List of maritime disasters in World War II
This is a list of naval vessels sunk or otherwise severely damaged with loss of life during the Second World War.
| Year | Country | Description | Lives lost | Use | Image |
| 1945 | Nazi Germany | – The German militarized KdF flagship sank after being hit by three torpedoes fired by the on 30 January 1945 in the Baltic. 5,348 are known dead but it has been estimated that up to 9,343 were killed, making it possibly the worst single-ship loss of life in history. Most of those killed were German civilians, military personnel, and Nazi officials being evacuated from East Prussia. 1239 survivors were rescued. | 9,343 | Navy | |
| 1945 | – The German Navy's transport ship Goya was torpedoed and sunk by the on 16 April 1945. An estimated 6,000–7,000 civilians and German troops died, 183 were rescued. | 6,000–7,000 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – A hospital ship sunk on 7 November 1941 by German torpedo-carrying Heinkel He 111 aircraft. She was evacuating refugees, wounded military personnel and staff from several of Crimea's hospitals. An estimated 7,000 people were killed, 2,000 of whom are believed to have been unregistered passengers. Eight survivors were rescued by an escort vessel. | 5,000–7,000 | |||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – a Hell ship sunk by the Royal Navy submarine in September 1944. 5,620 Dutch POWs and Javanese slave labourers died. | 5,620 | ||
| 1944 | – On 29 June 1944 the troopship, while carrying more than 6,000 men of the Japanese 44th Independent Mixed Brigade, was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine in the Nansei Shoto, off Taira Jima, Japan. There were about 600 survivors from the sinking. | 5,400 | Military | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 February 1944 the Japanese troop transport Ryusei Maru, while part of a Japanese convoy off Bali, was sunk by. About 4,998 people were killed. | 4,998 | Military | ||
| 1945 | Nazi Germany | – On 3 May 1945 the prison ship Cap Arcona was attacked by the British Royal Air Force. The ship caught fire and capsized, leaving an estimated 4,800 dead. The vast majority were concentration camp prisoners reported as on their way to Sweden but possibly to be drowned by scuttling the ships. | 4,800 | ||
| 1944 | – On 19 August 1944, as part of convoy HI-71, the Japanese troop ship Tamatsu Maru was torpedoed and sunk by. After two torpedoes hit the troop ship she capsized and sank with between 4,406–4,755 men killed. | 4,406–4,755 | Military | ||
| 1944 | Nazi Germany | – On the night of 12 February 1944, while carrying Germany's flag, 4,096 Italian POWs, from the Dodecanese to Athens, Oria entered a thunderstorm some from her intended destination, Piraeus harbour. The ship cracked and sank; 4,025 Italians, 44 German soldiers and five crew, an estimated 4,074 were killed. 28 people were saved. | 4,074 | Navy | |
| 1940 | HMT Lancastria – The worst single disaster in British maritime history sunk by German aircraft in June 1940, with at least 4,000 deaths, possibly thousands more. | 4,000–6,500 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Iosif Stalin – On 3 December 1941, struck three mines with 5,589 people aboard near Hanko in the Baltic Sea. While the crew tried to repair the ship, Finnish coastal artillery opened fire and Iosif Stalin took a hit aft from a shell, which caused a large explosion in the ammunition storage. 1,740 were rescued from the sinking ship by the escorting minesweepers, and a further five patrol boats from the convoy escort. | 3,849 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | Nazi Germany | – The ocean liner converted into a military transport was torpedoed and sunk on 10 February 1945 by Soviet submarine. A total of 3,608–4,500 died out of the 4,267–5,200 people aboard. | 3,608–4,500 | Military | |
| 1944 | – On 17 August 1944 the Japanese troop transport Mayasan Maru, as part of Convoy Hi-81, was torpedoed by and sank in two and a half minutes taking with her 3,536 men. The escort ships rescued about 1,300 men. | 3,356 | Military | ||
| 1944 | – On 30 June 1944, the unescorted troopship, travelling from Korea to Japan, was torpedoed and sunk in the Yellow Sea by with the loss of 3,219 lives. | 3,219 | Military | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 25 February 1944 the Japanese prisoner transport ship, often referred to as a hell ship, Tango Maru was traveling between Java and Ambon while crammed with 3,500 Javanese labourers and hundreds of Allied POWs. The US submarine sank the ship with three torpedo hits. About 500 Javanese survived the sinking. On the same day Rasher also sank killing some 5,000 Japanese soldiers. | 3,000 | Military | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – The Japanese troopship Lima Maru was torpedoed and sunk southeast of the Gotō Islands by the American submarine on 8 February 1944. The ship sank quickly and as many as 2,765 lives were lost. | 2,765 | Military | |
| 1945 | Nazi Germany | – sunk by British planes on 3 May 1945, killing 2,750 people. | 2,750 | Navy | |
| 1944 | Nazi Germany | – A German steamship torpedoed by the submarine on 8 February 1944, while transporting 3,173 Italian POWs from Crete to the mainland. 2,670 POWs were killed. | 2,670 | Navy | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – In April 1944, she departed Shanghai as part of the Take Ichi convoy carrying a full Japanese regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division. On 26 April 1944 she was spotted and sunk by the submarine. There were no survivors from the 2,586 soldiers, 81 ship's crew, and 2 armed guards aboard at the time of sinking. | 2,669 | Military | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | Teia Maru – On 18 August 1944 the passenger liner was torpedoed and sunk by US submarine near the Philippines. In all 2,665 Japanese soldiers and passengers aboard were killed. | 2,665 | Military | |
| 1944 | Norway | – In November 1944, Rigel and Korsnes, escorted by two German naval vessels, were bombed by Fairey Barracuda bombers. The official number of casualties is 2,572, mostly Soviet, Polish and Serbian prisoners of war. Seven Norwegians were also killed. | 2,572 | Military | |
| 1941 | – On 27 July 1941, the cargo liner was lost in the Black Sea between Sevastopol and Yalta. Minimally 49 crewmen and 900, possibly as many as 4,600, passengers killed. 45 crewmen and 600 passengers were rescued. | 2,500 | Civilian | ||
| 1945 | – The largest battleship ever built, Yamato was sunk on 7 April 1945 by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier and others. 280 of Yamatos 2,778 crew were rescued. This was the greatest loss of life in a single warship in World War II. | 2,498 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – The Japanese troopship Yoshino Maru, sailing to Borneo in Convoy MI-11, was torpedoed and sunk north-north west of Cape Mayraira, Luzon by | 2,495 | Military | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – The Japanese troopship Sakito Maru, bound for Guam, was torpedoed and sunk in the East China Sea by on 29 February 1944. | 2,475 | Military | |
| 1945 | Empire of Japan | – On 9 January 1945, the cargo ship was bombed and sunk by United States Navy aircraft. A total of 2,117 troops, 84 gunners, and all 84 crewmen were killed. | 2,285 | Military | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – As part of Convoy MI-29, the Hawaii Maru-class transport was torpedoed and sunk on 2 December 1944 in the East China Sea west of Yakushima Island by. Lost with all hands, 1,843 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army 23rd Infantry Division, 60 other troops, 83 gunners and 148 crewmen were killed. | 2,134 | Military | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – As part of Convoy MI-27, troopship Edogawa Maru was torpedoed and damaged in the Yellow Sea off Cheju Island, Korea by on 17 November 1944. She was torpedoed again by USS Sunfish the next morning and sunk with the loss of 1,998 troops and 116 crewmen | 2,114 | Military | |
| 1943 | Nazi Germany | – On 20 October 1943 the cargo ship Sinfra, a French ship confiscated by the Germans, was sunk by Allied aircraft while transporting POWs. There were 2,460 prisoners crammed in the cargo hold of the ship to be transported to the Greek mainland along with 204 Germans. At Suda Bay the ship was attacked by United States Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchells and RAF Bristol Beaufighters. An estimated 2,098 POWs drowned. | 2,098 | Military | |
| 1944 | – On 15 November 1944 the Japanese escort aircraft carrier Akitsu Maru was sunk by the submarine at the southern entrance of Tsushima Strait 60 miles east of Saishu Island. Some 2,046 men, mainly of the Imperial Japanese Army's 64th Infantry Regiment, were killed. | 2,046 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Empire of Japan | Kamakura Maru – On 28 April 1943 the combination troop transport and hospital ship Kamakura Maru, while sailing from Manila to Singapore and carrying some 2,500 soldiers along with civilians, was torpedoed by the US submarine. The ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank within 12 minutes. Four days later 465 survivors were rescued from the sea by Japanese ships with some 2,035 people being killed. | 2,035 | Military | |
| 1945 | Empire of Japan | – On 1 April 1945, the cargo and passenger ship was intercepted and sunk in the Taiwan Strait by the U.S. submarine which mistook her for a destroyer. One person of the 2,004 aboard survived. | 2,003 | Navy | |
| 1941 | – After being hunted by British forces following the sinking of, Bismarck was herself sunk three days later on 27 May 1941. Of the more than 2,200 crew aboard, over 2,000 were killed, 114 survived. | 2,000+ | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 27 September 1944 the Japanese transport and hospital ship was torpedoed in the South China Sea and sunk by the US submarine about west of Luzon. An estimated 2,000 were killed. | 2,000 | Military | |
| 1943 | – Lost in the Battle of North Cape on 26 December 1943, being outgunned by, and later finished off by British destroyers; 1,932 killed, 36 survived. | 1,932 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Empire of Japan | – On 3 March 1943, the transport was bombed and sunk by American and Australian aircraft south-east of Finschhafen, New Guinea during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Her commanding officer, seventeen crewmen and 1,880 troops were killed. | 1,915 | Military | |
| 1943 | – An Italian motor passenger ship in German control, she was attacked and shelled by the destroyer on 23 September 1943, while carrying 1,584 to 1,835 Italian POWs captured by the Germans in Rhodes in addition to 220 German guards and crew. The ship capsized and sank quickly, leaving no survivors. | 1,800+ | Military | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 24 October 1944 Arisan Maru, one of Japan's hell ships, was transporting 1,781 US and Allied POWs and civilian inermes when she was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine. It is not known whether it was or. Nine of the prisoners aboard survived. | 1,772 | Military | |
| 1944 | – On 19 June 1944, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese aircraft carrier sank some six and a half hours after suffering a single torpedo hit from the US submarine. A combination of the torpedo hit along with a pair of explosions that resulted from design flaws and poor damage control procedures doomed the ship. Out of a complement of 2,150 some 1,650 officers and men were killed. | 1,650 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 12 September 1942, north-northeast of Ascension Island, Laconia was hit and sunk by a torpedo fired by. The U-boat commander ordered a rescue effort after discovering the survivors included hundreds of Italian POWs. An American bomber attacked U-156 despite observing the survivors aboard in what came to be called the Laconia incident, which led to Admiral Karl Dönitz's Laconia Order regarding assistance to the survivors of sinking ships. In all an estimated 1,649 persons were killed. | 1,649 | Military | ||
| 1940 | – The aircraft carrier, with escorting destroyers and were sunk by the German battleships and off Norway, 8 June 1940. 1,515 men died; 46 survived. | 1,515 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 22 August 1944 the passenger/cargo ship Tsushima Maru, while carrying hundreds of schoolchildren from Okinawa to Kagoshima as part of a convoy, was torpedoed and sunk by close to the island of Akusekijima. A total of 1,508, of which 767 of the schoolchildren, were killed and 177, including 59 schoolchildren, survived the sinking. | 1,508 | Civilian | |
| 1944 | – sunk with her entire crew of around 1,470 in 1944, possibly the largest vessel to be lost with all hands in World War II. | 1,470 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – The battlecruiser was attacked and sunk by the on 24 May 1941. Of the 1,418 crew aboard, three survived. | 1,415 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944 as a result of torpedoes launched by in the Battle of Surigao Strait, causing the loss of possibly all of her crew of 1,400. | 1,400 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – sunk by US airplanes during the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944. Only one survivor. | 1,400 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – Meant to be the third, but completed as an aircraft carrier instead, she was sunk on 29 November 1944 by the US submarine killing of 1,400 of her crew and shipbuilding workers, as she had not yet been completely outfitted for duty, and had been commissioned ten days before her sinking. Shinano is the largest-ever warship ever sunk solely by a submarine in naval history. | 1,435 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Empire of Japan | – On 8 February 1943 the Japanese troopship Tatsuta Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the 42 miles east of Mikurajima. Some 1,400 Japanese soldiers aboard were killed. | 1,400 | Military | |
| 1943 | – Roma was hit by two German Fritz X guided bombs on 9 September 1943, while proceeding from La Spezia toward Malta, in accordance with the terms of the Allied-Italian armistice. Of her crew of 2,015, 622 survived; 1,393 died. | 1,393 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – The battleship, sister ship of, was also sunk in the Battle of Surigao Strait, with about 10 survivors out of 1,400. | 1,390 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 31 July 1944 the Japanese troopship Fuso Maru was torpedoed and sunk by in the South China Sea northwest of Cape Mayraira, Luzon, the Philippines, while she was travelling in Convoy MI-11 from Moji, Japan, to Miri, Borneo. 1,384 Japanese soldiers aboard were killed. | 1,384 | Military | |
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 17 February 1944, during Operation Hailstorm, the armed merchant cruiser was bombed and damaged at Truk by United States Navy aircraft and was consequently scuttled. A total of 512 passengers and 788 sailors were lost. | 1,309 | Military | |
| 1943 | – An Italian cargo ship, captured by the German, which was sunk in Corfu Bay by an Allied bomber on 10 October 1943, killing 1,302 Italian POWs out of 5,500 aboard. | 1,302 | Military | ||
| 1944 | , an Egyptian-owned, UK-requisitioned troopship in a convoy from Mombasa to Colombo, was torpedoed by the on 12 February 1944. Of the 1,507 people aboard, 1,302 were killed, including 79 of the 87 women. Some survivors in the water were killed when the destroyer escorts dropped depth charges to bring the submarine to the surface. | 1,302 | Military | ||
| 1945 | – On 8 June 1945 the Japanese cruiser left Batavia for Singapore with 1,600 troops aboard escorted by the destroyer. In the Bangka Strait the two ships were attacked by the Allied submarines, and. Kamikaze attacked Trenchant with gunfire forcing her to submerge and then with depth charges, but Trenchant fired eight torpedoes at Ashigara. Ashigara was hit five times and capsized Kamikaze rescued 400 troops and 853 crew. | 1,300 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – was used as a troop ship by the Italian Government until 24 May 1941, when she was torpedoed and sunk by. The sinking occurred off the coast of Sicily while in convoy from Naples to Tripoli. Of the 2,729 soldiers and crew aboard, 1,297 were killed. | 1,297 | Military | ||
