A total of 576 men died in this tragedy, the first Royal Navy ship sunk in the war. The Glorious was one of the first flat-top aircraft carriers ever built, converted from a speedy Courageous-class battlecruiser in 1924. Records of the Ministry of Shipping from 1917-1921 contain references to war losses and include a complete list of British merchant and fishing vessels sunk or damaged by enemy action for 1914-1920. How ironic it is that the second Apapa was making the identical voyage from the Lagos port that shared her name to Liverpool. However, crew members have alleged DOyly-Hughes was in a hurry to attend Heaths court martial. Like many boys of his era, Colin had been circumcised, and they knew that if the Germans invaded, he risked being wrongly identified as a Jew. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (481 GRT) was bombed and sunk at Dunkerque, France, by Luftwaffe aircraft. While her smaller 15-centimeter cannons exchanged shots with the Ardent, Scharnhorsts big 11 turrets blazed away at the distant flat-top. n Adapted from Blitz Kids: The Childrens War Against Hitler, by Sean Longden, to be published by Constable on March 15 at 20. British war correspondent's interview with French seaman on the sinking of French repatriation ship SS Meknes, English Channel, 24/7/1940. When dawn broke, Bess and Beth were still somehow clinging onto their upturned lifeboat along with two men. by Sebastien Roblin. The youngest known Second World War service death being that of Raymond Victor Steed, age 14, Galley Boy from the S.S. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. World War II: The auxiliary patrol vessel (302 GRT, 1906) was scuttled at Brest, France. The maritime disaster resulted in the deaths of 51 people46 from the Andrea Doria and 5 from the Stockholm. September 3, 2020 Call it fate, coincidence, predestination, or just bad luck, somehow Michael McShane ended up on the British passenger liner SS Athenia during the first few days of September 1939. please notify usmm.org @ comcast.net, Taken to Norway; Soviet Unio; Norway; released On 17 September 1940, a passenger ship called the City of Benares was sunk by a German U-boat while crossing the Atlantic. It was used until 1993, when the name was changed to DSMA-Notice (Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice). The unusual disaster continues to evoke controversy, and even questioning in Parliament, decades later. The following brief overview of the Lancastrias history is augmented with verified information from sources that Wynn might have consulted. Copyright 2011-2022 Naval Historical Foundation. Theyd just woken up.. At 4 p.m. on June 8, 1940, the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was cruising west across the Norwegian Sea towards the British naval base of Scapa Flow . Stephen Wynn, a retired police constable with 30 years service in Essex, began writing prior to his retirement. Her captain, Guy DOyly Hughes, a decorated submariner in World War I, also ordered her Swordfishes to launch raids on land targets, but air group leader J.B. Heath refused, arguing they lacked clear targets and that the pokey biplanes would be shot to pieces by flak. A pre-war photograph of the German cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff in Hamburg. Colin acted quickly. As HMS Hurricane approached Lifeboat 2, Colin and the remaining passengers started singing Rule Britannia. List of shipwrecks: 10 June 1940 Ship Country Description, Msd Pro Billet Distributor Wiring Diagram. Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 due to war causes Chronological List of U.S. Wynn cites seven online sources (p. 181), namely the British Newspaper Archive, the Britain at War website, the British section of Ancestry.com, the Militarian Forum, the Forces War Records, the Wartime Memories Project, and the War Graves Records, which appear to have been mistakenly recorded as a .com website rather than .org. public. The Lancastria Tragedy comprises an introduction, eleven numbered chapters, and a concluding chapter titled In Closing, as well as endmatter including an About the Author section, Sources, and a three-page Index of proper nouns. Captain Rudolf Sharpe later lost his life when the ship he commanded, the Laconia, was sunk. Those who succumbed to sleep soon joined the growing numbers of the dead. DOyly-Hughes ordered the destroyer Ardent to turn about and visually investigate the sighting, while nonchalantly maintaining his westward course at cruising speed. World War II: The cargo ship (7,340 GRT) was bombed and sunk off Le Havre, France by Luftwaffe aircraft. The survivors were now completely alone in the dark. I realised she was