The Day They Died

[Panay's Ghost]

April 4

1941

Giovanni Acerbi (RM Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyer):  Scuttled as a blockship at Massawa.

Proussa (Royal Hellenic Navy Kydoniai-class torpedo boat, former SMS Tb 94-F):  Bombed and sunk at Corfu by Italian aircraft.

HMS Voltaire (RN armed merchant cruiser):  Shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by Thor.

 

1942

Glavkos (Royal Hellenic Navy Proteus-class submarine):  Bombed and sunk at Malta by German aircraft.

RT-103 (Soviet Navy trawler):  Bombed and sunk at Zyp Navolok by Luftwaffe aircraft.

 

 

1943

Altair (Kriegsmarine supply ship):  Torpedoed and sunk off Kristiansund, Norway by RAF aircraft.

V 1252 (Kriegsmarine Vorpostenboot):  Collided with FlJ 27 Schiewenhorst and sank in the North Sea off Borkum.

 

 

1944

I-169 (IJN Type Kaidai (KD)6 large fleet submarine):  Sunk in a diving accident north-west of Dublon Island, Truk, during a US air raid.  She was depth-charged in May to permanently scuttle her.

 

 

1945

USS Dickerson (USN  high-speed transport, former Wickes-class destroyer):  Stripped of salvageable materials and scuttled by gunfire in the Pacific Ocean near Kerama Retto.  She had taken two direct kamikaze hits two days earlier.

Irben (Kriegsmarine Irben-class minelayer):  Sunk off Kiel by American aircraft.

Kurt Ramien (Kriegsmarine Este-class auxiliary submarine chaser/trials ship):  Sunk on this date.

M-802 (Kriegsmarine M 1943-class minesweeper):  Bombed and sunk by American aircraft at Kiel.

Mokuto (IJN Ukuru-class escort ship):  Mined and sunk in the Shimonoseki Strait.

R-59 (Kriegsmarine Type R-41 minesweeper):  Sunk at Kiel by American aircraft.

R 119 (Kriegsmarine minesweeper):  Sunk in an American air raid on Kiel.

R-261 (Kriegsmarine Type R-218 minesweeper):  Sunk at Kiel by American aircraft.

U-237 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Bombed and sunk at Kiel in an American air raid.

U-749 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Bombed and sunk at Kiel in an American air raid.

U-3003 (Kriegsmarine Type XXI submarine):  Bombed and sunk at Kiel in an American air raid.

 

 

1946

USS S-35 (USN S-class submarine, decommissioned):  Sunk  off the Hawaiian Islands as a torpedo target.

 

 

[Panay's Ghost]

April 5

1941

U-76 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIB submarine):  Depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland by HMS Scarborough and HMS Wolverine.

 

 

1942

The Battle of Ceylon (AKA Operation 'C' and the Easter Sunday Raid):  Following the fall of Singapore, Ceylon became the home of the British Eastern Fleet.  To disrupt British operations in the Indian Ocean and to ensure Imperial Japanese operations in Burma need not fear, the Kido Butai came calling...

 

HMS Cornwall (RN County-class, Kent subclass heavy cruiser):  Bombed and sunk in the Indian Ocean southwest of Ceylon by Imperial Japanese aircraft.

HMS Dorsetshire (RN  County-class, Norfolk subclass heavy cruiser):  Bombed and sunk in the Indian Ocean southwest of Ceylon by Imperial Japanese aircraft.

HMS Hector (RN armed merchant cruiser):  Bombed and sunk at Colombo, Ceylon by Japanese aircraft.

HMS Tenedos (RN S-class destroyer):  Bombed and sunk at Colombo by Imperial Japanese aircraft.

 

***

HMS Abingdon (RN Hunt-class minesweeper):  Bombed by Italian aircraft at Malta. She was beached and abandoned after being declared a total loss.

HMS Gallant (RN G-class destroyer):  Bombed and and beached at Valletta.  She was already under repair from loosing her bow to a mine on 10 January 1941 and was deemed beyond economical repair. She was refloated and sunk as a blockship in September, 1943.

RT-61 (Soviet Navy trawler):  Bombed and sunk at Murmansk by Luftwaffe aircraft.

 

 

1943

U-635 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by RAF aircraft.

 

 

1944

CHa-46 (IJN CHa-1-class auxiliary submarine chaser):  Sunk at Wake Island by US Navy aircraft.

R-261 (Kriegsmarine Type R-218 minesweeper):  Sunk off Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, France by Allied aircraft.

U-455 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Strayed into a German minefield and sank in the Mediterranean sea near Portofino, Italy.  Her wreck was discovered in 2005.