| 1944 | – On 19 June 1944, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku was sunk after being struck by three to four torpedoes launched by the US submarine followed by an aerial bomb that detonated aviation fuel vapors that had permeated the ship. She sank quickly taking 1,272 with her while 570 were rescued. | 1,272 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 4 December 1943 the Japanese aircraft carrier was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine close to the island of Hachijōjima. After being hit four times in two hours Chūyō sank quickly killing about 1,250 people including 20 of the 21 prisoners captured from US submarine. | 1,250 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 19 December 1944 the Japanese aircraft carrier was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine in the East China Sea. 1,239 were killed; one officer and 146 men survived and were rescued by the. | 1,239 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Empire of Japan | – On 3 March 1943, the transport was bombed and damaged by American and Australian aircraft south-east of Finschhafen, New Guinea during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. She was finished off that night by PT-143 and PT-150. Seventy-eight crewmen and 1,151 troops were killed. | 1,229 | Military | |
| 1944 | – The battleship was attacked by Royal Air Force Lancaster bombers from 9 and 617 Squadrons armed with Tallboy bombs on 12 November 1944 during Operation Catechism. The battleship sank west of Tromsø, Norway, killing between 950 and 1,204 of her crew. | 950–1,204 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – Sunk with torpedoes by the submarine on 21 November 1944 in the Formosa Strait with the loss of 1,200 of her crew. | 1,200 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 31 January 1944 the Japanese auxiliary submarine tender, about northwest of Truk, was attacked by the US submarine and was hit by two torpedoes. She took on water rapidly and sank within five minutes with loss of 300 crew and 888 technicians. The escorting rescued 43 survivors. | 1,188 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – While docked in Pearl Harbor, the super-dreadnought battleship was attacked by Japanese torpedo and dive bombers on 7 December 1941. 1,177 crew were killed out of a complement of 1,400. The wreck remains on the bottom of the harbor as a memorial to all those who died that day. | 1,177 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 12 September 1944 the Japanese troopship, while part of Convoy HI-72 and transporting 1,317 Australian and British POWs from Singapore, was torpedoed and sunk in the Luzon Strait by. 1,159 POWs were killed. On 15 September 1944 Sealion and other submarines who had participated in the attack returned to the area and rescued 63 surviving POWs, but four died before they could be landed at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan in the Mariana Islands. | 1,159 | Military | |
| 1943 | – sunk on 26 November 1943 in the Mediterranean by a Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb from a Luftwaffe aircraft. An estimated 1,138 deaths, 1,015 of them US soldiers, constitutes the largest loss of US soldiers at sea. | 1,138 | Military | ||
| 1944 | – On 17 November 1944 the Japanese aircraft carrier, en route to Singapore, was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine. As many as four torpedoes hit the ship and detonated her aviation fuel tanks. The resulting explosion destroyed the ship and killed 1,130 while 70 were rescued. | 1,130 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Empire of Japan | – On 22 June 1942, after the fall of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea the Japanese ordered 845 Australian POWs and 208 civilian internees to board the unmarked Japanese ship, Montevideo Maru, for transport to Japan. On 1 July the US submarine attacked and sank the ship near the northern Philippine coast. Of the 1,140 people aboard, including 88 crew, reportedly 18 survived. | 1,122 | Military | |
| 1943 | – On 8 June 1943, while at Hashirajima fleet anchorage, the Japanese battleship suffered an internal explosion and sank. At the time 113 flying cadets and 40 instructors from the Tsuchiura Naval Air Group were aboard for familiarization. The magazine of her No. 3 turret exploded destroying the adjacent structure of the ship and cutting her in half. A massive influx of water into the machinery spaces caused the forward section of the ship to capsize starboard and sink almost immediately. The stern section upended and floated until about 02:00 hrs on 9 June before sinking a few hundred feet south of the main wreck. Of 1,474 crew and visitors aboard, 1,121 were killed in the explosion. | 1,121 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 22 July 1943, Nisshin transported 630 soldiers, 22 light tanks, ammunition and food supplies from Yokosuka to Bougainville Island. The convoy was attacked by three waves of American bombers, and Nisshin was hit by four 227-kilogram and two 454-kilogram bombs, which exploded her aviation fuel stores and which caused many casualties among the crowded soldiers. Nisshin sank some fourteen minutes after the start of the air raid. Of the 1263 on board at the time, only 178 were rescued by the escorting destroyers. | 1,085 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 20 September 1944 the Japanese cargo ship, while transporting POWs, and 10 other ships formed Convoy MATA-27 sailing from Manila to Japan. The following morning the convoy was attacked north of Corregidor by more than 100 US carrier planes. All 11 ships in the convoy were sunk. Of those on Hofuku Maru 1,047 of the 1,289 British and Dutch POWs aboard died. | 1,047 | Military | |
| 1944 | – Sister ship of Yamato, sunk by US aircraft on 24 October 1944 in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, with a loss of 1,023 of her crew of 2,399. | 1,023 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 21 October 1942, while transporting POWs to Norway, the German ship was sunk off the Norwegian coast by a RAF aircraft. 78 prisoners and 108 Germans survived the sinking; 986 people, including 915 prisoners from the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe, were killed. | 986 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Galilea – On 28 March 1942 the Italian troop transport Galilea, while carrying Alpini of the Julia Division from Patras to Bari, was torpedoed by HMS Proteus and sank in five hours. 319 men were rescued out of 1,314 aboard. | 995 | Military | ||
| 1940 | France | – The super-dreadnought battleship and pride of the French navy, exploded and sank on 3 July 1940 in the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir as a result of gunfire from the British warships Hood, Valiant, and Resolution; 977 men were killed. | 977 | Navy | |
| 1944 | – On 17 February 1944, while loading troops and supplies at Truk in Operation Hailstone, the Japanese armed merchant cruiser Aikoku Maru was sunk by Allied aircraft. The first bomb exploded in the officer's wardroom causing a fire and was followed by three more hits. In a second attack she was hit by a torpedo which detonated the ammunition in her number one hold and the explosion sheared off the bow. Aikoku Maru sank in two minutes, killing 945 crew and passengers. | 945 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Corregidor – On 17 December 1941, while loaded with about 1,200 passengers fleeing Manila, Corregidor was sunk by a mine off Corregidor. Corregidor had been the Royal Navy seaplane tender HMS Engadine and had returned to passenger service following WWI. Of 1,200 people aboard, 925 were killed and 275 rescued. | 925 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | / Netherlands | & – On 27 April 1941, in the Battle of Greece, the two destroyers went to rescue survivors from the Dutch troopship Slamat which had been disabled in air attacks. After picking up 700 crew and troops the two ships came under sustained air attack from Ju 87 Stukas of JG 77. Wryneck and Diamond were both sunk about east of Cape Maleas, Greece. Of the 983 men from all three ships, 66 survived. | 917 | Navy | |
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese aircraft carrier Chitose was torpedoed and sunk. She was hit by three torpedoes, rolled over to port and nosed under, with the loss of 903 men and 601 rescued. | 903 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | was sunk on 23 December 1941 off the coast of Cyrenaica, Libya by while carrying Italian and German prisoners of war. and rescued survivors, but most were aboard Salvia which was sunk a few hours later with the loss of all aboard. | 800–1,000 | Military | ||
| 1945 | – The heavy cruiser was sunk by the Japanese submarine on 30 July 1945 while sailing to the Philippines from Guam, after delivering components for the Little Boy Hiroshima atomic bomb. Of the 1,196 sailors, 300 were killed aboard and 317 rescued. Others died from exposure and shark attacks. Survivors floated, some just in life jackets, for four days before being rescued. | 880 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 14 November 1942 the Italian steamer Scillin was sunk by submarine, while carrying 814 British POWs. Only 26 or 27 POWs, together with 35 Italians, could be rescued. 787 POWs and 79 Italians were lost. | 866–885 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 25 November 1941, in the eastern Mediterranean north of Sidi Barrani, Barham capsized, exploded and sank two and a half minutes after being hit by three torpedoes fired by the. 861 were killed. There were 450 survivors. The sinking was filmed. | 861 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Empire of Japan | – On 1 October 1942 the Japanese troop transport/freighter, while carrying 2,000 British POWs from the fall of Hong Kong, was torpedoed by the US submarine. An estimated 846 prisoners were killed. Many of the POWs were shot by their Japanese guards while they tried to swim to other ships in the convoy or to shore. | 846 | Military | |
| 1944 | – Aircraft carrier, sunk on 24 October 1944 in the Battle off Cape Engaño, killing 842 of the 1,704 people aboard. | 842 | Navy | ||
| 1939 | – In one of the German Navy's earliest successes in World War II, torpedoed and sank the battleship on 14 October 1939 in the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, killing 833 people. | 833 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – Sunk by Norwegian shore defences at the Battle of Drøbak Sound on 9 April 1940, killing 830 of 2,202 troops and crew aboard. | 830 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Belgium | – a Belgian troop ship torpedoed and sunk by the on 24 December 1944 in the English Channel. 2,235 US servicemen were aboard, of whom about 515 are presumed to have gone down with the ship. Another 248 died from injuries, drowning or hypothermia along with 56 crew. | 819 | Military | |
| 1941 | – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italian cruiser was sunk by the Royal Navy. Of the 1,083 aboard 814 were killed. | 814 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – Aircraft carrier, sunk on 4 June 1942 in the Battle of Midway, killing 811 of 1,708 people aboard. | 811 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | was sunk on 28 November 1942 east of Natal Province, South Africa by. Nova Scotia was carrying 1,052 people; 192 survived. | 808 | Civilian | ||
| 1944 | – On 5 November 1944, while in Manila Bay, the Japanese cruiser was attacked by three waves of US planes from the aircraft carriers and. Nachi was hit at least nine times with torpedoes and rockets. She broke into three parts after two large explosions and sank in the middle of a large oil slick. Of the crew, 807 were killed and 220 survived. | 807 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Aventino – On the night of 2 December 1942 the Italian troop ship was sunk by British ships of the Force Q when her convoy was destroyed in the Battle of Skerki Bank. Aventino was shelled with heavy losses aboard and then sunk by a torpedo, sinking in five minutes with most of the troops aboard. Of 1,100 troops and crew, 170–300 were rescued. | 800-900+ | Military | ||
| 1941 | – A hospital ship that was sunk on 27 June 1941 by German aircraft. The ship was evacuating wounded military personnel and refugees from the Latvian port city of Liepaja. More than 800 people were killed; eight survivors reached the coast and another five were picked up by an escort torpedo-boat. | 800 | Military | ||
| 1940 | – On 2 July 1940 the passenger liner, which was being used to transport German and Italian POWs and internees, was sunk by commanded by Günther Prien. Of 1,673 people aboard, over 800 were killed. | 800 | Military | ||
| 1943 | – On 1 May 1943 the troopship was attacked by Luftwaffe bombers and a bomb hit one of her holds. She sank within four minutes. Two junior engineers, 54 Indian seamen, three Gunners, 140 Palestinian Jewish soldiers serving in 462 Transport Company of the British Army, and 600 Basuto Pioneer Troops were killed. | 799 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Italian cruiser Zara was torpedoed, shelled and sunk by British naval forces. Of 1,086 crew, 799 were killed. | 799 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Romania | – On 23 February 1942, the small ship, crowded with Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe trying to reach Palestine, was towed from Istanbul through the Bosphorus and into the Black Sea by the Turkish authorities with her refugee passengers aboard, where she was left adrift with her engine inoperable. Early on 24 February she was torpedoed and sunk by the. There was one survivor; an estimated 791 men, women and children were killed. | 768 | Civilian | |
| 1941 | – light cruiser mined and sunk off Tripoli on the night of 19–20 December 1941, with the loss of all but one of her crew of 767; another 73 were killed when came to assist but struck a mine. | 766 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 August 1944, off Cape Bolinao, Luzon, the Japanese aircraft carrier was sunk while escorting a convoy bound for Manila. The US submarine hit Taiyō with a torpedo that caused the carrier’s avgas and oil tanks to explode. She sank in 26 minutes with few survivors and 747 killed. | 747 | Navy | ||
| 1939 | – the ship was transporting scientists released from Soviet Gulag prison camps to help the war effort when she sank in a blizzard off the Japanese coast on 13 December 1939, killing 741 people. | 741 | Civilian | ||
| 1945 | – was badly damaged by a Japanese air attack and fire on 19 March 1945 that left 807 killed with 265 wounded. She was the most heavily damaged US carrier to survive the war. | 724 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 29 May 1940, while taking part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, the British destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by E-Boat S-30. Of the 750 crew and troops aboard, 724 were killed. | 724 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 22 May 1941, Gloucester was attacked by German Stuka dive bombers and sunk in the Battle of Crete with the loss of 722 men out of a crew of 807. | 722 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – Aircraft carrier, sunk on 4 June 1942 in the Battle of Midway, killing 711 of her complement of 1,103. | 711 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | - capsized and sunk during the Battle of Sunda Strait after being struck by four torpedoes. Of the 1061 aboard 368 survived but were captured and ended up in internment camps. | 707 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 February 1944, in Operation Hailstone, the Japanese destroyer was sunk in Truk harbor by Allied aircraft. Oite was torpedoed, broke in half, and sank almost immediately, killing 172 of 192 crew and all 523 survivors that she had rescued from the that was sunk two days earlier. | 695 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – Sunk at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942. Juneaus 100+ survivors were left on the ocean for eight days, before rescue aircraft belatedly arrived and found 10 survivors. | 687 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – was sunk by a torpedo from a German U-boat on 3 February 1943 while sailing to Greenland as part of a naval convoy. The loss of the ship became especially famous because of the story of the death of four Army chaplains, known as the "Four Chaplains" or the "Immortal Chaplains," who all gave away their life jackets to save others before they died. Of the 902 men aboard 672 were killed; 230 survived. | 672 | Military | ||
| 1942 | – On 6 December 1942 the British ocean liner Ceramic was sunk by west of the Azores in the Atlantic. U-515 hit her with three torpedoes and Ceramic was crippled but remained afloat. About eight full lifeboats were launched and about three hours later U-515 fired two more torpedoes that broke her back, sinking her immediately. The sea became rough and the lifeboats began capsizing in the storm. On returning to search for the ship's captain U-515 took one prisoner and left the others. Of the 656 aboard he was the only survivor. | 655 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – Heavy cruiser, sunk on 5 June 1942 in the Battle of Midway, with the loss of 650 of her crew. | 650 | Navy | ||
