List of ships sunk by Axis warships in Australian waters

This is a list of Allied ships sunk by Axis warships operating in Australian waters during the Second World War.

The U.S.-registered Liberty Ship Starr King sinking after being attacked near Port Macquarie on 10 February 1943.

Fifty four Axis surface raiders and submarines (both German and Japanese) carried out these attacks, sinking 53 merchant ships and three warships within the Australia Station, resulting in the deaths of over 1,751 Allied military personnel, sailors and civilians. A further 88 civilians were killed in air raids.

The definition of "Australian waters" used in this list is the area designated the Australia Station prior to the outbreak of war. This vast area consisted of the waters around Australia and eastern New Guinea, and stretching south to Antarctica. From east to west, it stretched from 170° east in the Pacific Ocean to 80° east in the Indian Ocean, and from north to south it stretched from the Equator to the Antarctic.[1]

A full account is given in Axis naval activity in Australian waters

Ships sunk by surface raiders

The six German and three Japanese surface raiders that operated within Australian waters sank 18 ships and killed over 826 sailors.

DateShipTonnage (GRT)LocationSunk byRemarks
16 Aug 40Notou2,489NoumeaOrion 
20 Aug 40Turakina9,691Tasman SeaOrion 
7 Oct 40Storstad8,998Christmas IslandPinguincaptured; converted to auxiliary minelayer
7 Nov 40Cambridge10,846Bass StraitPassatsunk by mines laid
9 Nov 40City of Rayville5,883Bass StraitPassatsunk by mines laid
5 Dec 40Nimbin1,052Off Norah HeadPinguinsunk by mines laid
26 Mar 41Millimumul28733 MILES EAST OF BROKEN BAY, NSW[2]Pinguinsunk by mines laid
19 Nov 40Nowshera7,920Indian OceanPinguin 
20 Nov 40Maimoa10,123Indian OceanPinguin 
21 Nov 40Port Brisbane8,739Indian OceanPinguin 
30 Nov 40Port Wellington8,303Indian OceanPinguin 
6 Dec 40Triona4,413NauruOrion, Komet 
7 Dec 40Vinni5,181NauruOrion, Komet 
8 Dec 40Triadic6,378NauruOrion, Komet 
8 Dec 40Triaster6,032NauruOrion, Komet 
7 Dec 40Komuta3,900NauruOrion, Komet 
26 June 41Velebit4,153Indian OceanKormoran 
26 June 41Mareeba3,472Indian OceanKormoran 
26 Sept 41Stamatios G Embirikos3,941Indian OceanKormoran 
19 Nov 41HMAS Sydneyn/aCarnarvon, W AustKormoranboth sunk in naval engagement
15 June 43Hoegh Silverdawn7,715W AustraliaMichel 
17 June 43Ferncastle9,940W AustraliaMichel 
9 Mar 44Behar6,100Indian OceanTonesurvivors massacred

Ships sunk by submarines

The following table has been adapted from Appendix V of A Critical Vulnerability: The impact of the submarine threat on Australia's maritime defence 1915 - 1954 by David Stevens. Stevens' appendix lists all known Axis submarine activity in Australian waters during World War II and includes data on unsuccessful submarine attacks on Allied shipping, attacks made in Papuan and Netherlands East Indies waters and Japanese patrols in Australian waters which did not result in any attacks on Allied ships.

The 28 Japanese and German submarines that operated in Australian waters between 1942 and 1945 sank a total of 30 ships with a combined tonnage of 151,000 long tons (153,000 t); 654 people, including 200 Australian merchant seamen, were killed on board the ships attacked by submarines.[3]