 

1945

Helmi Söhle (Kriegsmarine patrol boat): Sunk in the Kattegat by RAF aircraft.

Ro-49 (IJN Type Kaichu (K)6 medium submarine):  Depth charged and sunk in the Pacific Ocean off Okinawa by USS Hudson.

USS Thornton (USN seaplane tender, a former Clemson-class destroyer):  Collided with USS Ashtabula and USS Escalante in the Pacific Ocean off the Ryukyu Islands and was severely damaged. She was beached and abandoned at Keramo Retto on 2 May.

U-242 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Struck a mine and sank in St George's Channel.

USS S-17 (USN S-class submarine, decommissioned):  Sunk as a target.

 

 

1946

Operation Dead Duck:  More surrendered Imperial Japanese submarines were towed into the East China Sea beyond Sasebo Bay and sunk with explosive charges.

 

I-202 : Type Sen-taka (ST) large high speed submarine.

Ro-31 : Type Kai-Toku-Chū  (KT) special purpose-medium submarine.  She had been decommissioned earlier, on 25 May 1945. 

Ha-207 : Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.

Ha-210 : Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.

Ha-215 :Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.  She was incomplete.

Ha-216 : Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.

Ha-217 : Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.  She was incomplete.

Ha-219 : Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.  She was incomplete.

Ha-228 : Type Sen-taka sho (STS) small high speed submarine.  She was incomplete.

 

 

[Panay's Ghost]

April 6

1940

U-1 (Kriegsmarine Type IIA submarine):  Struck a mine and sank in the North Sea north of Terschelling, Friesland, Netherlands.  Her wreck was located by divers in June, 2007.

U-50 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIB submarine):  Struck a mine and sank in the North Sea north of Terschelling, Friesland, Netherlands.

 

 

1941

HMS Comorin (RN armed merchant cruiser):  Caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean and scuttled by HMS Broke.

Georgios (Royal Hellenic Navy auxiliary ship):  Bombed and sunk at Piraeus by Luftwaffe aircraft.

HMY Surf (RN yacht):  Bombed and sunk at Piraeus by Luftwaffe aircraft.

HMY Torrent (RN yacht, former Anna Marie):  Struck a mine and sank in the English Channel off Falmouth, Cornwall.

 

 

1942

HMS Havock (RN H-class destroyer):  Ran aground and was wrecked off Kelibia, Tunisia.  She was later hit by a torpedo from Aradam.

HMIS Indus (Indian Grimsby-class sloop):  Bombed and sunk in an Imperial Japanese air raid on Akyab, Burma.

HMS West Cocker (RN West-class tugboat):  Bombed and sunk at Malta in an air raid.

 

 

1943

M 4041 Dr. Augustus Heldt (Kriegsmarine auxiliary minesweeper):  Struck a mine and sank in the Bay of Biscay off Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Gironde, France.

U-167 (Kriegsmarine Type IXC/40 submarine):  Scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean off Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.  She had been badly damaged by depth charges from RAF aircraft the day before.

U-632 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Depth charged and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by RAF aircraft.

UJ 2202 Jutland (Kriegsmarine submarine chaser):  Bombed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea by American aircraft.

VAS 202 (RM VAS 201-class submarine chaser):  Sunk at Trapani by Allied aircraft.

 

 

1944

R-192 (Kriegsmarine R-151 minesweeper):  Sunk in the Tyrrhenian Sea off Cecina, Tuscany, Italy by Royal Navy motor torpedo boats.

U-302 (Kriegsmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Depth charged and sunk in the North Atlantic north-west of the Azores by HMS Swale.

 

 

1945

Amatsukaze (IJN Kagerō-class destroyer):  Bombed and damaged in the Strait of Formosa east of Amoy, China by USAAF aircraft and beached at the entrance to Amoy harbor.  Salvage was abandoned two days later after further damage by a storm and she was permanently scuttled with explosive charges on 10 April.

USS Bush (USN Fletcher-class destroyer):  Sunk in the Pacific Ocean off Okinawa, Japan by a kamikaze attack.

USS Colhoun (USN Fletcher-class destroyer):  Sunk in the Pacific Ocean off Okinawa by kamikaze aircraft.

USS Emmons (USN high-speed minesweeper, former Gleaves-class destroyer):  Damaged by kamikaze attack in the Pacific Ocean off Okinawa. She was scuttled the next day.

U-1195 (Kriesmarine Type VIIC submarine):  Depth charged and sunk in the English Channel south of Spithead Roads by HMS Watchman.  Salvage attempts by the Royal Navy were abandoned by the end of the month.