| 1941 |  Australia | – The light cruiser was sunk by the on 19 November 1941 off the coast of Western Australia with the loss of all 645 sailors aboard, making her the largest Allied vessel to be lost with all hands in World War II. | 645 | Navy | |
| 1943 | – was an escort carrier that was lost to a submarine attack in Operation Galvanic on 24 November 1943. Of the 916 crew aboard, 644 were killed and 272 rescued. | 644 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – In a D-Day training exercise named Exercise Tiger on 28 April 1944 LST-531 was torpedoed and sunk by German E-boats. Of 926 troops and crew aboard, 636 were killed and 290 survived. | 636 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 12 January 1945, shortly after leaving Qui Nhon Bay, Indochina with convoy HI-86, US Navy bombers attacked and sank most of the convoy's ships. Kashii was hit starboard amidships by a torpedo from a TBF Avenger then a SB2C Helldiver struck with two bombs aft setting off the depth charge magazine. The cruiser sank stern first, with 621 killed and 19 rescued. | 621 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | Empire of Japan | – this Japanese passenger-cargo ship was torpedoed by submarine on 24 June 1944, carrying Japanese troops and 772 Allied POWs of which 560 died. | 595+ | Military | |
| 1944 | – was a Liberty ship serving as a troopship. On the evening of 20 April 1944 German bombers attacked her off Cape Bengut near Algiers. One aerial torpedo struck her and detonated her cargo of high explosives and bombs; the ship and all aboard disappeared within 30 seconds. The crew and passengers, who included 154 officers and men of the 831st Bombardment Squadron, were all lost. Of the 580 men aboard only one body was recovered. | 580 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – A German auxiliary cruiser which served as a commerce raider in World War II that captured or sunk 32 ships. On 8 May 1941 she was sunk in a battle with in the Indian Ocean. Of 401 crew, 341 were lost along with 214 of the 238 prisoners aboard. | 555 | |||
| 1942 | – On 15 June 1942, during Operation Vigorous, the Italian heavy cruiser Trento was disabled by a torpedo bomber and, during attempts to take her in tow, was torpedoed by HMS Umbra and quickly sank. 570 men went down with the ship or died of their wounds, out of a crew of 1,151. | 570 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Caterina Costa – On 28 March 1943 the Italian cargo ship Caterina Costa, ready to sail for Tunisia with a large cargo of fuel and ammunitions, accidentally caught fire and blew up in the harbour of Naples, sinking two assisting tugboats and causing heavy damage to the harbour facilities and the buildings nearby. At least 549 people were killed and about 3,000 wounded. | 549+ | Military | ||
| 1945 | Empire of Japan | – Exploded and sank on 22 August 1945, on entering the port of Maizuru, killing 549 people, mainly Koreans. | 549 | Military | |
| 1941 | – On 13 December 1941 the Italian light cruiser Alberico Da Barbiano, during a fuel transport mission to Libya, was sunk by destroyers Legion, Sikh, Maori and Isaac Sweers together with her sistership Alberto Di Giussano. The ship capsized after bursting into flames and only 250 of the 784 men a board were saved. Admiral Toscano was among the killed. | 534 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Z27, T25 and T26 – In the Bay of Biscay, on 28 December 1943, Z27, a Kriegsmarine and two s, T25 and T26 were waiting to escort Alsterufer, a blockade runner that had come from Japan. The Royal Navy knew the German positions and had already sunk Alsterufer. The cruisers and shelled and sank Z27, T25, and T26 from over the horizon. In one of the most remarkable rescues of the war, the neutral Irish coaster rescued 168 survivors from the three ships' 700 crew. | 532 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Lanzerotto Malocello – On 24 March 1943 the Italian destroyer Lanzerotto Malocello, carrying German troops to Tunis, sank after hitting a mine. 199 of Malocello | 520 | Navy | ||
| 1939 | – The aircraft carrier was torpedoed on 17 September 1939. She capsized and sank in 15 minutes, killing 518 of her crew. | 518 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 15 November 1942, after participating in Operation Torch, the British escort carrier was sunk by the while nearing Gibraltar. At the time she was returning home with engine problems and 516 of her crew were killed. | 516 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 10 December 1941, three days after Pearl Harbor, the battlecruiser was sent with the battleship to intercept Japanese landings in Malaya, but were sunk by Japanese aircraft based in Saigon. 840 sailors were killed: 513 on Repulse and 327 on Prince of Wales. Winston Churchill said when he heard about the sinkings: "In all the war, I never received a more direct shock...". | 513 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – On 27 February 1942, HNLMS Java along with HNLMS De Ruyter and other Allied cruisers and destroyers led a sortie against Japanese warships in an attempt to stop the Japanese invasion fleet in the Battle of the Java Sea. 512 of the crew were killed. | 512 | Navy | |
| 1942 | – On 13 November 1942, in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Japanese cruiser was sunk after being bombed by US aircraft. A bomb hit Kinugasa in front of the bridge starting a fire in the forward gasoline storage area and Kinugasa gradually began to list to port. Near-misses caused more fires and flooding and a second attack by 17 more Dauntless dive bombers knocked out her engines and rudder along with opening more compartments to the sea. Kinugasa capsized and sank southwest of Rendova Island, killing 511 of her crew. | 511 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – On 1 March 1942, while transporting evacuees from the Fall of Malaya and Singapore, the Dutch troopship was torpedoed and sunk by the west of Sumatra while steaming from Padang in the Dutch East Indies to Colombo in Ceylon. She capsized and sank rapidly leaving only one life boat, designed to hold 28 but with 80 aboard, and 135 people in the water. Two of the survivors from the water were picked up nine days later by the Dutch cargo ship and only one survivor from the lifeboat when it was ultimately captured by the Japanese. | 500 | Civilian | |
| 1942 | Tembien – On 27 February 1942 the Italian steamer Tembien, carrying 498 British POWs in addition to 137 Italian and 20 German troops and crew, was torpedoed and sunk by off Tripoli. 419 POWs, 68 Italians and 10 Germans were lost. | 497 | Military | ||
| 1943 | – On 17 June 1943 the British troopship Yoma, while part of a convoy northwest of the port of Derna, Libya, was torpedoed and sunk by the. She sank rapidly and 484 people were killed while another 1,477 were rescued. | 484 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 25 February 1941 the Italian cruiser Armando Diaz was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine off the island of Kerkennah in the early hours of 25 February. Of the 633 aboard 484 were killed. | 484 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Ascari – On 24 March 1943 the Italian destroyer Ascari, in a troop transport mission to Tunis, struck three mines and sank while rescuing survivors of another sunken destroyer, Lanzerotto Malocello. 194 of Ascaris 247 crew were killed, together with 280 of the 286 German soldiers aboard. | 474 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 14 December 1941 before midnight the light cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by off Alexandria, Egypt killing 469 of her crew. Some 100 survivors were picked up by the destroyers and. Less than 48 hours later, U-557 was rammed by the Italian Torpedo Boat Orione and sunk with all hands. | 469 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – the British cruiser was sunk by German torpedo boats in an action in the English Channel on 23 October 1943. Of the 571 aboard 464 were killed. | 464 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 20 October 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese cruiser was hit by three torpedoes fired from the. Tama broke it in two and sank within minutes with all hands. | 450 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 7 April 1945, the cruiser Yahagi was badly damaged, capzised and sank after being attacked by aircraft from US Task Force 58. Of her crew of 736 aboard, 445 were killed. | 445 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | – On 1 November 1944 the Japanese troopship Asama Maru was torpedoed and sunk by in the South China Sea south of the island of Pratas. Of the 1,874 crew, gunners and military personnel aboard 440 were killed. | 440 | Military | |
| 1942 | – On 17 August 1942 the Italian cargo ship Nino Bixio, sailing in convoy from Bengasi to Brindisi with 3,200 POWs aboard, was torpedoed and damaged by. The ship could be towed to Navarino, Greece, but 336 POWs and 118 Italian troops and crew were killed. | 434 | Military | ||
| 1941 | Città di Messina – On 15 January 1941 the Italian troop transport Città di Messina was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Regent while carrying Italian Air Force Personnel. 432 men perished while 166 were rescued. | 432 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 7 December 1941, Oklahoma was sunk by several bombs and torpedoes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 crew died when she capsized in Battleship Row. | 429 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 24 November 1941, HMS Dunedin was in the Central Atlantic northeast of Recife, Brazil when she was sunk by two torpedoes from the. Four officers and 63 men survived from a crew of 486. | 419 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 February 1944 the cruiser was leaving Naples to return to the Anzio area when she was torpedoed by. A torpedo struck her after engine room and was followed 16 minutes later by another torpedo that hit her after boiler room causing her immediate sinking. Her captain and 414 of her crew were killed; 206 survived. | 415 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Victoria – On 23 January 1942 the Italian liner Victoria was sunk by multiple torpedo bomber strikes while carrying troops to Tripoli. 1,046 survivors were picked up by the escorts but 409 died. | 409 | Military | ||
| 1943 | – On 13 March 1943 the British troopship Empress of Canada, en route from Durban, South Africa to Takoradi carrying Italian prisoners of war along with Polish and Greek refugees, was torpedoed and sunk by the about south of Cape Palmas off the coast of Africa. Of about 1,800 people aboard 392 were killed. Nearly half of the deaths reported were Italian prisoners. | 392 | Military | ||
| 1945 | - On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the invasion of Okinawa, Bunker Hill was struck and severely damaged by two Japanese kamikaze planes. Bunker Hill lost a total of 390 sailors and airmen killed, including 43 missing, and 264 wounded. Bunker Hill was heavily damaged but was able to steam at 20 knots to Ulithi. She was still in the shipyard when the war ended in mid-August 1945. | 390 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 1 April 1942, en route to La Spezia to repair storm damage, the Italian cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere was hit by two torpedoes from the submarine. She broke in two and sank with the loss of 381 men; 391 men were saved. | 381 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – British escort aircraft carrier that sank in 1943 after an internal explosion, killing 379 of her crew of 528. | 379 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | Charles Henderson – On 9 April 1945, while unloading a shipment of munitions at the Bari, Italy port, the Liberty ship Charles Henderson suffered an explosion that killed all on board along with 267 Italian nationals. | 376 | Military | ||
| 1942 | – On 9 August 1942, at the Battle of Savo Island, the US heavy cruiser was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. She sustained many direct hits which killed 370 men and wounded 167. She sank bow, first and was the first ship sunk in the area later known as Ironbottom Sound. | 370 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 30 December 1942 the British Special Service Vessel was torpedoed and sunk by with the loss of 274 crew, 51 Marines and 44 survivors from Empire Shackleton. The only survivors were the eight crew of the motor torpedo boat, that were detached on anti-submarine patrol, who were later picked up by and two crew of a seaplane that had crashed on take off two days earlier and had been picked up by HMCS St. Laurent. | 369 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On a return trip from Japan to France the auxiliary minelayer was accidentally sunk by on 3 March 1943. All but one of the 365 men aboard, 108 crew plus 257 prisoners-of-war, were killed in the sinking and delayed rescue. | 364 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 29 October 1942 the British ship Abosso was in the Atlantic about north of the Azores when she was torpedoed and sunk by the. 10 lifeboats and rafts were launched but only one was recovered. 362 of the 393 people aboard were killed. | 362 | Civilian | ||
| 1943 | Empire of Japan | – On 7 January 1943, the Japanese troop transport/freighter, carrying 1,100 troops, was bombed and sunk off Lae, New Guinea by aircraft of the United States Army Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. 739 survivors were rescued by Maikaze | 361 | Military | |
| 1940 | – On 8 December 1940 the a passenger and cargo steamship Calabria, while traveling in a convoy, was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of all 360 crew and passengers aboard. | 360 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | – On 17 January 1941 the passenger and cargo liner was about north of Rockall in heavy seas when hit her amidships with one torpedo, causing her to stop. She did not sink so U-96 fired two more torpedoes hitting the liner in the stern and again amidships. She had launched four lifeboats but still had people on deck when U-96 surfaced and opened fire on her with her 88 mm deck gun. The submarine fired 28 incendiary shells about 15 of which hit the liner and started small fires aboard. These soon went out and U-96 hit her with a fourth torpedo which exploded in her forepart. Within three minutes Almeda Star sank by her bow. When rescue ships arrived no trace of the ship or the 360 aboard was found. | 360 | Civilian | ||
| 1944 | – On 23 October, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese cruiser was sunk after being hit by four torpedoes fired from the submarine. Atago was set ablaze, capsized and sank in about of water. 360 people were killed; 529 survived. | 360 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Australia | – A light cruiser that was sunk on 1 March 1942 at the Battle of Sunda Strait. Of the 681 sailors aboard, 353 were killed in battle. All but four of the 328 survivors were captured as prisoners of war. Of those captured, 106 died in captivity and the surviving 218 were returned home to Australia after the war. | 353 | Navy | |
| 1944 | – On 10 November 1944, while at anchor in Seeadler Harbor, the ammunition ship suffered an internal explosion that detonated her cargo of munitions and obliterated her. All 350 crew aboard were killed with no remains recovered. The concussion and metal fragments hurled from the ship also caused casualties and damage to ships and small craft within. The repair ship, which was broadside-on to the blast, was the most seriously damaged. All personnel topside on Mindanao were killed outright, and dozens of men were killed or wounded below decks as numerous heavy fragments from Mount Hood penetrated the side plating. In all 82 of Mindanaos crew died. Another 22 small boats and landing craft were sunk, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair with 371 sailors were injured from all ships in the harbor. | 350 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 7 August 1944, while en route from Kagoshima to Sasebo, the Japanese cruiser was sighted by. The submarine closed to 1,300 yards and fired a salvo of four stern torpedoes hitting Nagara starboard aft with one. Nagara sank by the stern off the Amakusa islands with 349 lost and 235 crew rescued. | 349 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Andrea Gritti – An Italian cargo ship sunk by British torpedo bombers on 3 September 1941 while carrying troops and supplies for the Axis forces in Northern Africa. The ship, sailing in a convoy, blew up with the loss of 347 men; there were only two survivors. | 347 | Military | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – On 27 February 1942, HNLMS De Ruyter along with HNLMS Java and other Allied cruisers and destroyers led a sortie against Japanese warships in an attempt to stop the Japanese invasion fleet in the Battle of the Java Sea. 345 of the crew were killed. | 345 | Navy | |
