Name the greatest ship disaster in history

[crossleydd42]

One tragedy, rarely mentioned, is that of RMS Lancastria, a Cunard liner sunk on 17 June 1940, whilst taking to England British troops & civilians who'd been stranded in France after Dunkirk. Bombed by Junkers 87's at 15..50hrs, it went down in 20 minutes. It is said that there were as many as 9,000 on board by the time the Lancastria was bombed, others estimate 7,000. What is known is that some 6,000 were on board by 13.00 hrs, and that many more arrived after that. Only 2,447 arrived home.

[jndp43]

@crossleydd42  Thanks for the information you provided. I wouldn't have known about it if you hadn't posted about it. I'll be doing some investigation into the RMS Lancastria. You're spot on when you say it's barely mentioned.

[reduolf]

This may be the largest loss of life at sea - but I still think that the Titanic is the most famous and tragic sea disaster ever!!

[McLarenMercedes]

@reduolf

Mostly because the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and most of the passengers died because there were not enough life boats to save even half.

In 1987 the Dona Paz sank in the Philippines, killing 4375 passengers. This is the biggest marimite disaster in peacetime. The M/V Joola sank outside Senegal in 2002, killing around 1800 people, more than the Titanic. How many have heard of that one?

If tragedy is measured by human lives Titanic is NOT the most tragic sea disaster.

[reduolf]

@McLarenMercedes fair enough it's still very tragic and by far the most famous

[wesmovies]

and i thought titanic was bad =0

[Spideyfan276653]

The ships that blew up during Halifax explosion Is bigger! Second biggest explosion in history next to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

[ChrisIIIcube]

@Spideyfan276653 This disaster... was the largest loss of life at sea.

[24chancer]

wat show?

[bluensunshine]

The Nazis invaded Russia amongst most of the countries in Europe ~ so what is all this disaster stuff ~ just apologists for Nazism.

[ChrisIIIcube]

@bluensunshine

There were no soldiers on this ship.

[sergeontheloose]

@ChrisIIIcube

Nobody told Marinesko in advance about that. It was foggy night, the ship carried the the Kriegsmarine flag, there we weapons onboard, and some Kriegsmarine sailors too.

The ship had no markings that it is a civilian ship and actually it had an armed escort of "Lion" destroyer.

So that was a legitimate military target, disaster my ass.

[McLarenMercedes]

@ChrisIIIcube

Neither were the civilians that got executed by their tens of thousands by the nazis in the occupied part of the USSR.

It was an unholy war, and with the nazi brutality and ruthlessness it's hardly surprising those that fought against them replied with the same coin.

How many soldiers were there in Dresden when it was firebombed by the Royal Air Force, bomber command??

Not defending killing civilians, merely that the nazis started it and the others followed suit.

[Radagis2]

No question it was a war crime the ship was full with over 10000 refugees, it was no battleship, no troop carrier on the way to the battlefields.

Such thinks still exist, every nation has made war crimes nobody has a white west, but the losers were hanged and the winer gets medal. Look at Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afganistan, Libanon, Jugoslavia and so on.

[sergeontheloose]

@Radagis2

It is not a war crime. It was transporting kriegsmarine sailors together with civilians.

The germans were at fault to mix civilians with sailors.

It had an armed escort and wasn't properly distinguished as a civilian ship.

So killing it was big success for soviet submarine fleet.

On the other hand, nobody is talking about how many purely civilian ships the germans have sunk.

[Radagis2]

@sergeontheloose Thats wrong it was a war crime and ih germans did such things, they were hanged up.

[sergeontheloose]

@Radagis2

The germans did far worst things than that, and nobody is discussing it, like burning 627 belorussian villages together with their inhabitants alive.

Or in Babiy Yar, in Kiev machine-gunning 100000 jews, pows, women and children in several days.

If it is not on youtube it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Allow me not to shed a tear on the fate of german population - they brought it on themselves by electing homicidal maniac Hitler to power in Germany and supported his actions.

[Radagis2]

@sergeontheloose Thats propaganda 627 with their inhabitans dream on, dont watch to much j-wood movies. go to tho the archievs at russia their you can read the truth. I could they the same about stalin why fought over one million real russian with the germans, ukrain, baltic and so on, stalin let killed a lot of the own people, of course there were worse crimse by the germans to, but they were hanged and so on for those, but yout war crrimers became heros.

[sergeontheloose]

@Radagis2

What are you fucking crazy? That's not propaganda, that's the truth, that's how SS einzats gruops battled with belorussian partisans, by killing everybody in the vicinity of the forests.

What the fuck are you talking about?

Gustloff was a military target and therefore a successful kill - it is not the biggest disaster, Titanik is.

[ChrisIIIcube]

@sergeontheloose This was the largest ever 'loss of life' at sea. That's a fact.

[gosuc]

Imagen a german submarine had sunk an allied ship with the same amount of civilian victims.

Spielberg would have thrown his Titanic-Picture in the garbage-dump, just to create another much more emotional picture.

Apart from that, the U-Boat crew would have been hanged by the "liberators"...

No one has illusions of war, but this warcrime is second to none in maritime warfare ....

[Elberiver11]

The GUSTLOFF, biggest Ship desaster of all times in all of human history, was not just "forgotten" like the Narrator tries to make believe.

This Allied warcrime atrocity, massmurder of German children & mothers refugees, was intentionally covered up by Anglo-American historians and media.

The story of WW II has not been written by Germans, but by Anglo-Americans. The winner writes history, but remember that "war winner" and "truth teller" are two different things.

[thomasgustavsson]

It was war and always the civilians are suffering especially on the looser side. May all the victoms rest in peace.

[Kissinpoika]

I am sorry for the loss of so many lives. I think the German people should finally, after all these years, shake off guilt. Stalin and the other communists had promised to bolschevise (colonize?) Europe. Was there anyone but Germany with allies to stop him? I am a Finn, and my country paid dearly, too.

[ChrisIIIcube]

Finland was fighting with the USSR even before WWII (i think).

I remember seeing pictures of frozen soldiers/battlefields... Finland paid dearly indeed.

[Tiberiotertio]

And what does that have to do with the drowned civilians on the Wilhelm Gustloff? What next? In China a sack of rice fell over?

Love those comments that are totally out of context with the video.

[Radagis2]

@Kissinpoika

Thats right dude your country and Hungary,Romania Slovakian and volunteers from other coutries fought side on side with their german comrades against the evil Bolshevism.