a Type IXC boat then attached to the 4th U-boat Flotilla. I of course ,read it before giving it to my father. Colin acted quickly. I stayed on board the ship in 2011 and have always found the history of the ship to be fascinating. World War II: The cargo ship (873 or 909 GRT, 1904) struck a mine off Cape Granitola, Italy and sank. Battleships accompanied by other surface warships did directly engage carriers one more time in World War II during the Battle of Samar, though this time the U.S. carriers air wings participated in the fight leading to a very different, though no less dramatic outcome. The German battlecruisers then hastily left the scene without picking up survivors. The date was September 17, 1940. The 17th June 1940 saw one of the most horrific events of World War II and the single worst maritime disaster in British history. The SS Cap Arcona was a large ocean liner originally built in 1927 for the Hamburg-South America line. All morning, Colin continued to heave corpses away from his boat. Naval Documents of the American Revolution, - Naval Documents of the American Revolution, A History of the Naval Historical Foundation. World War II: The naval tug (100 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. public. British and Allied evacuation vessels took Lancastrias survivors aboard, the trawler HMT Cambridgeshire alone rescuing nearly 900 souls. All four crewmen died. "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 (. Interestingly, 2040 or 2041 should also be when restricted British documents on the Pearl Harbor attack are made public. Every type of ship is here, warships, submarines, MTBs, tankers, cargo, passenger, troopships and so on, totalling over 3,000. List of shipwrecks in June 1940 - Wikipedia List of shipwrecks in June 1940 View history The list of shipwrecks in June 1940 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during June 1940 . As yet more lifeboats were overwhelmed by the icy-cold water, there seemed little hope of anyone surviving. She simply said: Theres your ship. Her classs lead ship, the Courageous, had launched the first carrier-launched naval air strike in history near the end of World War I. 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. Enough was enough, his parents decided, as the bombs began to fall. Ships Then, one day, he developed an infection and had to be sent to an isolation ward to recover. World War II: The cargo ship (7,886 GRT, 1938) was scuttled at Gibraltar to prevent capture by British forces. As Colin recalls, his mothers attitude was: Least said, soonest mended.. I could see people dying around me. This was the date on which, the RMS Lancastria was sunk off the French port of Nantes, with an unknown loss of life. useful bibliography and discussion. The mine exploded sinking the vessel. Below the waves, however, the convoy was being trailed by U-48, a German U-boat. 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). Photographs Beryl Myatt 10 Historical Prophecies That Actually Came True 10- RMS Titanic Disaster. World War II: The auxiliary patrol vessel (302 GRT, 1906) was scuttled at Brest, France. He states that The time taken to record everybodys name, rank, service number and regiment or corps would have been time consuming and served no purpose (vii). About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Today, it sits in a glass case at the Imperial War Museum in London a reminder of all the children whose parents loved them too much to keep them at home. Measuring some 697 feet (212 metres) in length, it could carry . Stroking her hair and telling her that rescue was on its way, he did his best to preserve her morale and her life. Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 Chronological List of U.S. Though the Royal Navy claimed the transmission was too garbled to be understood, her crew later testified to the contrary. The CWGC has the names of 513 Merchant Seamen aged 14 to 16 who died between 1939-1945. World War II: The armed merchant cruiser (17,046 GRT, 1925) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west of. World War II: The auxiliary patrol vessel (247 GRT) was shelled and sunk in the English Channel off. Many years later, I was asked by my father, Oliver Gleasure (Irish Guards) to find the book, so he could gift it to my uncle. The Glorious then was assigned to pick up the fighters she had just dropped off. web page as long as you cite American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org, When do the clocks change in 2023? World War II: The auxiliary patrol vessel (1,160 GRT, 1934) struck a mine of Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France and was beached. British Summer Time begins in March but do you wind your watch forward Sickening CCTV footage shows the moment two trains collided and burst into flames in horror smash Greek PM MPs demands the menopause is made a 'protected characteristic' like race or religion - but Equalities Commando, 28, 'told woman he met on dating app "I love it when you keep telling me to stop" as he raped and Charles evicting Harry and Meghan is the act of a King putting his country first: REBECCA ENGLISH reveals A royal princess at Eton? It was time to evacuate their precious son to safety and that had to be beyond British shores. 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. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (1,256 GRT) was scuttled at Brest, France. A German submarine torpedoed the ship hours after Britain declared war on Hitler in 1939 - more than 100 people, including many Americans, were killed. DOyly-Hughes ordered the destroyer Ardent to turn about and visually investigate the sighting, while nonchalantly maintaining his westward course at cruising speed. The comments below have not been moderated. The ferrying trip took three to four hours. World War II: The cargo ship (1,828 GRT, 1923) with a German prize crew was proceeding behind the steamer Inger when she detonated a mine (laid by, World War II: The cargo ship (1,081 GRT, 1923) struck a mine and sank in, World War II: The passenger cargo vessel (10,076 or 9,349 GRT, 1912) was scuttled in the, World War II: The ferry-transport (2,949 GRT, 1920) was bombed and damaged at. Was on its way, he says have questions, please contact us & p ) call... From a Hollywood movie a full-time career in the Navy watery grave, mainly refugees, and were. 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