| 1943 | Emma – On 16 January 1943 the Italian cargo ship Emma, carrying supplies to Tunisia, was torpedoed by and blew up off Ischia. All but 7 of the 350 men aboard were killed. | 343 | Military | ||
| 1942 | – On 31 December 1942, in the Battle of the Barents Sea, the German destroyer was sunk with all hands by the British cruiser. 341 people were killed. | 341 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 22 October 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf the Japanese cruiser was sunk by the US submarine hitting her with four torpedoes. She sank within five minutes, killing 336 of her crew. The next day another 143 of her crew, having had been rescued from the sinking, were killed when the was sunk. | 336 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 29 March 1941, in the Battle of Matapan, the Italian cruiser Pola was disabled by an aerial torpedo and then sunk by British naval forces. Of the 1,024 crew aboard 336 were killed. | 336 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 29 June 1942 the Italian sloop Diana, carrying Italian Navy personnel to Tobruk, was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Thrasher. 336 men perished in the sinking, and 119 were rescued. | 336 | Military | ||
| 1942 | – On 9 August 1942, in the Battle of Savo Island, the US heavy cruiser was sunk by Japanese torpedoes and naval gunfire. 332 of her crew were killed. | 332 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 August 1944, east of Samar, the Japanese cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine. The destroyers and rescued 194 survivors and recovered four others in a rubber raft. However, 330 crew of Natori were killed. On 12 September 1944, almost a month after her sinking, captured a lifeboat with another 44 of Natoris survivors aboard. | 330 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 10 December 1941, three days after Pearl Harbor, the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales was sent to intercept Japanese landings in Malaya but was sunk by Japanese aircraft based in Saigon along with the battlecruiser. Of the 1,521 aboard Prince of Wales 327 were killed, along with 513 on Repulse. Winston Churchill said when he heard about the sinkings: "In all the war, I never received a more direct shock...". | 327 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 7 April 1945, while escorting the, the destroyer Asashimo was sunk by Allied aircraft. She was sunk with all 326 hands southwest of Nagasaki after falling astern of Yamatos task force with engine trouble. | 326 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Sebastiano Venier – On 9 December 1941 the Italian cargo vessel Sebastiano Venier, carrying 3,000 Commonwealth POWs from Libya, was torpedoed by and was run aground near Cape Methoni. 309 POWs and 11 Italian soldiers and crew lost their lives, while 1,691 POWs, 156 Italians and 15 Germans survived. | 320 | Military | ||
| 1944 | Port Chicago disaster – On 17 July 1944 a munitions explosion on the pier triggered a massive secondary explosion on the ammunition-laden Liberty ship SS E A Bryan, destroying her, which spread to the dock and sank the neighboring Victory ship and United States Coast Guard fireboat CG-60014-F. The largest US homefront loss of life during World War II, the disaster claimed 320 military personnel and civilians with another 390 injured. This also directly led to the Port Chicago Muntiny. | 320 | Navy, Coast Guard, and civilian | ||
| 1945 | – On 21 February 1945, in the Battle of Iwo Jima, the aircraft carrier was sunk by a kamikaze aircraft attack. The first aircraft crashed through the hangar deck, striking the ship's magazines and starting fires. They were almost under control when a second aircraft hit her, destroying the water system for the fire control system. The order was given to abandon ship and she sank with 318 men killed and 605 rescued. She was the last US Navy aircraft carrier lost in World War II. | 318 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 December 1944, in Typhoon Cobra, the US destroyer capsized and sank after her rudder jammed. Of the crew aboard 317 men were killed with 23 survivors. | 317 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 19 February 1944, in Operation Hailstone, the Japanese cruiser sank after being shelled by the battleship. After being under attack for 13 minutes, Katori sank stern first with a port side list at about northwest of Truk. A large group of survivors was seen in the water after she sank but the Americans did not recover any. | 315 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 22 February 1940, while en route to Dogger Bank to intercept British fishing vessels, the German destroyer Z3 Max Schultz hit a mine and sank with all hands. At the time she was rescuing crew from Z1 Leberecht Maass that had been mistakenly bombed by German aircraft. In total 308 were killed on Max Schultz. | 308 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 9 April 1942 the British aircraft carrier and her escorting Australian destroyer were sunk south-east of Trincomalee, Ceylon by Japanese aircraft. Hermes sank with the loss of 307 men. Most of the survivors were rescued by the hospital ship Vita. | 307 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 21 November 1944 the Japanese destroyer Urakaze was torpedoed and sunk with all hands by the north-northwest of Keelung, Formosa. Several survivors were previously rescued from Tanikaze were also killed. | 307 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Turkey | – Mefkure was a motor schooner chartered to carry Jewish refugees from Romania to Palestine, sailing under the Turkish and Red Cross flags. On 5 August 1944, while she was crossing the Black Sea, the Soviet submarine torpedoed and sank her, killing an estimated 305 people. 11 people survived. | 305 | Civilian | |
| 1943 | Andrea Sgarallino – On 22 September 1943 the submarine torpedoed and sank the Italian coastal steamship Andrea Sgarallino en route from Piombino to Portoferraio on Elba. The ship sank immediately leaving only four or five survivors out of the estimated 300–330 people aboard. | 300–330 | Civilian | ||
| 1943 | Diocleziano – An Italian steamer heavily damaged by Luftwaffe bombers while evacuating Italian troops from Jugoslavia and run aground near Biševo on 24 September 1943. 300 to 700 of the soldiers aboard were killed. | 300–700 | Military | ||
| 1945 | On 24 July 1945 the Japanese cruiser Ōyodo was bombed, capsized and sank in shallow water at Kure, Hiroshima. She was hit by eight bombs and strafed before capsizing with 300 of her crew killed. | 300 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 17 October 1943 the German commerce raider Michel was torpedoed and sunk by while heading to port in Japan. She was hit by three torpedoes and sank with 290 of her crew. 116 survivors reached Japan after a three-day journey in open boats. | 290 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | D’Annunzio – On 16 January 1943 the Italian cargo vessel D’Annunzio, fleeing from Tripoli carrying the inmates of Tripoli jails, was shelled, torpedoed and sunk by destroyers and. Only 10 of the about 300 men on board survived. | ca. 290 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 13 December 1941 the Italian light cruiser Alberto Di Giussano, during a fuel transport mission to Libya, was sunk by destroyers Legion, Sikh, Maori and Isaac Sweers together with her sister ship Alberico Da Barbiano. The ship broke in two after allowing most of her crew to abandon the ship, but 283 of the 720 men aboard were lost. | 283 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 22 February 1940, while sailing to the Dogger Bank to intercept British fishing vessels in "Operation Wikinger" in a flotilla, the German destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maass was erroneously attacked by a Heinkel He 111 bomber. She was hit by at least one bomb, lost steering, broke in half and sank. 280 of her crew were killed; 60 survived. In the rescue Z3 Max Schultz hit a mine and sank with all hands. | 280 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Gino Allegri – On 31 May 1942 the Italian cargo vessel Gino Allegri, en route from Brindisi to Bengasi with munitions and other supplies, blew up after being hit by combined attacks of aircraft and. 21 wounded survivors were picked up by the destroyer Euro, out of some 300 men aboard. | 280+ | Military | ||
| 1942 | – This Destroyer-Depot Ship was torpedoed just after midnight by, on 12 November, during the Allied landings in North Africa, and sunk west of Gibraltar. saved 568 people, but 279 off the crew went down with the ship | 279 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 12 December, while laying a minefield off Estonia in the Gulf of Finland, the German destroyer Z36 struck a German mine and sank along with the destroyer Z35. Of those aboard 278 were killed. | 278 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Finland | – On 13 September 1941, mines became entangled in Ilmarinens paravane cable. When the vessel turned, the mines hit the ship and detonated, sinking her in seven minutes. 132 of the crew survived; 271 were killed. | 271 | Navy | |
| 1942 | Brazil | Baependy – On 16 August 1942, the Brazilian merchant ship Baependy was torpedoed by the U 507. Two torpedoes were launched, with a interval of 30 seconds, breaking the ship in half. | 270 | Civilian | |
| 1943 | – A hospital ship attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine on 16 May 1943 off Queensland, Australia. Of the 332 medical personnel and crew aboard, 268 died. It was not until 1979 that the attacking submarine,, was identified. | 268 | Civilian | ||
| 1944 | – On 12 December 1944, while laying a minefield off Estonia in the Gulf of Finland, the German destroyer Z35 struck a German mine and sank along with the destroyer Z36. Of the crew aboard 262 were killed. | 262 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – The passenger ship was sunk by on 17 September 1940. Out of 407 people, 260 were lost, including 77 children of the Children's Overseas Reception Board program. The ship's loss caused the CORB program to be cancelled immediately. | 260 | Civilian | ||
| 1940 | France | Patria – An ocean liner carrying about 1,770 Jewish refugees from Europe and 134 other passengers, sunk by a bomb just outside the port of Haifa on 25 November 1940, while en route to Mauritius. The refugees aboard had been transferred to the ship at Haifa after being denied entry to Palestine. The bomb, planted by members of the Jewish Haganah in the hope of disabling the ship, sank her instead. 260 were killed, 172 injured. The surviving refugees were allowed to remain in Palestine. | 260 | Civilian | |
| 1944 | – On 18 December 1944, in Typhoon Cobra, the US destroyer capsized and sank. Of the crew aboard 256 were killed with six survivors. | 256 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Città di Catania – On 3 August 1943 the Italian passenger steamer Città di Catania, while sailing from Durres to Brindisi with 407 passengers and 105 crew, was torpedoed by, broke in two and sank within two minutes. 207 passengers and 49 crew were lost. | 256 | Civilian | ||
| 1945 | – On 29 January 1945 the Navy cargo ship Serpens was destroyed in an explosion while taking on a cargo of depth charges while docked at Lunga Point with only the bow section surviving. Only two on board survived while two hundred fifty-five were killed including one soldier on shore. | 255 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 5 July 1941 the torpedoed and sank the troopship north of the Azores. 250 troops and four crew were killed; 93 crew, three DEMS gunners and 965 troops survived. | 254 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 24 October 1943 the destroyer struck a mine in the Aegean Sea off Kalymnos. She broke in two and sank within five minutes with the loss of 119 of her company and 134 soldiers from A Company, 4th Battalion, The Buffs. | 253 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944, in the Battle off Samar, the US destroyer was sunk by naval gunfire. After being hit more than 40 times she rolled over and sank. 86 of her complement survived; 253 officers and men were killed. | 253 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 19 January 1942 the liner was torpedoed and sunk by off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The final death toll was 251, including five who died in a lifeboat that was at sea for five days after the sinking. 71 survivors were rescued. | 251 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – On 14 October 1942 the German commerce raider Komet was attacked by British motor torpedo boats near the Cap de la Hague. She was hit by a torpedo from MTB 236 and sank with no survivors. | 251 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 26 October 1944, in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Japanese cruiser was sunk by Allied aircraft. B-24 Liberator bombers sighted Abukuma and repeatedly bombed her, starting fires and causing her to lose power. Four torpedoes in the aft torpedo room exploded with devastating effect. She sank by the stern killing 250 of her crew; her captain and 283 were rescued. | 250 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 20 June 1944, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea the Japanese aircraft carrier was sunk by a gasoline vapor explosion caused by a US torpedo hit. About 1,000 men were rescued by her escorting destroyers; 247 officers and enlisted men were killed. | 247 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 22 May 1941 the British light cruiser was sunk by a German bomber attack south west of Crete. She was hit by several bombs that disabled her then by three bombs dropped by a Junkers Ju 88 she rolled over and sank. There were 523 survivors but 241 men had gone down with the ship. | 241 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 February 1944 the Japanese cruiser Naka was sunk by Allied aircraft near Truk Lagoon. Naka was hit by a torpedo along with a bomb in the third strike and broke in two. Some 240 crew were killed but patrol boats rescued 210 men. | 240 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 17 February 1944, while evacuating convoys to Yokosuka from Truk following Operation Hailstone, the Japanese destroyer was sunk by gunfire from US cruisers northwest of Truk. There were no survivors. | 240 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 24 October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf while alongside the battle damaged and burning USS Princeton, Birmingham was caught in a munitions explosion on board the Princeton while assisting in extinguishing fires on the crippled carrier. Two hundred thirty-nine of Birminghams crew were killed and 408 were injured. | 239 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 17 September 1944 the Japanese aircraft carrier Unyō was struck by two torpedoes fired by and sunk southeast of Hong Kong. Of about 1,000 people aboard, crew and passengers, 761 were rescued. | 239 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 2 October 1942 about north of the coast of Ireland she was escorting the liner carrying 10,000 US troops of the 29th Infantry Division to join the Allied forces in Europe. At 2:15 PM Queen Mary started the starboard turn for the first leg of her zig-zag pattern, cutting across the path of Curacoa with insufficient clearance, and struck her amidships cutting her in two. Curacoa sank in six minutes with the loss of 239 of the 338 aboard. | 239 | Navy | ||