Date Submarine Ship Tonnage Location Remarks
20/1/42 I 159 Eidsvold 4184 Christmas Island
1/3/42 I 154 Modjokerto 8806 South of Christmas Island
1/3/42 I 2 Parigi 1172 Off Fremantle
3/3/42 I 1 Siantar 8867 200 nm NW of Shark Bay
4/3/42 I 7 Le Maire 3271 NW of Cocos Islands
5/5/42 I 21 John Adams 7180 120 nm SW of Noumea
7/5/42 I 21 Chloe 4641 35 nm from Nouméa[4]
31/5/42 M 24 HMAS Kuttabul 448 Sydney Harbour Midget launched from I 24
3/6/42 I 24 Iron Chieftain 481 27 nm E of Sydney
4/6/42 I 27 Iron Crown 3353 40 nm SW of Gabo Island
12/6/42 I 21 Guatemala 5527 40 nm NE of Sydney Straggling from a convoy
20/7/42 I 11 George S. Livanos 4883 15 nm E of Jervis Bay
21/7/42 I 11 Coast Farmer 3290 25 nm E of Jervis Bay
22/7/42 I 11 William Dawes 7176 15 nm E of Tathra Head
24/7/42 I 175 Murada 3345 85 nm NE of Newcastle Torpedoed/undamaged (although claimed as sunk by I-175)[5]
25/7/42 I 175 Cagou 2795 NE of Sydney
25/7/42 I 169 Tjinegara 9227 92 nm SE of Nouméa
30/8/42 I 175 Dureenbee 233 20 nm off Moruya Trawler
18/1/43 I 21 Kalingo 2047 110 nm E of Sydney
18/1/43 I 21 Mobilube 10222 60 nm E of Sydney Tanker
22/1/43 I 21 Peter H. Burnett 7176 420 nm E of Sydney
29/1/43 I 10 Samuel Gompers 7176 500 nm NE of Brisbane
30/1/43 I 21 Giang Ann ? 30 nm E of Newcastle
8/2/43 I 21 SS Iron Knight 4812 21 nm off Montague Island[6] Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy, 36 of complement of 50 lost[7]
10/2/43 I 21 Starr King 7176 150 nm E of Sydney
11/4/43 I 26 Recina 4732 20 nm off Cape Howe Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy
24/4/43 I 26 Kowarra 2125 160 nm N of Brisbane
26/4/43 I 177 Limerick 8724 20 nm SE of Cape Byron
27/4/43 I 178 Lydia M. Childs 7176 90 nm E of Newcastle
29/4/43 I 180 Wollongbar II[8] 2239 Off Crescent Head
5/5/43 I 180 Fingal 2137 Off Nambucca Heads
14/5/43 I 177 Australian Hospital Ship Centaur 3222 24 nm ENE of Point Lookout Hospital ship
16/6/43 I 174 Portmar 5551 250 nm NE of Sydney Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy
22/6/43 I 17 Stanvac Manila 10245 Off Nouméa Two PT boats also destroyed
24/12/44 U 862 SS Robert J. Walker 7180 Off Moruya, two of crew lost[9] The only ship sunk during the war by a German U-boat in the Pacific Ocean.[10] Attack on ship, sinking and rescue of crew described in the Australian Official Histories of the Second World War.[11] (Liberty ship)
6/2/45 U 862 SS Peter Silvester 7176 820 nm SW of Fremantle In the Indian Ocean, 32 of crew lost[12] (Liberty ship)

See also

Notes
  1. G. Herman Gill (1957). Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. Volume I – Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942. Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Pages 52–53.
  2. Australian War memorial record
  3. Jenkins (1992). Pages 286–287.
  4. A Very Rude Awakening Pg60
  5. Battle Surface: Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942-44 by David Jenkins (pages 254, 256, 257)
  6. National Nine News WWII steamer to get heritage listing Archived 2006-08-06 at the Wayback Machine. 5 August 2006.
  7. Battle Surface: Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942-44 by David Jenkins (page 268)
  8. Australians at War The sinking of the Wollongbar II
  9. Battle Surface: Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942-44 by David Jenkins (page 287)
  10. Hackett, Bob; Sander Kingsepp (2003). "HIJMS Submarine I-502: Tabular Record of Movement". Imperial Submarines. www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  11. Gill, G Herman (1968). "19: Submarine's Swansong" (PDF). Official Histories – Second World War: Volume II – Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 (pdf). Australian War Memorial. pp. 552–3. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  12. Battle Surface: Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942-44 by David Jenkins (page 287)
  • Battle Surface: Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942-44 by David Jenkins (1992, Random House, NSW Australia) ISBN 0-09-182638-1
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