List of hospital ships sunk in World War II

Summary

Hospital ships should display large Red Crosses or Red Crescents . The HS Awa Maru was displaying illuminated white crosses on its side when sunk.

List edit

Name Image Nationality Date Location of wreck Cause Lives lost Note
HS Andros   Greece 23 April 1941 At Loutraki (West of the Corinth Canal) Sunk by Italian aircraft ? [1]
HS Armenia     Soviet Union 7 November 1941 On voyage from Yalta to Gurzuf 44°15′00″N 34°17′00″E / 44.25000°N 34.28333°E / 44.25000; 34.28333 Attacked by German torpedo-carrying He 111H Bombers, Over 5,000 [2]
HS Arno     Italy 10 September 1942 About 40 miles NE of Ras el Tin 33°14′00″N 23°23′00″E / 33.23333°N 23.38333°E / 33.23333; 23.38333 Sunk by aerial torpedoes from the RAF 27 [3]
HS Asahi Maru     Japan 17 August 1945 Inland Sea. W of Ushijima, 1.25 miles off Bizan Seto Collides with oiler Manju Maru, beached. Abandoned as a constructive total loss. [4]
HS Attiki   Greece 11 April 1941 Doro Channel off Karystos Bombed and sunk by German Stuka dive-bombers at 11:30 pm even though the large red crosses were well placed and illuminated. One of the Stukas machine-gunned the survivors struggling in the water. [5] 28 [6] [7]
HS Awa Maru   Japan 1 April 1945 Inland Sea. W of Ushijima, 1.25 miles off Bizan Seto Sunk by the U.S. Navy submarine USS Queenfish 2003 [8][9]
HS Berlin     Germany 31 January 1945 8 miles (13 km) from the port at Novorossiysk and 2 miles (3.2 km) from shore, at 44°36′15″N 37°52′35″E / 44.60417°N 37.87639°E / 44.60417; 37.87639 Note that during World War II Berlin was mined and in the Baltic and beached in shallow waters at position 54°02.6 N/14°19 E, in shallow waters. After the war Berlin was salvaged, handed over to the Soviet Union as a prize and renamed Admiral Nakhimov. She was in service as a passenger liner in the Black Sea on August 31, 1986, when she collided with the freighter M/S Pjotr Wassjew and sank. 423 [citation needed]
HS Buenos Aires Maru     Japan 27 November 1943 Off Saint Matthias Island in Steffen Strait 02°40′00″S 149°20′00″E / 2.66667°S 149.33333°E / -2.66667; 149.33333 Bombed by American warplanes 158 [10]

[11] [12]

HS California   Italy 11 August 1941 Syracuse Harbour Torpedoed and sunk by British aerial torpedoes 10 [13]
AHS Centaur     Australia 14 May 1943 Off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland Torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-177 268 [14]
HS Città di Trapani   Italy 1 December 1942 11 miles east of Isola dei Cani (off Bizerta) She struck a sea mine. 5 [15]
HS Dronning Maud     Norway 01 May 1940 Near Gratangen, Norway Sunk by German warplanes 42 [16]
HS Esperos   Greece 21 April 1941 Off Missolonghi, Greece Sunk by German warplanes ? [17]
SS Giulio Cesare   Italy 28 August 1944 Off Trieste, Italy Sunk by South African warplanes ?
SS Op Ten Noort renamed: HMHS Hikawa Maru No.2     Netherlands

  Japan

17 August 1945 Wakasa Bay Scuttled by placing explosive charges in the hull, to cover war crimes (14 August 1945) 0 [18]

[19]

HMHS Maid of Kent     Great Britain 21 May 1940 Dieppe harbour Bombed by German warplanes 43 [20]

[21]

HMHS Newfoundland     UK 13 September 1943 40 nautical miles (74 km) off of Salerno, Italy, 40°13′00″N 14°21′00″E / 40.21667°N 14.35000°E / 40.21667; 14.35000 Bombed by German warplanes. After burning for two days, she was sunk by gunfire from the destroyers USS Mayo and USS Plunkett. 21 [22]
HMHS Paris   British Empire 02 June 1940 Off Dunkirk Bombed by German warplanes ? [23]

