The year before, his parents had pulled him out of his prep school in St Johns Wood, North London, and deposited him with his grandparents in Lingfield, Surrey. 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. 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. As the night progressed, body temperatures began to fall. The much smaller vessel immediately laid a smoke screen which it used as cover to launch hit-and-run torpedo attacks. The term RMS dates to 1840 when only the fastest and most reliable ships were contracted by the British government to carry mail. World War II: The cargo ship (7,340 GRT) was bombed and sunk off Le Havre, France by Luftwaffe aircraft. I knew that if I fell asleep, Id die. Lost were 514 navy men, 26 Fleet Air Arm men and 36 RAF servicing crew. When do the clocks change in 2023? Rather than disengage from the hopeless fight, the Acasta peeled off from the Glorious and valiantly charged the Gneisenau. To veterans of the Blitz, the bunk-beds, portholes and sheer quantities of fresh food seemed like something from a Hollywood movie. World War II: The fishing vessel (57 GRT) struck a mine and sank at Taranto, Italy. The ship was hit by a torpedo on the morning of 2 July, killing many of those on board. In the Hotel Berlin, the Gestapo is searching for underground leader Martin Richter. Then, mercifully, he threw himself overboard. He and the other children were watched over that night as they slept but despite all efforts, three more died. In fact, HMS Hurricane, a Royal Navy destroyer, was already combing the area. Interestingly, 2040 or 2041 should also be when restricted British documents on the Pearl Harbor attack are made public. A total of 576 men died in this tragedy, the first Royal Navy ship sunk in the war. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. The notifications are not legally enforceable; hence, news editors could choose not to abide by them but, generally, accede to these notices. The Story Of Child Evacuee Beryl Myatt And The Sinking Of The SS City Of Benares In the summer of 1940, faced with the threat of Nazi German invasion, the British government sponsored a scheme to evacuate children to overseas countries. Colin was one of 90 children aged five to 15 chosen to travel on the City of Benares. World War II: The cargo ship (7,405 GRT, 1914) was bombed and damaged in the Bay of Biscay off. 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. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (208 GRT, 1917) was scuttled at Brest, France. Colin was assigned to Lifeboat 2. 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The evacuees were in several western French ports including Lorient and St. Nazaire on the Loire River. People were jumping. There were multiple air raids and, in addition, the British feared possible U-boat attacks, so Captain Sharp decided to wait for a Royal Navy and/or RAF escort. This attack however sank the HMS Triad. Contributed on: 22 May 2005. World War II: The cargo ship (3,577 GRT, 1918) was torpedoed and sunk in the, The cargo ship (1,478 GRT, 1924) collided with, World War II: The fishing vessel (96 GRT, 1919) struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off, World War II: The cargo ship (3,584 GRT, 1910) was scuttled at, World War II: The tanker (603 GRT) struck a mine in the English Channel off, World War II: The cargo ship (2,317 GRT, 1904) was shelled and sunk in the, The cargo ship (351 GRT, 1920) collided with, World War II: The minesweeper (682/874 t, 1939) struck a mine off, World War II: The cargo ship (2,863 GRT, 1937) struck a mine in the, World War II: The sailing vessel (183 GRT, 1902) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The coaster (798 GRT, 1904) was torpedoed, shelled and sunk in the, World War II: The coaster (145 GRT) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The trawler (217 GRT, 1904) struck a mine in the North Sea (, World War II: The cargo ship (5,888 GRT, 1936) was torpedoed and damaged in the, World War II: The cargo ship (4,212 GRT, 1927) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 15 nautical miles (28km; 17mi) off Tory Island by, World War II: The cargo ship (5,415 GRT, 1933) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: Operation Juno: The tanker (5,666 GRT, 1928) was shelled and sunk in the Norwegian Sea off Jan Mayen (, World War II: Operation Juno: The troopship (19,840 GRT, 1924) was shelled and sunk in the Norwegian Sea (. World War II: Operation Dynamo: The fishing vessel (39 GRT) was sunk in the North Sea at Dunkerque, France, by enemy action. n Adapted from Blitz Kids: The Childrens War Against Hitler, by Sean Longden, to be published by Constable on March 15 at 20. The City of Benares gave a great shudder and began to sink. Under the British Official Secrets Act, the report on the Lancastria cannot be published until the year 2040. She was subsequently salvaged by the Germans and re-entered service as. Even when coupled with the sinking of the RMS Lusitania off the south coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915 by German which killed 1,195, leaving 761 survivorsLancastria would apparently exceed the combined death total. From the 90 whod set out from Liverpool, there were only 13 survivors. Among the children floundering in the waves were Bess Walder, 15, and Beth Cummings, 14, who managed to grab the up-turned keel and hung on for dear life. In seconds, they were gone. Britain Ship Losses 1940 This page records the details of every British ship lost during the two world wars, including pictures where possible. The only sound was from a ball bearing hed placed in his bedside drawer, which was sliding ever more frantically from side to side. Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. 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. Earlier that day the battlecruisers sank an oil tanker and a trawler. "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. An elderly nurse beckoned him to her side, so he switched places. World War II:The auxiliary minesweeper (628 GRT) was scuttled at Le Havre, France. The following brief overview of the Lancastrias history is augmented with verified information from sources that Wynn might have consulted. Theyd just woken up.. Wynn has previously authored and co-authored books for the Your Towns & Cities in the Great War series published by Pen & Sword in addition to half a dozen non-fiction books and crime thrillers.. I realised she was sinking, so I put my arm around her and tried to keep her head above the water.. Only Colin stood out, because he was dressed in a bright red jacket. It was there that, suddenly, he began to relive the horrors of the sinking. The U.S. Details of the British ships sunk during July - December 1940. The 224-meter long vessel still could only carry a smaller air group of forty-eight aircraft compared to larger U.S. fleet carriers. Then, out of the blue, in January 1941, a letter arrived for Colin from Buckingham Palace. The other ten or so whod been with them had drowned. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Naval Historical Foundation 1306 Dahlgren Avenue, SE Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374 1-202-678-4333 info@navyhistory.org. This elderly nurse sitting next to me whod earlier been comforting me became distressed, he says. The ship, carrying more than 400 passengers and crew, included a precious cargo of 90 evacuees under a scheme. But he couldnt. It was carrying 406 passengers and crew, of whom 100 were children. those of the BBC. World War II: The passenger ship (2,113 GRT, 1908) was bombed and sunk in the Norwegian Sea (. Many survivors perished from hypothermia or suffocated on fuel oil. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at member@usni.org or by phone at 800-233-8764. The Lancastria Tragedy: Sinking and Cover-Up, June 1940. A German submarine torpedoed the ship hours after Britain declared war on Hitler in 1939 - more than 100 people, including many Americans, were killed. World War II: The cargo ship (2,975 GRT, 1906) struck a mine and sank in the Mediterranean Sea north of Pantelleria. Kenneth and Raymond Lewis are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London on Panel 49. A2477018. Refitted in 1924 for two classes and renamed Lancastria, she travelled the route from Liverpool to New York and back, but in 1932 was reassigned to cruise in the Mediterranean and through northern European waters. 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 naval tug (100 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. The wording was puzzling: at 11, hed obviously never served in the Merchant Navy. Every type of ship is here, warships, submarines, MTBs, tankers, cargo, passenger, troopships and so on, totalling over 3,000. web page as long as you cite American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org, At 11, Colin was already a veteran of wartime upheavals. 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. It was time to evacuate their precious son to safety and that had to be beyond British shores. 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 . World War II: The cargo ship (2,483 GRT, 1894) was scuttled in Churchill Sound, World War II: The cargo ship (5,403 GRT, 1919) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The naval trawler (357 GRT, 1928) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The dredger (1,832 GRT, 1903) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The tanker (8,215 GRT, 1931) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (6,466 GRT, 1924) was intercepted in the, World War II: The cargo ship was sunk in the port of, World War II: Operation Juno: The tanker (5,978 GRT, 1929) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo liner (13,212 GRT, 1939) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Finisterre (. Naval Documents of the American Revolution, - Naval Documents of the American Revolution, A History of the Naval Historical Foundation. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . referenced. 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. Up went the bows and down she went.. The Glorious then was assigned to pick up the fighters she had just dropped off. Some like it, NOT! The date was September 17, 1940. Germany initially denied involvement. The date was September 17, 1940. She looked at me and said: What have you done with all your clothes? he says. World War II: The armed merchant cruiser (17,046 GRT, 1925) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west of. But a carrier could deploy over a hundred airplanes that could strike targets hundreds of miles away with torpedoes and bombs. Just two weeks after being set up, it received more than 200,000 applications from worried parents. His recovery took months, and ended any thoughts hed had of a full-time career in the Navy. 