- Merchant Vessels - World War II
Merchant Vessels - World War II
| Merchant Vessels sunk in World War II - Characteristics and Losses | |||||
| Casualties | Casualties | ||||
| Ship |
Date |
Tonnage |
Lost | Lost | Fate / Career |
| Passengers | Crew | ||||
| SS Athenia | 03/09/1939 | 13,581 | 93 | 19 | 04/09/1939 - Sank |
| 1st Ship lost in World War I | |||||
| HMS Rawalpindi | 23/11/1939 | 16,697 | 238 | Sunk by Deutschland | |
| RMS Lancastria | 17/06/1940 | 16,243 | 3000+ | 6 | Sunk by Air attack, largest loss of life |
| RMS Empress of Britain | 26/10/1940 | 42,348 | 25 | 20 | Torpedoed and sunk by Submarine |
| HMS Jervis Bay | 05/11/1940 | 14,164 | - | 187 | Sunk by Admiral Scheer |
| (Converted Passenger liner) | 65 Survivors | ||||
| MV San Demetrio | 17/03/1942 | 8,073 | - | 19 | 7,000 tons of Avaiation fuel |
| (Tanker) | 4,000 tons of fuel | ||||
| Sunk torpedoed by Submarine | |||||
| RMS Empress of Asia | 05/02/1942 | 16,909 | - | 16 | Aircraft |
| (Ocean Liner) | 416 Crew, 25 Gunners, 2235 Troops | ||||
| Armed Merchant Cruiser and Troopship | |||||
| Empress of Canada | 13/03/1943 | 21,517 | 340* | 44 | Torpedoed and sunk by Italian Submarine |
| (Ocean Liner) | 8 gunners | *Fatalities including Italian POWs | |||
| Ocean liner converted to Troopship | |||||
| Ohio OHMS | 12/08/1942 | 9,514 | 7 | 1 | 13,500 tons of fuel |
| (Tanker) | 1 gunner | Towed out of Grand Harbour | |||
| Sunk 19/09/1946 | |||||
The Merchant Vessels played an extraordinary role during World War II either as troop ships or supply vessels. The history behind these ships and the courage of the men who crewed them is both fascinating and compelling.
This is not a comprehensive list of Merchant Vessels lost in WWII, please contact us if you think that other notable vessels should be added to Familyrelatives.com.
The Overseas Records are available for Free on Familyrelatives.com, to view these select the "Data Type" i.e. GRO Marine Deaths Indexes or GRO Marine Births for records information.