[24]

HS Po   Italy 14 March 1941 Inside the Bay of Valona, Albania, 2.0 kilometers off Cape Dukati and Crionerò 40°22′00″N 19°28′00″E / 40.36667°N 19.46667°E / 40.36667; 19.46667 Sunk by a British torpedo bomber 24 [25][citation needed][citation needed]
HS RAMB IV     Italy

  United Kingdom

10 May 1942 Off Alexandria, Egypt Bombed and set afire by German warplanes and sunk 165 [26]
MV Robert Ley     Germany 09 March 1945 Hamburg Bombed and sunk by British warplanes ?
HS Sicilia   Italy 04 April 1943 Naples Harbor Bombed and sunk by American warplanes ? [27]
HS Sokratis   Greece 22 April 1941 Antikyra, Greece Sunk by German warplanes ? [28]
HMHS St David   British Empire 24 January 1944 40 kilometers south of Anzio Sunk by German warplanes (Hs-293) 96 [29]

[30]

HS Tevere   Italy 17 February 1941 Off Tripoli She struck a sea mine 4 [31]
HS Tübingen   Germany 18 November 1944 3.5 miles south of Cap. Premantura Pula (Pola) Attacked by two British warplanes (Beaufighters) 6 [32]
HMHS Talamba     British Empire 10 July 1943 Off Syracuse, Italy during the amphibious landings on Sicily Bombed and sunk by an Italian aircraft while embarking wounded 5 [33]

[34]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "SS Andros (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  2. ^ "MV Armenia (Армения) (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  3. ^ "SS Arno (+1942)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  4. ^ "IJN Hospital Ship ASAHI MARU". combinedfleet.com. 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  5. ^ The New York Times, April 14, 1941, pg 6
  6. ^ The New York Times, April 14, 1941, pg 6
  7. ^ "SS Attiki (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  8. ^ National Security Agency (May 1981), The Sinking and the Salvage of the Awa Maru (U): A Strange and Tragic Tale (U) (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-15
  9. ^ "SS Awa Maru (+1945)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  10. ^ "Buenos Aires Maru (+1943)". wrecksite. 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  11. ^ "Did the 13th AF or 5th AF Sink the Buenos Aires Maru". forum.armyairforces.com. 2012. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  12. ^ "BUENOS AIRES MARU". combinedfleet.com. 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  13. ^ "SS California (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  14. ^ "SINKING OF THE 2/3 HOSPITAL SHIP A.H.S. CENTAUR". ozatwar.com. 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  15. ^ Enrico Cernuschi, Maurizio Brescia, Erminio Bagnasco, Le navi ospedale italiane 1935-1945, p. 46
  16. ^ "SS Dronning Maud (+1940)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  17. ^ "SS Esperos (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  18. ^ "SS Hikawa Maru No.2 (+1945)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  19. ^ "IJN Hospital Ship HIKAWA MARU NO. 2". combinedfleet.com. 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  20. ^ "HMHS Maid of Kent (+1940)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  21. ^ "TS Maid of Kent (II)". doverferryphotos.co.uk. 2011. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  22. ^ "SS Newfoundland (+1943)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  23. ^ "SS Paris". roll-of-honour.com. 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  24. ^ "The Hospital Ship Paris". BBC. 2004. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  25. ^ "Wien SS (1911~1919) Po SS (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  26. ^ "Aquileia RM (1940~1941) Aquileia MV (+1942)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  27. ^ "Sicilia (+1943)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  28. ^ "SS Sokratis (+1941)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  29. ^ "St. David [+1944]". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  30. ^ "HMHS St David". roll-of-honour.com. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  31. ^ Enrico Cernuschi, Maurizio Brescia, Erminio Bagnasco, Le navi ospedale italiane 1935-1945, p. 30
  32. ^ "SS Tübingen (+1944)". wrecksite. 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  33. ^ "SS Talamba (+1943)". wrecksite. 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  34. ^ "TALAMBA". tynebuiltships.co.uk. 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.