Top 10 – Deadliest Maritime Disasters in History

During the first Punic war Rome attempted a large scale land operation by invading the Carthaginian colonies of Africa. In face of disaster Romans sent a new fleet to pick up the survivors of its African expedition. This fleet was successful in rescuing the Roman army, only to be almost completely destroyed on the trip home by a huge Mediterranean storm; the number of casualties in the disaster may have exceeded 90,000 men.

The Spanish Armada was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from Lisbon and headed for the English Channel, with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. The Armada was eventually scattered by an English fireship attack and in the ensuing Battle of Gravelines was damaged and forced to abandon the engagement. The Armada managed to regroup and withdrew north with the English fleet harrying it up the east coast of England. The commander ordered a return to Spain, but the Armada was disrupted during severe storms in the North Atlantic and a large portion of the vessels were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Spain lost between 15,000 and 20,000 soldiers and sailors, mainly in storms rather than battle.

The English Armada, also known as the Counter Armada, was a fleet of warships sent to Iberia by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1589, during the Anglo-Spanish War . The expedition failed to drive home the advantage England had won upon the dispersal of the Spanish Armada in the previous year. Between 11,000 and 15,000 men were killed or died of disease.

The Battle of Cartagena de Indias was a military engagement between the forces of Britain and those of Spain.The battle resulted in a major defeat for the British Navy and Army. The defeat caused heavy losses for the British: 50 ships lost, badly damaged or abandoned, and losses of 9,500 to 11,500 sailors and soldiers at sea. 50 ships were lost and between 9,500 and 11,500 sailors and soldiers perished at sea.

The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German passenger ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilians, officials and military personnel from Gdynia as the Red Army advanced. The ship and her escorting torpedo boat were soon sighted by the Soviet submarine S-13, that launched three torpedoes at Wilhelm Gustloff ’s port side. It is estimated 9,400 people died, including 5,000 children, out of more than 10,600 people on board, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.

Goya was a Norwegian motor freighter seized by Germany and pressed into service of the Kriegsmarine as a troop transport. Near the end of the Second World War, the ship took part in Operation Hannibal, the evacuation of German military personnel and civilians from through the Baltic Sea. The ship broke in two and sank in less than four minutes when it was hit by Soviet submarine L-3 torpedoes. Most of the crew and passengers died, with just 183 survivors among roughly 6,700 passengers and crew.

The Soviet hospital ship Armenia was a transport ship operated by the Soviet Union during World War II to carry both wounded soldiers and military cargo. During the evacuation of Sevastopol both officials and civilians were taken aboard alongside the thousands of wounded. At 11:30am, Armenia was attacked by a Heinkel He 111 with torpedoes. The ship broke in two and sank within four minutes. Even by the lowest estimate of about 5,000 dead, the sinking of Armenia remains the deadliest maritime disaster in Russian history.

The Jun’yō Maru was a Japanese cargo ship that was attacked and sunk in 1944 by the British submarine HMS Tradewind. Jun’yõ was used to transport POW’s in very poor conditions and on September 18, 1944, was packed with Dutch, British, Australian, and American prisoners of war along with Javanese slave labourers bound for work on the railways. It was the world’s greatest sea disaster at the time with 5,620 dead and only 680 survivors.

Toyama Maru was a Japanese troop transport during World War II. On 29 June 1944, Toyama Maru was transporting over 6,000 Japanese soldiers when she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Sturgeon (SS-187) near Nansei Shoto. The torpedoes hit gasoline tanks and the Toyama exploded in flames. 5,400 soldiers and crew members were killed during the sinking, although 600 others managed to get off the ship.

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