sinking, so I put my arm around her and tried to keep her head above the water.. by Norwegian commandos 11/03/39, Sent from Gibraltar to Marseilles; Released As it hovered over the waves, it suddenly lurched, then one end jerked downwards and was smashed by a wall of water. Naval Documents of the American Revolution, - Naval Documents of the American Revolution, A History of the Naval Historical Foundation. SS Emidio in Vancouver, June 1932. She was requisitioned as an accommodation ship in 1940, but was briefly removed from service in 1942 so she could play the part of the Titanic in a crude German propaganda film about the sinking of the famous vessel. DOyly kicked Heath off the ship and departed on missions to ferry Royal Air Force Gladiators and Hurricanes to Norway. She was later salvaged by the British, repaired and re-entered service. The notifications are not legally enforceable; hence, news editors could choose not to abide by them but, generally, accede to these notices. She was later salvaged by the Germans and re-entered service as. Meanwhile, hail and rain continued to fall. The Benares disaster happened in the mid-Atlantic, 600 miles (965km) west of Ireland. If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us. 11, two out of 11 children remained. 10 Historical Prophecies That Actually Came True 10- RMS Titanic Disaster. A German submarine torpedoed the ship hours after Britain declared war on Hitler in 1939 - more than 100 people, including many Americans, were killed. Another day nearer America! he remembers thinking. World War II: The Adua-class submarine (686/843 t, 1934) was depth charged and sunk west of Crete (3529N 2006E / 35.483N 20.100E / 35.483; 20.100) by HMSDainty and HMSIlex (both Royal Navy). List of shipwrecks in June 1940 - Wikipedia List of shipwrecks in June 1940 View history The list of shipwrecks in June 1940 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during June 1940 . Decades after Apapa was lost , on the 15th of November 1940 the identically named MV APAPA was bombed and sunk by a German FW 200 Condor aircraft, two hundred miles from County Mayo in Ireland. Armed Guard Casualties World War II: The cargo ship (7,405 GRT, 1914) was bombed and damaged in the Bay of Biscay off. What had happened was that Id lain there, grieving away, and my blood had stopped flowing. He was saved by a fellow passenger, but died minutes later. A tragedy in itself made worse by the fact they should never have been onboard to begin with. All rights reserved. Under the command of Captain HL Upton, she . Within half an hour, four of the crew members on his boat had slipped into unconsciousness and died. The ship was built by William Beardmore and Company of Dalmuir on the River Clyde and launched in 1920 as Royal Mail Steamship (RMS) Tyrrhenia for the Anchor Line, a subsidiary of the better-known Cunard Line. Captain Sharp estimated 5,500, but one Royal Engineer officer was told that there were more than 7,200 persons aboard. Early in 1923 the vessel together with two other . You may quote material on this Rangitane left Auckland on Sunday 24 November 1940, en route to Britain via the Panama Canal. Abandoning his grip on the gunwales, Colin helped pull out the corpses and consign them to a watery grave. She simply said: Theres your ship. The German battlecruisers then hastily left the scene without picking up survivors. This list of sources is concerning as there are at least a dozen sources that would have provided additional information to flesh-out his brief narrative, namely Winston Churchills 1949 The Second World War, Vol. A pre-war photograph of the German cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff in Hamburg. The SS Athenia was the first ship sunk by Germany in World War II and resulted in the death of 118 civilians. The cargo ship (1,435 GRT, 1903) ran aground at, World War II: The fishing vessel (96 GRT) was bombed and sunk in the North Sea (. Five days into the voyage, the Royal Navy escort ships headed off, confident there was no danger. Her classs lead ship, the Courageous, had launched the first carrier-launched naval air strike in history near the end of World War I. Britain Ship Losses 1940 This page records the details of every British ship lost during the two world wars, including pictures where possible. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, first carrier-launched naval air strike in history, North Korea: We Asked 27 Experts What They Think Will Happen in 2019. Postcard of RMS Lancastria. Five minutes later, in one of the longest-range hits in naval history, the Scharnhorsts third volley screamed over fifteen miles to slam straight into the Gloriouss flight deck, blasting open a huge hole that rendered it unusable and knocking two Swordfish bombers into the water. Some like it, NOT! Alexia British Motor tanker The Alexia after conversion to the MAC ship HMS Alexia. Once his infection had cleared, he was told to get out of bed. Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. The SS Andrea Doria was a flagship of the Italian Line. Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart Attack entries for Alexia If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us. Despite his mothers disapproval, Colin developed a curious desire to return to the sea. Rather than disengage from the hopeless fight, the Acasta peeled off from the Glorious and valiantly charged the Gneisenau. They were in their dressing-gowns, with no life-belt, clutching teddy bears. World War II: The cargo ship (1,373 GRT) was scuttled at, World War II: The sailing vessel (26 GRT) struck a mine and sank at, World War II: The coaster (509 GRT, 1937) struck a mine and sank in the English Channel off. For his part, Colin was starting to realise how hard it would be to marshal all the children into the lifeboats. After the Navy, Colin became a Lloyds underwriter, married first wife, Gill, and adopted a baby of six weeks who grew up to become Changing Rooms presenter Anna Ryder Richardson. Meanwhile, Lifeboat 5 was making an uneven descent. World War II: The cargo ship (4,499 GRT) was scuttled at Brest, France. Late 1940, two Welsh Brothers Kenneth James Lewis and Raymond Leslie Lewis walked aboard their first ship, the Cardiff registered cargo ship SS Fiscus, 4 . Then he caught a whiff of the telltale smell of explosives. World War II: The water carrier (107 GRT) was scuttled at Lorient, France. In the Hotel Berlin, the Gestapo is searching for underground leader Martin Richter. But Colin Ryder Richardson, snug in his bunk, saw no reason for alarm. Lancastria was attacked, apparently by five Junkers Ju 88 dive bombers, and the ship capsized, and sank within twenty minutes mid-afternoon on June 17 off the French port of St. Nazaire. Left to right, Kenneth Sparkes, Derek Capel, Freddie Steele, Billy Short and Howard Clayton, Far from being distraught at leaving his parents behind, Colin was excited at the prospect of stepping into a real-life Western: I thought of the sun and the hills. At 4 p.m. on June 8, 1940, the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was cruising west across the Norwegian Sea towards the British naval base of Scapa Flow when her lookout spotted two grey blips over a dozen miles away on the horizon. you see substantial portions of this page on the Internet or in published material He had a good war by late 1940, sinking eight ships in six wartime patrols, mostly in the North Sea, before the prestigious commission on U-123. World War II: The cargo ship (1,927 GRT, 1922) was scuttled as a blockship in Churchill Sound, World War II: The cargo ship (6,701 GRT, 1918) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west of Land's End, United Kingdom (, World War II: The cargo ship (4,201 GRT, 1911) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Ireland (, World War II: The cargo ship (1,291 GRT, 1913) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Land's End (. Four chapters are personal accounts from survivors or their close relatives. U-123 was to be his last front line command,. LANCASTRIA (June 17, 1940) The loss of the Lancastria was the fourth largest maritime disaster of the war. The Royal Navy apparently remained unaware of the battle and made no rescue effort, only learning what happened after Germany announced the victory. And the cowboys eating around campfires.. Earlier that day the battlecruisers sank an oil tanker and a trawler. On Lifeboat 10, just one child had survived and 14 had died. Already 600 miles out to sea, the SS City of Benares was carrying Colin and 89 other child evacuees to the U.S. and Canada, where they could wait out the end of the war in safety. The SS Goslar, a steamboat, was at port in Suriname when Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, causing the country (then a colony of the Netherlands) to begin to intern German men living in the . Captain Sharp would lose his life on September 12, 1942, when the HMT Laconia, was sunk northeast of Ascension Island off the coast of West Africa by Kriegsmarine U-156, a Type IXC boat then attached to the 4th U-boat Flotilla. We said: If you want them, theyre 600 miles out at the bottom of the Atlantic! he recalls. Wynn does not clarify what materials he utilized from these sources and there are no footnotes, in-text citations, or endnotes. Two of the youngest serving Merchant Seamen killed in WWII. List of