| 1939 | – on patrol, the armed merchant cruiser encountered the German battlecruisers and and was sunk on 23 November 1939. Out of her 276 crew, 238 were killed. | 238 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Scirocco – On 23 March 1942 the Italian destroyer Scirocco foundered in a storm after the Second Battle of Sirte. Two men survived out of a crew of 236. | 234 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 9 August 1942, in the Guadalcanal campaign, the US destroyer was sunk in an air attack. The Japanese, mistaking Jarvis for an escaping cruiser, dispatched 31 planes from Rabaul to search out and destroy her. Once discovered the badly damaged destroyer was no match for bombers raking her with bullets and torpedoes. According to Japanese records she "split and sank" with none of her 233 crew surviving. | 233 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Tabarca – A small Italian transport which sank in a few seconds after hitting a mine off Leghorn on 1 December 1942. All but eight of the 241 men aboard went down with the ship. | 233 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On either 17 or 18 December 1941 the Japanese destroyer Shinonome was bombed by Allied aircraft and sunk near Miri, Sarawak. She exploded and sank with all hands when her aft magazine detonated in the attack. | 230 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 7 July 1944, while escorting the tanker Kokuyo Maru from Singapore towards Manila, Philippines, the Japanese destroyer Tamanami was torpedoed and sunk. She was attacked by west-southwest of Manila and blew up sinking with all hands after being torpedoed. | 228 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 20 July 1943, while rescuing the crew of Japanese destroyer Yūgure, the Japanese destroyer Kiyonami was sunk by U.S. Army B-25 bombers north-northwest of Kolombangara. There were no survivors from among the entire combined Kiyonami and Yūgure crews of 468 men. | 228 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 25 June 1942, while steaming independently from Ōminato towards the Inland Sea, the Japanese destroyer was torpedoed and sunk with loss of all hands by the submarine about southeast of Yokosuka. | 226 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Lanciere – On 23 March 1942 the Italian destroyer Lanciere foundered in a storm after the Second Battle of Sirte. Only 16 of her 242 crew were rescued, and one died shortly thereafter. | 226 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 3 March 1943, in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the Japanese destroyer was sunk by an Allied air attack. After weathering the first waves, Asashio was bombed and strafed later in the day while attempting to rescue survivors from the destroyers Arashio and Nojima. Arashio was lost with all 226 hands, about southeast of Finschhafen, New Guinea. | 226 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Aviere – On 17 December 1942 the Italian destroyer Aviere, while escorting the German cargo ship Ankara from Napoli to Bizerte together with the destroyer Camicia Nera, was torpedoed by the submarine HMS Splendid and sank in a few minutes, after breaking in two. 220 of her crew were killed; 30 were rescued. | 220 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 16 March 1944, after departing Kushiro in northern Hokkaidō with a troop convoy for Uruppu Island, the Japanese destroyer Shirakumo was torpedoed by the US submarine east of Muroran. She sank instantly and there were no survivors from the 219 aboard. | 219 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 5 July 1944, after departing Otaru, Hokkaidō with a convoy bound for Uruppu, the Japanese destroyer Usugumo was torpedoed by in the Sea of Okhotsk west-southwest of Paramushiro. She was hit by two torpedoes that broke her back and she sank in six minutes. There were no survivors. | 219 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – was a heavy cruiser that was sunk in August 1942 at the Battle of Savo Island with 219 men being reported missing or killed. | 219 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Antonio Da Noli – An Italian destroyer which struck a mine and sank in the Strait of Bonifacio on 9 September 1943. 218 of her 257 crew were lost. | 218 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Lago Tana – A small Italian "auxiliary cruiser" which was sunk by multiple air strikes between Pantelleria and Lampedusa on 20 November 1942. Due to all lifeboats having been destroyed during the air strike, all but two of the 217 crew and troops aboard lost their lives. | 215 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Fiume – A small Italian passenger steamer sunk by the Greek submarine Nereus on 24 September 1942 while sailing from Rhodes to Symi. The ship sank in less than 30 seconds, taking 214 of the 287 passengers and crew down with her. | 214 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – On the night of 14/15 November 1942, in one of only two battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima heavily damaged before being crippled in turn by the battleship. Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on 15 November 1942 in Ironbottom Sound with the loss of 212 of her crew of 1,360. | 212 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 5 January 1945 the Japanese destroyer Momi was sunk by an aircraft launched torpedo and sunk with all hands west of Manila. | 211 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Vittorio Alfieri – On 28 March 1941 the Italian destroyer Vittorio Alfieri was disabled by British battleships and sunk by HMS Stuart during the Battle of Cape Matapan. Only 35 of her 245 crew survived. | 210 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 10 July 1943, while on antisubmarine patrol, the US destroyer was attacked by a German dive bomber. One of the bombs exploded her after magazine causing her to roll over and sink within 2 minutes. Of her 284 crew, 74 survived. | 210 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 20 July 1943, while on a troop transport run to Kolombanara, the Japanese destroyer Yūgure was bombed and sunk with all hands by U.S. Marine TBF Avenger aircraft from Guadalcanal, north-northwest of Kolombangara. The rescue destroyer was also sunk with no survivors. | 210 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 20 February 1945 the Japanese destroyer Nokaze was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine north of Nha Trang, French Indochina in the South China Sea. The ship exploded and sank with 209 killed while 21 survivors were rescued. | 209 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 24 June 1944, while transporting troops in support of the Normandy landing, the British transport Derrycunihy was sunk. An acoustic or 'Oyster' mine, dropped by one of the nightly Luftwaffe raiders, exploded under the keel and split the ship in two. Of those aboard 183 troops were killed and about 120 others wounded. 25 of the ship's crew were also killed, which was the biggest single loss of life off the Normandy invasion beaches. | 208 | Military | ||
| 1941 | Fabio Filzi – On 13 December 1941 the Italian cargo vessel Fabio Filzi, while sailing in convoy to North Africa, was torpedoed by off Cape San Vito. The shifting of her cargo of tanks caused the ship to capsize and sink in only seven minutes, taking 208 men down with her; 143 survived. | 208 | Military | ||
| 1944 | – On 7 June 1944 the Japanese destroyer Hayanami was torpedoed and sunk by near Tawitawi, east of Borneo. The destroyer exploded and sank with 208 killed; 45 survivors were rescued by the. | 208 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – The passenger and cargo steamship was torpedoed and sunk on 30 April 1941 by the. She was the only transport carrying Canadian troops to be lost in World War II. 207 people, soldiers and civilians, were killed. | 207 | Civilian | ||
| 1940 | Espero – On 28 June 1940 the Italian destroyer Espero was sunk by cruisers,,, and in the Battle of the Espero Convoy. 50 men survived out of 255 crew and troops aboard. | 205 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 December 1944, in Typhoon Cobra, the US destroyer capsized and sank. Of the crew aboard 202 were killed and 62 were rescued. | 202 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 17 October 1942, in an air attack by US Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft northeast of Kiska, the Japanese destroyer was sunk. A direct bomb hit among munitions aboard caused her to explode and sink leaving only 17 survivors. | 202 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 28 May 1940, while evacuating military and civilian personnel from Ostend after the Battle of Belgium, the coaster was sunk by German E-boat S34. Of those aboard at least 200 were killed. | ||||
| 1943 | Quintino Sella – An Italian destroyer torpedoed and sunk off Venice, on 11 September 1943, by the German E-boat S54. 28 of her crew and an estimated 170–300 fleeing refugees and disbanded soldiers crammed aboard were killed. | 200+ | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Empire of Japan | – On 3 March 1943, in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the Japanese troop transport Taimei Maru was sunk by Allied aircraft. Of those aboard 200 were killed in the attack. | 200 | Military | |
| 1940 | – On 8 April 1940 the German troopship Rio de Janeiro was torpedoed and sunk by the Polish submarine off Lillesand. About 180 survived the sinking with roughly 200 being killed. | 200 | Military | ||
| 1943 | Dubac – An Italian steamer heavily damaged by Luftwaffe bombers while evacuating Italian troops from Albania and run aground near Capo d'Otranto on 25 September 1943. About 200 soldiers were killed. | ca. 200 | Military | ||
| 1943 | Leone Pancaldo – An Italian destroyer sunk by Allied air strikes on 30 April 1943, while carrying German troops to Tunis. 124 of her 280 crew and 75 of the 247 German troops aboard were killed. | 199 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 5 November 1940 the armed merchant cruiser was the sole escort for 37 merchant ships in Convoy HX 84 from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the UK. When the convoy encountered the German heavy cruiser, Jervis Bay ordered the merchant ships to scatter while she headed straight for the German ship to draw her fire. Jervis Bay fought until she was set ablaze and sank south-southwest of Reykjavík. Admiral Scheer then sank five merchant ships of the convoy but Jervis Bays sacrifice gained enough time for the convoy to scatter and the remaining ships to escape. 65 survivors from Jervis Bay were rescued by the neutral Swedish ship. | 198 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 17 December 1940, in night-time post refit trials off the Isle of Wight, the British destroyer sank after striking a mine. The explosion caused major structural damage forward and her own speed drove her under. She sank within four minutes, killing 196 crew and yard workers, who were aboard for the trials. There were 19 survivors. | 196 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | Paganini – The Italian troop transport Paganini caught fire and sank on 28 June 1940 while carrying troops from Bari to Durazzo. 757 men were rescued but 195 lost their lives. | 195 | Military | ||
| 1943 | – On 27 August 1943, while part of a support group at the Bay of Biscay, the British sloop was attacked by a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 aircraft carrying Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs. One of the two covering destroyers was heavily damaged by a bomb and Egret was sunk with the loss of 194 of her crew. | 194 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – The British destroyer was struck by two torpedoes fired by and sank off Sidi Barrani, Egypt on 26 March 1942 with the loss of 3 Officers and 190 of her crew. Eight officers and 45 crew were saved. | 193 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 15 September 1942, while in convoy to Guadalcanal, the US aircraft carrier was torpedoed and sunk by the. Of her crew 193 men were killed and 366 wounded. | 193 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – The destroyer was escorting the cargo ship on 21 January 1940 when she was sighted by the and torpedoed. She sank with the loss of all hands and, after sinking Exmouth, U-22 also fired on Cyprian Prince whose Master deemed it too dangerous to rescue survivors. | 192 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944, after Battle of the Surigao Strait, the Japanese cruiser was scuttled after being heavily damaged in battle. There were 700 survivors rescued but 192 crew were killed. | 192 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 3 December 1944, in the Battle of Ormoc Bay, the US destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Take. She suffered an explosion on her starboard side, then broke in two, and sank within a minute. Of the crew aboard 168 survived but 191 were killed. | 191 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 7 April 1945, northwest of Bima, the Japanese cruiser Isuzu after being torpedoed by and. Her captain and 450 crew were rescued; 190 were killed. | 190 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – In the evening of 13 November 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Japanese battleship Hiei was crippled by enemy ship fire. The next morning, with her steering jammed and circling, Hiei was attacked by American Army B-17 Flying Fortress bombers along with Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo-bombers. The decision was made later on 14 November to scuttle her. In all 188 of her crew of 1,360 were killed. | 188 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 4 July 1942 the Japanese destroyer Nenohi was torpedoed and sunk by while escorting the seaplane tender southeast of Attu, near Agattu Island. She capsized two minutes after being hit and sank in five minutes with 188 being killed and 38 survivors. | 188 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 4 December 1942 the Italian cruiser Muzio Attendolo was bombed and sunk by B-24 aircraft while at Naples. She hit bottom and rolled on her side after being hit by one or two bombs. An estimated 188 were killed and 86 were wounded. | 188 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Corsaro – On 9 January 1943 the Italian destroyer Corsaro, while escorting the cargo ship Ines Corrado from Naples to Bizerte together with the destroyer Maestrale, hit two mines laid by the minelayer HMS Abdiel and quickly sank. 187 men were lost, 48 were rescued. | 187 | Navy | ||
| 1939 | France | – On 13 September 1939 the French minelaying cruiser Pluton was sunk in an accidental explosion at Casablanca, in French Morocco, while unloading still-fuzed naval mines. 186 people were killed and 120 others were injured. | 186 | Navy | |
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944, in the Battle off Samar, the US destroyer was sunk by naval gunfire. From Johnstons 327 officers and men, 141 were saved. | 186 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 3 November 1943, in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, the Japanese cruiser was sunk by US Navy cruisers. Of the crew aboard 184 were killed and 311 were rescued. | 184 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – While on anti-submarine patrol on 30 March 1944 the destroyer was sunk by three torpedoes fired from the in a surface battle. She sank quickly resulting with the loss of most of her company including her captain. Of the 247 aboard, 65 survived. | 182 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 15 October 1942 the destroyer was attacked by 38 Japanese bombers, torpedo planes, and escort fighters from. She shot down three of her attackers but was struck by an estimated 14 bombs and seven torpedoes. She rolled over and sank in 10 minutes with 81 of a crew of 261 surviving the attack and delayed rescue. | 180 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | Leopardi – On 14 August 1940 the Italian steamer Leopardi, while carrying Libyan colonial troops from Benghazi to Derna, struck a mine laid by HMS Rorqual and sank. 176 men were lost and 172 survived. | 176 | Military | ||