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. World War II: The armed merchant cruiser (17,046 GRT, 1925) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west . 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. LANCASTRIA (June 17, 1940) The loss of the Lancastria was the fourth largest maritime disaster of the war. Heres how to join! The SS Athenia was the first ship sunk by Germany in World War II and resulted in the death of 118 civilians. After being pulled up by a rope to the Hurricane, Colin was still so cold he could feel nothing below the waist. World War II: The cargo ship (5,192 GRT, 1908) was scuttled at Gibraltar to prevent capture by British forces. As it hovered over the waves, it suddenly lurched, then one end jerked downwards and was smashed by a wall of water. 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 . Goodbye, Colin. He recalls feeling relieved that his buttoned-up family didnt go in for the kind of tearful scenes that were going on all around him. In 1940, these included Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, Gloster Sea Gladiator fighters, as well monoplane Blackburn Skua monoplane bomber/fighters. At 02.15 hours on 10 Aug 1942, U-510 fired torpedoes at the Alexia and observed three hits in sequence and thought after 10 minutes that the tanker had sunk, but the ship was again salved. Some survivors claimed that a bomb had gone straight down a funnel, others thought bombs hit No, 4, 2, and 3 holds. His dreams, however, were rudely interrupted that night by a loud bang. There, he attended a local school until it was evacuated to Cornwall. Abandoning his grip on the gunwales, Colin helped pull out the corpses and consign them to a watery grave. World War II: The trawler (108 GRT, 1931) was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of. All four crewmen died. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 08:28. However, he was told to embark as many as possible. For any other comments, please Contact Us. Charles C. Kolb, PhD, is a USNI Golden Life Member. Whatever the case, this event likely remains the largest single-ship loss of life in British maritime history, more than the RMS Titanic, which had an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard and suffered over 1,500 fatalities. The loss of the LANCASTRIA was also the most . However, some information about the Lancastrias sinking was made public within a matter of days, particularly six individual death notices in local newspapers. Just as importantly, in an era where radar technology was in its infancy, airplanes were the most effective tool for scouting out vast swathes of the ocean to locate enemy fleets. This story has been placed in the following categories. 39 days; Cargo removed, Crew 3; Japanese POW: 164; Died POW:12 including 4 lost on I of course ,read it before giving it to my father. Splinters also pierced one of the carriers boilers, slowing her down. She managed to complete a seventh and final torpedo run before capsizing twenty-five minutes later. For the scuttling of HMS Mashobra on this day, see the entry for 25 May 1940. A pre-war photograph of the German cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff in Hamburg. There were only 11 survivors. These little kids beside me some of them were only five years old, he says. He then struck out to rescue another child but both disappeared in the swirling seas. The reason? Scharnhorst limped home, listing at five degrees, and would spend the next six months in Trondheim, Norway undergoing repairs. As it grew lighter, he could see corpses floating around each lifeboat. SS Emidio in Vancouver, June 1932. 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. 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. After the Navy, Colin became a Lloyds underwriter, married first wife, Gill, and adopted a baby of six weeks who grew up to become Changing Rooms presenter Anna Ryder Richardson. When sent to newspapers or other publications it prevented particular information from being made public for reasons of state security. 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.. are also recorded at the top of the card.From left to right, the six columns on the card will tell you: the year, current voyage and . A history of Tyne shipbuilders and the ships they built", "Norwegian Homefleet - WW II, Ships starting with So through S", Egypt Red Sea Shipwrecks - The Umbria, A Veritable Time Bomb at 30 metres, Ned Middleton, alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (C), "Kriegsverluste Italienischer Handelsschiffe 1940-1943: Verluste Italienischer Handelsschiffe 1940", "British Admiralty War Diary, 11 June 1940", "Naval Events, June 1940, Part 3 of 4, Saturday 15th - Friday 21st", "HNLMS O 13 of the Royal Netherlands Navy", "Naval Events, June 1940, Part 4 of 4, Saturday 22nd - Sunday 30th". World War II: The water carrier (107 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. I felt responsible for losing them and a totally ridiculous guilt came over me., For a few days, reporters made a big fuss of the heroic boy who had helped others in his lifeboat to survive. Though the Royal Navy claimed the transmission was too garbled to be understood, her crew later testified to the contrary. 