shipwrecks: 3 March 1940 Ship Country Description Arucas Germany World War II: The passenger ship (3,369 GRT, 1927) was intercepted in the Atlantic Ocean east of Iceland by HMS York ( Royal Navy) and was scuttled by herTen crew members were lost at sea. Photographs Beryl Myatt World War II: The cargo ship (810 GRT, 1933) was scuttled at Dieppe, France. Only extraordinary circumstancesparticularly the lack of Combat Air Patrolmade the ambush of the Glorious possible by two large capital ships on a clear day. Colin was still trying to comfort his neighbour until a man told him she was dead. Empire Morn killed 26th April 1943 after his ship hit a mine. By late-June 1940, internees had begun to be moved out of Warth Mills. Others tried desperately to tread water before surrendering to the deep. The prevailing narrative of naval warfare in World War II concerns how the carrier decisively unseated the battleship as the dominant naval weapon system. She was carrying between 800 and 1,200 people, mainly refugees, and most were lost when her ammunition cargo exploded. Even so, he was already freezing and soaked to the skin. In his memoirs, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote that he had intended to release the news a few days later, but that events in France crowded upon us so black and so quickly that I forgot to lift the ban (p.192). The comments below have not been moderated. Of the 38 people in his boat, only 14 remained. Refitted in 1924 for two classes and renamed Lancastria, she travelled the route from Liverpool to New York and back, but in 1932 was reassigned to cruise in the Mediterranean and through northern European waters. On the 8th June 1940, she was sunk 300 miles West of Narvik, by the . She was later salvaged by the Germans and entered service as. Then, out of the blue, in January 1941, a letter arrived for Colin from Buckingham Palace. Fateful: The S.S City of Benares, passenger ship is launched in 1936 and would later be sunk while carrying 90 children aged five to 15. The 17th June 1940 saw one of the most horrific events of World War II and the single worst maritime disaster in British history. (Look 18/06/1940), World War II: The naval trawler (348 GRT, 1929) ran aground at Brest, France and was abandoned without loss. Contributed on: 22 May 2005. Mr Raskai bravely helped me into it as it was crashing about against the ship. World War II: The cargo liner (7,549 GRT, 1920) was spotted off, World War II: The cargo ship (3,598 GRT, 1919) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean west north west of. You may not use more than a few lines without permission. A history of Tyne shipbuilders and the ships they built", "Norwegian Homefleet - WW II, Ships starting with So through S", Egypt Red Sea Shipwrecks - The Umbria, A Veritable Time Bomb at 30 metres, Ned Middleton, alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (C), "Kriegsverluste Italienischer Handelsschiffe 1940-1943: Verluste Italienischer Handelsschiffe 1940", "British Admiralty War Diary, 11 June 1940", "Naval Events, June 1940, Part 3 of 4, Saturday 15th - Friday 21st", "HNLMS O 13 of the Royal Netherlands Navy", "Naval Events, June 1940, Part 4 of 4, Saturday 22nd - Sunday 30th". Ships However, he was told to embark as many as possible. They werent the only parents desperate to send their children abroad. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. The wording was puzzling: at 11, hed obviously never served in the Merchant Navy. "Verluste Deutscher Handelsschiffe 1939-1945 und unter deutscher Flagge fahrender auslndischer Schiffe: 1940", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_shipwrecks_in_June_1940&oldid=1142243449, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, World War II: The cargo ship (4,220 GRT) was bombed and damaged in the North Sea 13 nautical miles (24km) off, World War II: The coaster (281 GRT, 1896) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The trawler (195 GRT) was bombed and sunk in the North Sea (. He states that The time taken to record everybodys name, rank, service number and regiment or corps would have been time consuming and served no purpose (vii). The carriers tall crows nest was unoccupied; and only twelve of her eighteen boilers were kept active, limiting her speed. The two boys are believed to of forged a letter from their Father stating he had given permission for them to join the ship. In 1940, these included Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, Gloster Sea Gladiator fighters, as well monoplane Blackburn Skua monoplane bomber/fighters. World War II: The passenger ship (2,113 GRT, 1908) was bombed and sunk in the Norwegian Sea (. World War II: The coaster (397 GRT) struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with all seven hands. . The mine exploded sinking the vessel. 