| 1942 | – On 7 May 1942, in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the destroyer was sunk by Japanese aircraft. Three bombs hit her. Two exploded in the engine room, and within minutes she buckled amidships and began to sink stern first. As she sank there was a great explosion that raised what was left of her almost out of the water. Of the crew aboard 176 were killed. | 176 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 13 June 1944 she was sunk while escorting a convoy of merchant ships in Convoy EBC 8 from Milford Haven, Wales in support of the Normandy invasion; only 12 of her 188 crew survived. She may have been hit by an Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb launched by a Dornier Do 217. However, official British reports attribute the sinking to a torpedo launched by a Junkers Ju 88 aircraft that hid itself in a formation of RAF Bristol Beaufighters. | 176 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 5 July 1940 the British anti-aircraft ship HMS Foylebank sank after being bombed by German aircraft the previous day. On 4 July she was attacked by 26 Stuka diver bombers and an estimated 22 bombs hit the ship leaving her listing to port shrouded in smoke. Out of 298 crew 176 were killed and many wounded. | 176 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 9 April 1940 the Norwegian coastal defence ship was torpedoed and sunk by the. Eidsvold was hit by two or three torpedoes broke in two, possibly from a magazine explosion, and sank in seconds with her propellers still turning. Six her the crew were rescued; 175 were killed. | 175 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 12 December 1944, while escorting a troop convoy from Manila to Ormoc, the Japanese destroyer was torpedoed by the PT boats PT-490 and PT-492 northeast of Cebu. Of the crew aboard 175 were killed and 59 survived. | 175 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Bombardiere – On 17 January 1943 the Italian destroyer Bombardiere, while escorting the cargo ship Mario Roselli from Bizerte to Palermo together with the destroyer Legionario, was torpedoed by the submarine HMS United and quickly sank with the loss of 175 of her 224 crew. | 175 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 2 December 1940, while on the Northern Patrol, the armed merchant cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by. Of 194 aboard, 173 were killed. | 173 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Città di Genova – On 21 January 1943 the Italian armed merchant cruiser Città di Genova, sailing from Patras to Bari with 132 crew members, 200 military passengers and 158 Greek prisoners, was torpedoed by and sank in a few minutes. 173 men were lost. | 173 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Giosuè Carducci – On 28 March 1941 the Italian destroyer Giosuè Carducci was disabled by fire from British battleships and sunk with torpedoes by destroyer HMS Havock during the Battle of Cape Matapan, with the loss of 171 of her 206 crew. | 171 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Saetta – On 3 February 1943 the Italian destroyer Saetta struck a mine and immediately sank, while trying to give help to the torpedo boat which had been mined herself shortly before. Only 39 of her 209 crew survived. | 170 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 11 December 1941, while part of a group of ships attacking Wake Island, the Japanese destroyer Hayate exploded and sank after being hit by coastal shore artillery. She sustained at least two direct hits to her magazines causing her to explode and sink within two minutes, killing all 168 hands. | 168 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 6 July 1943, in the Battle of Kula Gulf, the US cruiser was hit by three torpedoes, split in two and sank. Of Helenas nearly 900 crew 168 were killed. | 168 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 1 February 1943, while assisting the establishment of a beachhead at Marovo Island on Guadalcanal, the US destroyer was sunk by Japanese aircraft. She was hit by three bombs and further damaged by a near miss. One bomb hit the superstructure squarely killing the commanding officer instantly and she sank about east of Savo Island. Her losses were 167 killed and 38 wounded. | 167 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Duino – On 8 February 1942 the Italian passenger steamer Duino sank after hitting a mine in the Southern Adriatic Sea. 45 survivors were rescued after three days, but 165 men were lost. | 165 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – on 13 November 1942, in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the US destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by the. Barton was hit by two torpedoes, broke in two, and sank within minutes. Of the crew aboard 164 were killed while 42 were rescued. | 164 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 23 January 1944 the destroyer was struck by one bomb or torpedo dropped by a German aircraft and sank off the Anzio beachhead in Italy. Janus took 20 minutes to sink. 162 of her crew were killed; 80 survived. | 162 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 26 March 1945 the US destroyer was severely damaged and beached after striking a mine. She had hit a moored mine head-on, causing her forward magazines to explode and destroy the forward section of the ship to the forward stack including the bridge. Over half of her crew of 300 were killed. | 162 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On the morning of 10 November 1942, while part of the covering force to the landings at Algiers and Oran, the destroyer was torpedoed by, causing her to blow up and sink. Another destroyer,, rescued four officers and 59 ratings. | 161 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 24 October 1941, while escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom, the British destroyer was struck by a torpedo fired by the killing 159 of her crew. She was taken in tow by a tug from Gibraltar on 25 October but the weather worsened and the tow was slipped on 26 October. She sank in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar on 27 October 1941. | 159 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Emanuele Pessagno – On 29 May 1942 the Italian destroyer Emanuele Pessagno, while escorting a convoy to Libya, was torpedoed by, exploded and quickly sank with the loss of 159 of her 245 crew. | 159 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Ariosto – On 15 February 1942 torpedoed the Italian steamship, sailing in a convoy from Tripoli to Palermo and carrying 410 people, including 294 British POWs. The ship broke in two-halves, which later sank, and 158 people, including 138 POWs, were lost. | 158 | Military | ||
| 1945 | – On 28 May 1945 the US destroyer was sunk by a kamikaze attack while bound for Okinawa. She was hit by two planes with the impact from the first plane had cut off all her power and started large gasoline fires. The second impact rolled her on to her beam ends and caused her to sink in less than 50 seconds, killing 158 and wounding 52. | 158 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – While escorting Convoy HN 12 from Norway the destroyer was torpedoed on 18 February 1940. Daring capsized and sank very quickly after having her stern blown off and 157 of the ship's company were killed. The five survivors were rescued by the submarine which had seen the attack. | 157 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 11 November 1944, in Ormoc Bay west of Leyte, the Japanese destroyer Naganami was sunk by an Allied aircraft attack. An explosion amidships broke the ship in two with 156 of her crew being killed and 72 survivors rescued. | 156 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Calitea – The Italian troopship Calitea was torpedoed by on 11 December 1941, while sailing in convoy from Brindisi to Bengasi via Argostoli and Navarino, and sank in less than two minutes. 155 men were lost out of 382 troops and crew aboard. | 155 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 11 December 1941, in the Battle of Wake Island, the Japanese destroyer was sunk with all hands. She was sailing away from the engagement when it came under air attack by four F4F Wildcat fighter planes from Wake armed with 100-pound bombs. One bomb hit Kisaragi's stern which was packed with depth charges. This caused the ship to explode and sink with all hands about southwest of Wake Island | 154 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 3 November 1944 the Japanese destroyer Akikaze was torpedoed and sunk west of Cape Bolinao, Luzon. fired a spread of torpedoes at the Japanese carrier Jun'yō but Akikaze intercepted them sacrificing herself to save the carrier. Akikaze sank with all hands. | 154 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 19 July 1944 the Japanese cruiser Ōi was torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. submarine in the South China Sea. The destroyer Shikinami, which had attempted to tow the stricken cruiser to safety before she broke in two and sank, rescued 369 crew but 153 crew were killed. | 153 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 12 January the Japanese destroyer departed Rabaul to join a tanker convoy en route from Palau to Truk. She was torpedoed by sinking southeast of Yap. Of her crew 153 died while 89 survivors were rescued by her sister ship the Japanese destroyer. | 153 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 19 August 1941 the British passenger ship was in Convoy OG 71 when torpedoed her in mid-Atlantic. Her passengers included 87 Royal Navy personnel and the Convoy Commodore. 152 people were lost; 16 survived. | 152 | Civilian | ||
| 1945 | – On 4 May 1945, in the Battle of Okinawa, the US destroyer was sunk after being hit by four kamikaze aircraft. After the fourth hit the destroyer, heavily damaged, began to list sharply to starboard. Two explosions occurred almost simultaneously that lifted her bow in the air. She then sank so quickly that most men below decks were killed. 152 men were killed. | 152 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 16 June 1945, in the Battle of Okinawa, the US destroyer was attacked by a low-flying plane that dropped a torpedo which hit her port side exploding her number two magazine. The plane then circled and completed its kamikaze mission in a suicide crash. The explosion enveloped the destroyer in flames and within an hour she sank. 152 were dead or missing, but despite the hazard of exploding ammunition from the blazing ship, 188 survivors were rescued. | 152 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 4 May 1945, while transporting refugees to Copenhagen, the German auxiliary cruiser Orion was hit by bombs from Soviet aircraft off Swinemünde and sank. Of the more than 4,000 people aboard, 150 died. | 150 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Città di Bastia – On 27 September 1941 the Italian troop transport Città di Bastia was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Tetrarch with the loss of 150 of the 582 men aboard. | 150 | Military | ||
| 1943 | Sperone – An Italian naval tugboat, used to ferry naval personnel in the Gulf of Taranto, which sank after hitting a German mine on 22 September 1943. Nearly all 150 men aboard were killed. | ca. 150 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Monrosa – The Italian steamer Monrosa was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Triumph on 25 October 1941 while carrying troops and supplies from Piraeus to Crete. 148 of the 265 men aboard were killed. | 148 | Military | ||
| 1943 | – On 18 December 1943 the Japanese destroyer was sunk while chasing the wake of US submarine. She was hit by a torpedo, blew up, and sank east-northeast of Naha, Okinawa with the loss of all hands. | 148 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – was a British steam merchant that was travelling unescorted in the North Atlantic when she was torpedoed by. She explodes and sank northwest of the Azores with all aboard killed. | 145 | Civilian | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the aircraft carrier was sunk after a kamikaze aircraft attack. One Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero crashed into her flight deck. Its bomb penetrated the flight deck and exploded on the port side of the hangar deck where aircraft were in the process of being refueled and rearmed. A gasoline fire erupted followed by six secondary explosions including detonations of the ship's torpedo and bomb magazine. The carrier was engulfed in flame and sank 30 minutes later. Of 889 men aboard 113 were killed or missing and about 30 others died of wounds. | 143 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 12 October 1942, in the Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese cruiser sank after being shelled by US ships and torpedoed by the destroyer. She sank stern first and 514 survivors were rescued but 143 were killed. | 143 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | HMCS Margaree – On 22 October 1940 the destroyer was escorting Convoy OL8 bound for Canada when she collided with the British cargo ship. The cargo ship rescued six officers and 28 ratings; the other 142 of Margarees complement were lost. | 142 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Antoniotto Usodimare – On 8 June 1942 the Italian destroyer, while escorting a convoy from Naples to Tripoli, was torpedoed by the in a friendly fire incident. The destroyer immediately broke in two and sank in a few minutes off Cape Bon. 141 of the 306 people aboard were killed. | 141 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 27 March 1942, the Q-ship USS Attik, disguised as the merchant ship Carolyn, was patrolling in the Atlantic Ocean east of Virginia. While in battle against the German submarine, Attik was torpedoed on her starboard side and she began sinking by the bow. Whilst the crew was evacuating, Attik exploded. None of her crew survived. | 141 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Lampo – On 16 April 1941 the Italian destroyer Lampo was disabled and grounded during the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy. 141 of her 205 crew were killed. The ship was later refloated and repaired, only to be sunk by aircraft on 30 April 1943. | 141 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Fulmine – On 9 November 1941 the Italian destroyer Fulmine was sunk by Force K during the Battle of the Duisburg Convoy. 141 men went down with the ship, perished in the sea or were killed the following morning when the rescuing destroyer Libeccio was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Upholder. | 141 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 27 October 1942, in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the US aircraft carrier was sunk after being bombed and torpedoed by Japanese forces. After being abandoned, following a scuttling attempt by US forces, the carrier was sunk by Japanese torpedoes. Of 2,919 crew, 140 were killed. | 140 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Turkey | Refah – A cargo steamship carrying 171 Turkish military personnel and 28 crew from Mersin to Egypt was sunk on 23 June 1941 by a torpedo fired by a Vichy France submarine. The vessel belonging to neutral Turkey was mistaken for a vessel of the Free French Forces. 32 people survived. | 139 | Military | |
| 1941 | – On 31 March 1941, while escorting a convoy from Greece to Alexandria, the British cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Ambra. 139 of her complement were killed and 310 rescued. | 139 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Dominion of Newfoundland | – A passenger ferry, torpedoed by, sank in the Cabot Strait in the night of 14–15 October 1942. 138 died out of 46 sailors and 206 civilian and military passengers. | 138 | Civilian | |
| 1941 | Alvise Da Mosto – On 1 December 1941 the Italian destroyer Alvise Da Mosto, while trying to protect the disabled tanker Iridio Mantovani, was engaged and sunk by, and of Force K. 138 men were killed, while 135 survived. | 138 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 11 January 1944 the Japanese cruiser, after leaving Penang with the destroyer on anti-submarine warfare exercises, was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine. Of the 450 aboard 138 were killed; survivors were rescued by Uranami. | 138 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Lupo – The Italian torpedo boat Lupo was attacked and sunk by destroyers,, and in the Gulf of Gabes on 2 December 1942, while rescuing survivors of the disabled steamer Veloce which she had been escortin to Tripoli. 135 of the 164 men on board Lupo were killed. | 135 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Perseo – An Italian torpedo boat sunk by, and on 4 May 1943 in the Battle of the Campobasso Convoy. 133 crew members and troops on passage lost their lives, while 83 were rescued. | 133 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | Artigliere – On 12 October 1940 the Italian destroyer Artigliere was disabled by the light cruiser HMS Ajax during the battle of Cape Passero, and later sunk by the heavy cruiser HMS York. 132 of her crew were killed and 122 rescued. | 132 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 11 August 1942, in Operation Pedestal, the British aircraft carrier was hit by four torpedoes from the and sank within four minutes south of Cape Salinas. The destroyers and and the tug Jaunty rescued 67 officers and 862 ratings. 131 officers and ratings, mainly from the ship's machinery spaces, were killed. | 131 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 13 November 1942 in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal the US destroyer was set ablaze and sunk by naval gunfire. 130 of her crew were killed. | 130 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 3 August 1944 the British destroyer was sunk off the Normandy coast in a heavy attack on the British assault area by a force of E-boats, explosive motorboats, human torpedoes and low flying aircraft. Those crewn who survived the attack spent up to eight hours in the water before being rescued, and many died. Four officers and 126 ratings were lost. | 130 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944 the was sunk in the Battle off Samar during the battle of Leyte Gulf after helping to turn back a much larger attacking Japanese surface force. She was the only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy gunfire during World War II. | 130 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 23 May 1941, in the evacuation of Crete, the British destroyer was sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft, killing half her crew. | 128 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 29 April 1944 the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Athabaskan was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel. Of the crew aboard 128 men were killed, 83 taken prisoner and 44 rescued. | 128 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 14 December 1944, after leading a Royal Navy force in a bombardment mission against targets on the island of Pag, the British destroyer was sunk by a mine. Of those aboard, 126 crew and two Yugoslav Partisans were killed. | 128 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 4 May 1945, in the Battle of Okinawa, the US destroyer was sunk by a kamikaze attack. She shot down one attacker but the explosion from the bomb it carried caused a power failure. Unable to bring her guns to bear in time she was struck in the aft section by the second kamikaze. Her port engine was knocked out, engineering spaces flooded and the rudder jammed. She listed heavily to starboard and the order to abandon ship was given. Moments later she sank in a violent explosion killing 126 of her 312 officers and men. | 126 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 14 February 1942 the Sarawak royal yacht was evacuating Australian Army nurses and wounded Allied troops on the penultimate day of the Battle of Singapore when Japanese aircraft bombed and sank her just east of Sumatra. Many patients, crew and 22 nurses survived and came ashore on Bangka Island, which was held by Japanese forces. The survivors sought to surrender, but Japanese troops massacred them on the beach. There were only two survivors. | 125 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – On 13 October 1942 in the Tyrrhenian Sea the Italian cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk by the Royal Navy submarine. 123 of the 400 British Indian Army prisoners of war aboard Loreto were killed, as well as one of the 50 Italian crew. | 124 | Military | ||