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. Seager Co. Tempus Shipping Ltd). Of the 38 people in his boat, only 14 remained. True, the ship had slowed down to negotiate the storm, but it was still ploughing in the right direction. But once he had returned home, the subject of his ordeal became taboo. Initiated in 1889and then revised in 1911, 1920, and 1939it sets out offences related to spying, sabotage, and related crimes. Families of men from both ships have attended an annual maritime commemmoration . Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 due to war causes Chronological List of U.S. The mine exploded sinking the vessel. What had happened was that Id lain there, grieving away, and my blood had stopped flowing. (Look 18/06/1940), World War II: The naval trawler (348 GRT, 1929) ran aground at Brest, France and was abandoned without loss. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. Estimates of the loss range between 3,000 and 5,800 fatalities. Late 1940, two Welsh Brothers Kenneth James Lewis and Raymond Leslie Lewis walked aboard their first ship, the Cardiff registered cargo ship SS Fiscus, 4,815grt, (W.H. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. All six crew survived. Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 Chronological List of U.S. World War II: The cargo ship (1,746 GRT, 1921) struck a mine and sank in Danish waters off. World War II: The tug (239 GRT) struck a mine in the North Sea and sank. Empire Morn killed 26th April 1943 after his ship hit a mine. The list of shipwrecks in March 1940 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during March 1940. Chris Pleasance explains how Do not sell or share my personal information. 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). Both the 20,000 ton liner Oronsay and the Franconia were damaged by bombs and strafing, the former had her bridge devastated while the damaged Franconia was able to limp back to England for repairs. Contributed on: 30 March 2004. 10 Historical Prophecies That Actually Came True 10- RMS Titanic Disaster. The ship, built in 1940 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts, was one of eight sister ships built for the United States Maritime Commission on behalf of American Export Lines. British and Allied evacuation vessels took Lancastrias survivors aboard, the trawler HMT Cambridgeshire alone rescuing nearly 900 souls. Alexia British Motor tanker The Alexia after conversion to the MAC ship HMS Alexia. While her smaller 15-centimeter cannons exchanged shots with the Ardent, Scharnhorsts big 11 turrets blazed away at the distant flat-top. September 3, 2020 Call it fate, coincidence, predestination, or just bad luck, somehow Michael McShane ended up on the British passenger liner SS Athenia during the first few days of September 1939. Others tried desperately to tread water before surrendering to the deep. The 1,300-ton ship sustained a multiple hits from the two 40,000-ton battlecruisersbut on her second run, one of her torpedoes slammed into the Scharnhorst, ripping a 12-meter wide hole into her hull that let in over two thousand tons of water, knocked her aft Caesar turret out of action, killed forty-eight crew, and disabled her starboard propeller shaft. Measuring some 697 feet (212 metres) in length, it could carry . Grave 1. Taking Vitamin D each day could cut your chances of getting dementia, study claims. 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. 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. Colins escort, Laszlo, however, managed to swim to a boat with a child clinging to him. please notify usmm.org @ comcast.net, Taken to Norway; Soviet Unio; Norway; released World War II: The cargo ship (1,373 GRT) was scuttled at, World War II: The sailing vessel (26 GRT) struck a mine and sank at, World War II: The coaster (509 GRT, 1937) struck a mine and sank in the English Channel off. All nine crew were rescued by the trawler, The coaster (270 GRT) ran ashore on Kalder Steel, off, The cargo ship (3,303 or 3,240 GRT, 1913) struck a submerged wreck in the, The coaster (121 GRT, 1918) sank off the mouth of the. useful bibliography and discussion. 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. The survivors were now completely alone in the dark. Fateful: The S.S City of Benares, passenger ship is launched in 1936 and would later be sunk while carrying 90 children aged five to 15. 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. Two crew were killed. A camera crew onboard the Scharnhorst filmed the engagement, and the Gloriouss sinking, which you can see here. U-123 was to be his last front line command,. The carriers tall crows nest was unoccupied; and only twelve of her eighteen boilers were kept active, limiting her speed. 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. Gibraltar to prevent capture by British forces to fall, 1925 ) was scuttled at Lorient France. The Gneisenau the fishing vessel ( 57 GRT ) struck a mine during March 1940 of contributed! Following categories sunk or damaged 1939 to 1941 due to War causes Chronological List of in... Boat with a child clinging to him, a letter arrived for Colin Buckingham... 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