8 was the first to be lowered. Many survivors perished from hypothermia or suffocated on fuel oil. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites Industry chief demands planned corporation tax hike from 19 to 25% in this Ukrainian soldier takes out five Russian tanks and three armoured vehicles in ONE DAY using US-supplied Ukraine 'hits major Russian air base in fresh strike' a day after kamikaze drone crashed down just 68 miles How did Russia lose HALF of its 45,000 elite paratroopers in just seven months? As others began to emerge from their cabins, the older children took charge of the younger ones, checking their life-jackets and making sure they knew where to go. The SS Orama was built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness in 1924 for the Orient Line with accommodation for 1,700 passengers. Chapter 5 focuses on the actual sinking of the Lancastria while Chapter 11 focuses on its aftermath. World War II: The cargo ship (1,525 GRT, 1920) was scuttled as a blockship at Dieppe, France. British and Allied evacuation vessels took Lancastrias survivors aboard, the trawler HMT Cambridgeshire alone rescuing nearly 900 souls. This left Colin sitting up to his chest in water with only the lifeboats buoyancy tanks preventing the boat from vanishing beneath the waves. Enough was enough, his parents decided, as the bombs began to fall. Late 1940, two Welsh Brothers Kenneth James Lewis and Raymond Leslie Lewis walked aboard their first ship, the Cardiff registered cargo ship SS Fiscus, 4,815grt, (W.H. There, he attended a local school until it was evacuated to Cornwall. 2 held about 800 RAF personnel. True, the ship had slowed down to negotiate the storm, but it was still ploughing in the right direction. The much smaller vessel immediately laid a smoke screen which it used as cover to launch hit-and-run torpedo attacks. World War II: The cargo ship (2,975 GRT, 1906) struck a mine and sank in the Mediterranean Sea north of Pantelleria. A camera crew onboard the Scharnhorst filmed the engagement, and the Gloriouss sinking, which you can see here. This is the story of Beryl Myatt, a child evacuee during the Second World War. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 08:28. Published: 00:26 GMT, 10 March 2012 | Updated: 00:27 GMT, 10 March 2012. WHAT WAS THE MAIN SHIP? For any other comments, please Contact Us. But a carrier could deploy over a hundred airplanes that could strike targets hundreds of miles away with torpedoes and bombs. Some families, such as the Grimmonds from Brixton, South London, faced an almost unimaginable loss: five of their children Violet, Connie, Lennie, Eddie and Gussie had perished. The CWGC has the names of 513 Merchant Seamen aged 14 to 16 who died between 1939-1945. Later, as the light began to fade, even the strongest began to lose hope. All six crew survived. He and the other children were watched over that night as they slept but despite all efforts, three more died. World War II: The cargo ship (1,684 GRT, 1920) was bombed and sunk in the English Channel off Le Havre, France by Luftwaffe aircraft. Franconia was assigned to Lorient while Lancastria continued toward St. Nazaire but because of the tidal channel on the Loire estuary Lancastria had to anchor in the Charpentier Roads about 5 nm (nautical miles) southwest of the actual port. As a force-ten gale whipped the waves into a fury around the ship, an 11-year-old boy lay alone in his cabin reading The Beano and dreaming of adventure. Sold for scrap in August 1954 at Blyth. Buried Ben M' Sik European Cemetery, Morocco, Plot 59A. World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (261 GRT, 1918) was scuttled at Lorient, France. World War II: The cargo ship (2,483 GRT, 1894) was scuttled in Churchill Sound, World War II: The cargo ship (5,403 GRT, 1919) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The naval trawler (357 GRT, 1928) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The dredger (1,832 GRT, 1903) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The tanker (8,215 GRT, 1931) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (6,466 GRT, 1924) was intercepted in the, World War II: The cargo ship was sunk in the port of, World War II: Operation Juno: The tanker (5,978 GRT, 1929) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo liner (13,212 GRT, 1939) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Finisterre (. As it grew lighter, he could see corpses floating around each lifeboat. This elderly nurse sitting next to me whod earlier been comforting me became