| 1939 | – On 12 December 1939, while escorting the battleship back to the UK, the two Royal Navy ships collided off the Mull of Kintyre in heavy fog. Duchess capsized and her depth charges exploded, killing 124 of her crew. | 124 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Folgore – On 2 December 1942 the Italian destroyer Folgore was sunk by the Force Q during the Battle of Skerki Bank. 124 men perished with the ship. | 124 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 25 September 1941, the British passenger ship was in Convoy HG 73 when torpedoed her in mid-Atlantic. Most of her 67 passengers were British refugees from the fall of France who had been denied leave to remain in neutral Spain and Portugal. 123 people were lost; 43 survived, including the Convoy Commodore. | 123 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | Vega – On 10 January 1941, during Operation Excess, the Italian torpedo boat Vega attacked a British convoy but was sunk by cruiser and destroyer. Only six of the 128 crew members survived. | 122 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 24 August 1942, while transporting troops to Guadalcanal, the Japanese destroyer was sunk by US aircraft. She was struck by a direct hit by a bomb on her torpedo launchers by United States Marine Corps SBD Dauntless dive bombers from Henderson Field. The explosion killed 122 men, including 60 ground troops, and sank Asagiri near Santa Isabel Island, north-northeast of Savo Island. | 122 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 19 July 1940 the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni was disabled by the light cruiser HMAS Sydney and finished with torpedoes by destroyers HMS Havock and Ilex during the Battle of Cape Spada. 121 of her 643 crew were killed. | 121 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 24 December 1941, about off Kuching, the Japanese destroyer was torpedoed by the Dutch submarine. Her aft magazine caught fire and she exploded and sank killing 121 of her crew. Some 120 survivors were rescued by her sister ship, the. | 121 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Tagliamento – On 22 April 1943 the Italian steamer Tagliamento, carrying ammunitions to Sardinia, was torpedoed by and blew up. On board were at least 120 crew and soldiers; there were no survivors. | 120+ | Military | ||
| 1943 | – On 17 July 1943, while docked at Shortlands unloading passengers, the Japanese destroyer Hatsuyuki was attacked by US aircraft. A bomb exploded the after magazine sinking her in shallow water with 120 dead and 36 wounded. | 120 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 31 December 1942, in the Battle of the Barents Sea, the British minesweeper was sunk with all hands by naval gunfire. 120 people were killed. | 120 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | San Marco – An Italian coastal passenger steamer, sunk by Allied planes in Istria on 9 September 1944. 120 passengers and crew were killed and 60 wounded. | 120 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – On 17 December 1942, while escorting Convoy ON 153, the British destroyer was torpedoed by and sunk. Of the crew aboard 118 were killed and 27 rescued. | 118 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Nicoloso Da Recco – The Italian destroyer Nicoloso Da Recco was shelled and severely damaged by,,, and on 2 December 1942, during the Battle of Skerki Bank. Despite a massive fire caused by the deflagration of her magazines, the ship could be saved and repaired, but 118 of her crew were killed and many more suffered serious burns. | 118 | Navy | ||
| 1939 | – On 3 September 1939, just hours after Britain declared war on Germany, U-boat sank Athenia mistaking her for an armed merchant cruiser. Of the 1,103 civilians the passenger liner was carrying, 118 passengers and crew were killed. | 118 | Civilian | ||
| 1943 | Ardente – On 12 January 1943 the Italian torpedo boat Ardente, en route from Bizerta to Palermo, was accidentally rammed by the destroyer Grecale, sailing on the opposite direction. Ardente caught fire and sank, with 118 dead and 44 survivors. | 118 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 14 November 1942, in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the US destroyer was set ablaze and sunk by naval gunfire. After being hit multiple times she rolled on her side, floated for another 10 minutes with her bow in the air and then sank taking 116 of her crew with her. | 116 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – In a night surface action on 2 March 1942 Pillsbury was overtaken by two Japanese cruisers of Cruiser Division 4. The Japanese cruisers and engaged and sank her with all hands. | 116 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 1 June 1941 the British cruiser was sunk by German Junkers 88 bombers about off Alexandria, Egypt. Of the 400 aboard 116 were killed. | 116 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 17 November 1943 the US destroyer was sunk by an aerial torpedo near Empress Augusta Bay. It struck her starboard side causing explosions in her after magazine and depth charge spaces and rupturing fuel oil tanks. She began to sink by the stern with 64 of her crew and 52 of the Marines aboard being killed. | 116 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 31 October 1941, while escorting a convoy near Iceland, the US destroyer' was torpedoed by. She was hit forward by a torpedo and her entire bow was blown off when a magazine exploded. The bow sank immediately while the aft section floated for five minutes before going down. Of her 159 crew, 44 survived. | 115 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 3 February 1943 the Italian torpedo boat Uragano, while escorting a convoy returning from Tunisia, struck a mine which blew off her stern and sank after four hours in the Sicilian Channel. After two days at sea on liferafts, 15 of her 129 crew were rescued. | 114 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 9 June 1944 the Japanese destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by in Sibutu Passage, near Tawitawi, southwest of Basilan. It was reported that 114 crew were killed and 126 survivors were rescued by. Urakaze was sunk five months later by with all hands including several survivors from Tanikaze. | 114 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 31 December 1942, in the Battle of the Barents Sea, the British destroyer was sunk by naval gunfire. Of her crew, 113 were killed and 81 rescued. | 113 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 10 April 1940, in the First Battle of Narvik, the British destroyer was sunk by German destroyer fire, along with a possible torpedo hit, and from being accidentally rammed astern by. Hunter capsized and sank, killing 112 of her crew of 146. | 112 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Norway | – On 13 September 1941 the Norwegian passenger ship was sunk by British aircraft west of Tranøy Lighthouse. A torpedo blew open her hull, knocked out her electrical power and quickly flooded her. She sank too quickly for her lifeboats to be launched; her passengers and crew could only jump into the icy water. 59 of her 68 Norwegian passengers and 18 of her 26 crew were killed. Of 37 German soldiers aboard, two survived. | 112 | Civilian | |
| 1945 | – On 24 July 1945 the US destroyer escort was sunk by a Kaiten manned torpedo off Luzon. Of those aboard 112 were killed and 122 survived the attack and sinking. | 112 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Grecale – On 12 January 1943 the Italian destroyer Grecale, carrying German troops from Palermo to Bizerta, accidentally rammed by the torpedo boat Ardente, sailing on the opposite direction. Grecale was able to make back to port with heavy damage but lost her bow; eight crewmembers and more than 100 German soldiers were killed. | ca. 110 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 18 February 1942 the US destroyer was wrecked at Chambers Cove off St. Lawrence in a storm with 110 deaths. | 110 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 12 June 1942, while on return passage from Tobruk to Alexandria following a convoy escort, the British destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by the. Of the 189 crew, 110 were killed. | 110 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 11 October 1942, in the Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese destroyer was sunk by gunfire from a US cruiser and destroyer group off Cape Esperance. 110 of her crew were killed; 109 survivors were later rescued by the U.S. destroyers. | 110 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 6 June 1944, after departing Tawitawi with a tanker convoy to Balikpapan on Borneo, the Japanese destroyer Minazuki was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine off Tawitawi. Of her 154-man crew 109 were killed. | 109 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 26 December 1943, while screening the landings on Cape Gloucester, New Britain, the US destroyer was hit by two bombs from a Japanese dive bomber. The bombs struck starboard of her centerline near her number two stack. A great explosion followed and the entire structure above the main deck, as well as the deck plating, was gone. TShe listed 10 to 15 degrees to starboard and settled rapidly amidships with her bow and stern tilted upward. 108 of her crew were killed. | 108 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 24 October 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the US aircraft carrier was sunk by Japanese aircraft. After being bombed she exploded and sank with the loss of 108 of her crew. | 108 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 2 March 1940 the British cargo liner Domala was bombed by German aircraft setting Domala afire. The order to abandon ship was given but the bomber machine-gunned people attempting to escape by lifeboat. 108 of the 291 people aboard were killed. After this incident Domala was rebuilt as a cargo ship and renamed Empire Attendant. On 15 July 1942 she was torpedoed and sunk by the with the loss of all 59 aboard. | 108 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – Sunk on 13 November 1942 | 108 | Navy | |
| 1941 | – On 24 December 1941, after rescuing survivors from the sinking of the British prison ship, the Royal Navy corvette was torpedoed and sunk by in the Mediterranean off Egypt. One of four torpedoes hit Salvia breaking her in two and spilling her heavy black bunker oil, which caught fire. Her stern section rapidly sank followed by her bow section a few minutes later. There were no survivors from the 106 crew or the unknown number of survivors from Shuntien. | 106-206+ | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Santa Lucia – A small Italian passenger steamer, in service in the Pontine Islands, sunk on 24 July 1943 by torpedo bombers. Four people survived out of 110 aboard. | 106 | Civilian | ||
| 1943 | Rovereto – An Italian steamer which blew up on 6 April 1943 after being hit by B-24 bombers while sailing in a convoy with supplies to Tunisia. 106 of the 117 men aboard were killed. | 106 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 25 February 1941 the destroyer, was escorting a coastal convoy in the North Sea when E-boats attacked off Lowestoft. Exmoor suffered an explosion aft with major structural damage and ruptured fuel supply line. A fire soon broke out which spread rapidly and the destroyer capsized and sank in 10 minutes. Of the 146 aboard 104 were killed. | 104 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On the night of 14 June 1944 the Japanese destroyer Shiratsuyu collided with the Japanese tanker Seiyo Maru southeast of Surigao Strait and sank. Her depth charges exploded among the survivors. Of 180 crew, 104 were killed. | 104 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 11 December 1944, off the west coast of Leyte, the US destroyer was sunk by a kamikaze attack. After being struck by multiple planes, the seventh came in from astern, strafed her and crashed into her port quarter. Its bomb exploded in her after magazine, blowing her apart. As the stern opened up she rolled violently then laid over on her starboard side and dove to the bottom at. She sank in less than two minutes, killing 103 crew. | 103 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Cigno – An Italian torpedo boat sunk by and on 16 April 1943 in the Battle of the Cigno Convoy. 103 of her crew were killed. | 103 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 26 October 1944, while in convoy crossing the Jintotolo Channel between Masbate and Panay, the Japanese destroyer Uranami was sunk by US aircraft. Uranami took two bombs and several rockets killing 103 crew before sinking southeast of Masbate | 103 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 30 March 1941, while sailing unescorted off Sierra Leone, the passenger and cargo liner was hit by two torpedoes fired by, sinking her southwest of Freetown. Her master, 87 crew and 14 passengers were killed. Three survivors were rescued a week later; two more were rescued on 12 April. | 102 | Civilian | ||
| 1943 | Francesco Stocco – An Italian torpedo boat sunk by German Junkers Ju 87 bombers off Corfu on 24 September 1943, with the loss of 102 of her 121 crew. | 102 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 9 April 1940 the Norwegian coastal defence ship HNoMS Norge was sunk in battle with a group of German destroyers in Narvik harbour. 90 of the crew were rescued from the freezing water but 101 were killed in the battle which had lasted less than 20 minutes. | 101 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – on 1 May 1942 the Japanese seaplane carrier Mizuho was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine off Omaezaki, Japan. She capsized and sank on 2 May 1942 with 101 killed and 472 survivors. | 101 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 1 May 1940, while escorting a convoy to Shetland, the British destroyer was bombed and sunk by German aircraft. She capsized and sank bow-first with 53 of her company being killed plus 13 soldiers and 35 of 69 French survivors she had picked up from sunk French destroyer Bison. | 101 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | Dubrovnik – An Italian steamer which was bombed by Luftwaffe planes, capsized and sank off Chioggia on 11 September 1943, with the loss of about 100 people. | ca. 100 | Military | ||
| 1940 | – On 7 October 1940, en route from Avonmouth to Gibraltar, the troop ship was sunk by with the loss of 96 people. The destroyer rescued 766 survivors. | 96 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | HMS Stanley – On 19 December 1941, while escorting a convoy, the British destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by. Stanley exploded and sank with the loss of all but 25 of her crew. | 95 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Empire of Japan | Siberia Maru – On 24 September 1944, while steaming in the Sulu Sea, Philippines as part of a convoy, the Japanese cargo ship was attacked by US aircraft and sunk with the loss of 95 men. | 95 | Civilian | |
| 1944 | – On 8 June 1944, while escorting Myōkō and Haguro from Davao to support Biak troop transport operations, the Japanese destroyer Kazagumo was torpedoed and sunk by at the mouth of Davao Gulf. Of 228 crew, 95 were killed. | 95 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 4 January 1945 the escort carrier USS Ommaney Bay was scuttled following an attack by kamikaze aircraft in the Sulu Sea that left her damaged, without power and burning. Exploding munitions on board hindered assistance from nearby ship in fighting the fires and the decision was made to scuttle her. In all 95 out her crew of over 900 were killed. | 95 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | , and Morava – On 11 April 1941, during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, the crews of the three Yugoslav river monitors scuttled their vessels and were transshipped to two tugboats, one of which was destroyed after a bridge fell onto it, killing 95 of the 110 men aboard. | 95 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 18 February 1942 the stores ship grounded in a storm at Lawn Point off Newfoundland and was wrecked with 93 deaths. | 93 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 8 June 1944, in support of the Normandy invasion, the US destroyer escort was sunk after striking mines. After the detonation of a mine off her starboard side that caused no damage, a second mine exploded beneath her and blew off her stern. Shortly after a third mine exploded wrecking the forward section of the ship. Of her crew 91 were killed outright or died of wounds after their rescue. Rich was the only US destroyer escort lost in the invasion force. | 91 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 25 October 1944, in the Battle off Samar, the US destroyer escort was sunk by naval gunfire. The 120 survivors of the crew clung to three life rafts for 50 hours before being rescued but 90 of her crew were killed. | 90 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 4 December 1944 the Japanese destroyer Kishinami was torpedoed and sunk by west of Palawan Island. 90 of her crew were killed; 150 survivors were rescued. | 90 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – While escorting British convoy KMF-4 off the Algerian coast the destroyer was intercepted by on 11 December 1942 north-west of Oran. U-443 aimed one torpedo at her and then one at the convoy but both hit the destroyer and sank her off the coast with the loss of 89 men. | 89 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 19 February 1942, in the bombing of Darwin, Australia, the US destroyer was attacked by Japanese dive bombers and struck by five bombs. She sank stern first in the harbor; 88 men were killed and 13 wounded. | 88 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 6 April 1945, while on picket duty off Okinawa, the US destroyer was sunk after being struck by kamikaze aircraft. After being struck by three aircraft an unusually heavy swell rocked her and the she began to cave in amidships. Other swells followed and the ship was abandoned by her 227 survivors just before she folded and sank with 87 of her crew killed. | 87 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 6 August 1945 the submarine was attacked and sunk by Mitsubishi Ki-51 aircraft carrying depth charges off the Bali coast. Bullhead became the last U.S. Navy ship sunk by the enemy during WWII with the loss of her entire crew of 84. | 84 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | Sweden | – On 24 November 1944, she was torpedoed and sunk between Nynäshamn and Visby by a Soviet submarine. The ship sank within a few minutes, leaving 84 people dead; two survived. | 84 | Civilian | |
| 1943 | – On 9 January 1943 the armed merchant ship Louise Lykes was sunk with all hands, while bound for Belfast, Ireland, in the North Atlantic by German submarine U-384. | 83 | - | ||
| 1944 | – On 10 November 1944, while anchored in Seeadler Harbor, the repair ship was severely damaged when the ammunition ship exploded. Mindanao was away when Hood exploded, causing extensive damage particularly to Mindanaos superstructure and aft. Of her crew 82 were killed and 98 wounded. | 82 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 12 October 1942, in the Battle of Cape Esperance, the US destroyer was sunk by naval gunfire near Savo Island. Her crew tried to beach her on the island and fought to halt the raging fires until power failed forcing the ship's abandonment. Of her crew of 276 aboard 81 were killed. | 81 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | HMS Rosaura – On 18 March 1941 the British armed boarding vessel HMS Rosaura struck a mine off Tobruk, Libya and sank, killing 78 people. | 78 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 26 December 1944 the corvette was part of an escort group patrolling east-northeast of Cherbourg when sighted the group and fired three torpedoes of which one hit Capel and another hit. Of 156 aboard Capel, 76 were killed. | 76 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 8 June 1944, while on an assignment to evacuate troops from Biak, the Japanese destroyer Harusame was attacked and sunk by USAAF B-25 bombers about northwest of Manokwari, New Guinea. Of the 226 crew aboard, 74 were killed. | 74 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 12 April 1945 the US destroyer was sunk after being hit by two kamikaze aircraft with one being a Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka flying bomb. The first plane to hit her crashed into her starboard side and penetrated her after engine room where it exploded and broke her keel amidships. The second hit, from the flying bomb, struck her starboard waterline abreast of her forward fireroom, exploded, and broke her in two. She sank quickly, killing 73 of her crew. | 73 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 21 December 1941, while escorting a convoy, the British escort carrier was torpedoed and sunk by. She sank some west of Cape Finisterre in 70 minutes. Of the crew aboard 407 were rescued but 73 were killed. | 73 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 28 December 1944, while transporting ammunition to Mindoro, Philippines, the Liberty ship Burke was hit by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft and disintegrated in a tremendous explosion with the loss of all hands. | 68 | Military | ||
| 1943 | Giudecca – On 13 October 1943 the Italian urban ship Giudecca, carrying passenger to Venice, was sunk by airplane near Pallestrina. Due to service like bus only crew list are make. 67 men aboard were buried, but the correct number of killed is more 200. | 67 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | – On 20 April 1941, while bound for Cape Town, South Africa and Alexandria, Egypt, the British cargo liner Empire Endurance was torpedoed and sunk by the south-east of Rockall in the North Atlantic. Of the passengers and crew 66 of the 95 people aboard were killed. | 66 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | – On 16 October 1941, while recovering survivors from the sinking of the British corvette vanished without trace, along with her crew of 65 and one survivor from Empire Heron. | 66 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – Sunk 17 February 1942 | 68 | Navy | |
| 1944 | – On 20 November 1944, north of Mogmog island, the fleet replenishment oiler was sunk by a Japanese Kaiten manned torpedo. Following the explosion she caught fire and sunk with the loss of 63 of her crew. | 63 | Navy+ | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – Sunk in the Battle of Badung Strait, 19 February 1942 | 64 | Navy | |
| 1941 | – Sometime after 10 December 1941, while steaming from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands with a load of bauxite, the US collier or bulk cargo ship disappeared with out trace. The exact reason for the disappearance has not been determined and no German submarine claimed her as a target. Her crew of 61 was never found. | 61 | Navy | ||
| 1943 | – On 13 July 1943, in the Battle of Kolombangara, the US destroyer was torpedoed and sunk. Of 276 crew, 61 were killed. | 61 | Navy | ||
| 1945 | – On 6 April 1945 the US destroyer was attacked, heavily damaged and set ablaze, by kamikaze aircraft. With 60 dead and 77 wounded the remaining crew was ordered to abandon ship. Next day, 7 April, the hulk was sunk to prevent her falling into enemy hands. | 60 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 4 May 1940, naval gunfire support missions in the Narvik area, the Polish destroyer was attacked by German aircraft. Her loaded midship torpedo launcher was struck by a bomb from a German plane and the torpedo exploded causing the hull to break in two. The ship sank almost immediately, killing 59 crew. | 59 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | MV Seaforth – On 18 February 1941 the cargo vessel Seaforth was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Iceland by U-103 with the loss of 59 lives. | 59 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – On 23 January 1942 the replenishment oiler was torpedoed and sunk by about west of Pearl Harbor. Of the crew aboard 57 were killed. | 57 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | Netherlands | – On 27 February 1942, HNLMS Kortenaer along with HNLMS Java and HNLMS De Ruyter and other Allied cruisers and destroyers led a sortie against Japanese warships in an attempt to stop the Japanese invasion fleet in the Battle of the Java Sea. 56–59 of the crews were killed. | 56–59 | Navy | |
| 1942 | – On 14 September 1942,, the US cargo ship Mary Luckenbach was attacked by several German aircraft and was hit by an aerial torpedo. The impact of the torpedo struck the ship's cargo of 1,000 tons of TNT and the explosion was so violent the ship was basically vaporized along with the entire crew. | 54–73 | Military | ||
| 1941 | – On 12 April 1941, during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, a German dive bomber struck the monitor's engine room, killing 54 crew members. | 54 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 1 May 1942 the destroyer was rammed and sunk in a collision with in fog. Punjabi was sliced in two by the battleship's bow and 49 of the 219 aboard were killed. | 49 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 2 February 1940, while minesweeping in the Moray Firth, the British minesweeper was attacked and bombed by German aircraft. The crippled ship was taken under tow by HMS Harrier but eventually capsized 17 hours after being bombed. rescued 46 of her crew but 49 men were lost. The wreck later drifted ashore two miles north of Lybster and was eventually sold for scrap. | 49 | Navy | ||
| 1944 | – On 20 April 1944, while escorting a convoy to Tunisia, the US destroyer broke in two and sank after being hit by aerial torpedoes from German aircraft. Of the crew aboard 234 survived and 49 were killed. | 49 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | HMS Laurentic – On 3 November 1940, while responding to a distress call off the west Ireland coast, the British auxiliary cruiser was torpedoed and sunk by the. Of the 416 people aboard 49 were killed. | 49 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 27 May 1941 the British destroyer came under heavy Luftwaffe attack while returning to port. She was bombed and sunk off the coast of Galway, killing 48 men. | 48 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 3 December 1942, straggling behind Convoy ON 146, the cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk by some south east of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. All hands, 36 crew and 11 gunners, were killed. | 47 | Civilian | ||
| 1942 | – On 5 July 1943 the US destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by shelling from shore batteries at Bairoko Harbor. She broke in half just before sinking and several of her depth charges exploded causing further injuries and loss of life. Of 329 crew 46 were killed. | 46 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 19 February 1942, in the Bombing of Darwin, Japanese bombs dropped on the cargo ship Neptuna exploded in the ship's saloon and engine room. 45 men were killed aboard including nine wharf labourers and 36 crew. Many others were seriously injured and the ship was set afire. As the crew prepared to abandon ship 100 depth charges, that were being unloaded, exploded showering the harbour with debris along with sending flames and smoke 100 metres into the air. | 45 | Civilian | ||
| 1944 | – On 1 December 1944, while traveling in convoy, the British troop ship struck a mine off Missolonghi, Greece and sank killing 45 people. She was carrying 22 crew, 12 DEMS gunners and 100 passengers. | 45 | Navy | ||
| 1940 | – On 26 October 1940, about northwest of Ireland along the west coast, German aircraft attacked the British troopship three times, strafing her and hitting her with two bombs. The attack set her afire and without power. On 27 October, while under tow, she was torpedoed by. She sank the next day, 28 October. Of 623 aboard, 45 were killed. | 45 | Military | ||
| 1942 | HMT Orcades – On 10 October 1942, after leaving Cape Town, the British troop ship was torpedoed and sunk by off the Cape of Good Hope. 45 of her 1,067 crew and passengers were killed. | 45 | Military | ||
| 1940 | Netherlands | – Lost in 1940 | 46 | Navy | |
| 1941 | – On 17 February 1941, after falling behind her convoy, the British cargo ship Empire Comet was hit by two torpedoes fired by. All 44 hands were killed. | 44 | Civilian | ||
| 1941 | HMS Broadwater – on 18 October 1941, while escorting a convoy, the British destroyer was torpedoed by and sunk. Four officers and 40 crew were killed. | 44 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | – On 16 April 1941, while attacking an Italian convoy, the British destroyer was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian destroyer Tarigo off the Kerkennah Islands in eastern Tunisia. Of the crew aboard 43 were killed. | 43 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | HMS Rajputana – On 13 April 1941, four days after parting company with convoy HX 117, the British armed merchant cruiser was torpedoed by in the Denmark Strait west of Reykjavík, Iceland. She sank over an hour later with the loss of 42 men and 283 of her crew were saved by the destroyer. | 42 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Netherlands | – On 4 June 1941 the Dutch minelayer HNLMS Van Meerlant struck a mine and sunk off Minster Abbey, Thames Estuary. Of the crew aboard 42 were killed. | 42 | Navy | |
| 1941 | – On 22 April 1941, in the German invasion of Greece, the Greek destroyer Hydra was attacked by German aircraft and sunk near the island of Lagousa in the Saronic Gulf. Of those aboard 42 were killed. | 42 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 3 December 1942, while escorting a convoy, the destroyer was torpedoed and sunk south of Start Point, Devon by the German E-boat S-115. Of those aboard, five officers and 112 ratings were rescued and 41 killed. She was the shortest-lived of her class, spending only 30 days in service. | 41 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Netherlands | – Sunk by mine on 15 December 1941 | 41 | Navy | |
| 1939 | – On the first day of World War II, 1 September 1939, the Polish torpedo boat was sunk by a German air attack at the port of Oksywie. The ship suffered one close hit along with a hit amidships and sank while still firing at the German aircraft. 40 of her 80 crew were killed. | 40 | Navy | ||
| 1942 | – On 9 December 1942, while escorting a convoy off Algiers, Algeria, the British corvette was sunk by a German aircraft-launched torpedo. Of her 85 crew, 40 were killed. | 40 | Navy | ||
| 1941 | Netherlands | – Sunk on 25 December 1941 | 36 | Navy | |
| 1941 | Netherlands | – Struck by a mine on 21 December 1941 | 36 | Navy | |
| 1940 | Netherlands | – lost in June 1940 | 34 | Navy | |
| 1941 | Sweden | Hårsfjärden disaster – Three destroyers of the Swedish Navy were sunk by explosions in Hårsfjärden fjord on 17 September 1941. The torpedoes of two ships exploded, then flames spread to a third destroyer. The cause was never determined. | 33 | Navy | |
| 1942 | Australia | Kuttabul – Australian depot ship sunk by Japanese submarine in Sydney Harbour on 1 June 1942 | 21 | Navy |