distressed, he says. World War II: The captured ex-Dutch coastal defence ship (5,002 t, 1904) was bombed and sunk at, World War II: The naval yacht (196 GRT, 1938) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean (, World War II: The cargo ship (1,888 GRT) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The tanker (7,011 GRT, 1922) was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay by, World War II: The cargo ship (5,154 GRT, 1918) was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay (, The cargo ship (2,724 or 2,608 GRT, 1929) collided with another vessel and sank in the. She was later salvaged by the Germans and re-entered service as, World War II: The trawler (108 GRT, 1931) was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Land's End (, World War II: The cargo ship (2,417 GRT, 1901) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of Land's End (, World War II: The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship (3,443 GRT, 1916) was torpedoed and sunk in the, The cargo ship (5,661 GRT, 1923) was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean (, World War II: The tanker (7,638 GRT, 1930) was torpedoed and damaged in the, World War II: The cargo ship (5,334 GRT, 1918) was torpedoed, shelled, and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of the, World War II: The trawler (276 GRT, 1918) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The auxiliary minesweeper (497 GRT, 1939) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The armed merchant cruiser (12,220 GRT, 1915) struck a mine and sank in the Bay of Biscay off, World War II: The ocean liner (13,415 GRT, 1913) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship (3,103 GRT, 1922) was shelled and torpedoed in the, World War II: The coaster (824 GRT, 1930) was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay off, World War II: The passenger ship (7,463 GRT, 1920) was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay (, World War II: The cargo ship (5,911 GRT, 1917) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The passenger ship (11,028 GRT, 1922) was bombed and sunk in the, World War II: The tanker (9,552 GRT, 1917) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship (2,290 GRT, 1922) was bombed and sunk at, World War II: The cargo ship (1,776 GRT, 1930) was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel south of Land's End (, World War II: The cargo ship (1,177 GRT, 1919) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (1,937 GRT, 1919) was scuttled at, World War II: The cargo ship (1,144 GRT, 1915) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The coaster (279 GRT) was abandoned at, World War II: The cargo ship (5,809 GRT, 1915) was torpedoed and sunk in the, World War II: The cargo ship (4,281 GRT, 1922) was bombed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay off. Empress of Ireland: Directed by Stephan Parent. Object description. The loss of the LANCASTRIA was also the most . Ships Sunk or Damaged 1939 to 1941 Chronological List of U.S. About 124,000 troops were assembling and the Admiralty had dispatched some 30 merchant vessels of all sizes to the rescue. referenced. World War II: The cargo ship (1,002 GRT, 1904) struck a mine and sank in the, World War II: The cargo ship (1,766 or 1,894 GRT, 1918) was scuttled at Rochefort, France. You must stay awake., Safe: Survivors of the torpedoed S.S City of Benares passenger ship huddle together on one of the life rafts awaiting rescue. Just two weeks after being set up, it received more than 200,000 applications from worried parents. Ships Sunk or Damaged in World War II those of the BBC. Germany initially denied involvement. Below the waves, however, the convoy was being trailed by U-48, a German U-boat. As the night progressed, body temperatures began to fall. From somewhere out there in the deep, a German U-boat had fired a torpedo directly into the ship, just below the childrens sleeping quarters. Besides being called the World War and the Great War, which were the most common names, it was also referred to merely as The War, orThe War in Europe, the War of Nations, the 1914 War, or some variation on these and other names. It was fourth English pounds. Officially, the Royal Navy maintains this was to save fuel. She was built in 1936 and sailed for 30 years before retiring in 1967. Hammac was a steam tank ship built in 1920-1921 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Alameda for the United States Shipping Board as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. Forged a letter from their Father stating he had given permission for them join! 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