RN ship losses

9 Mar 1942 // HM Whaler Shera, one of a number of small craft being delivered to the Russians, capsized and sank in the Barents Sea north-east of Murmansk, probably because of ice accumulation on the heavily laden vessel. Three men survived from her crew of 23. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

9 Mar 1941 // HM Trawler Gullfoss, a minesweeper based at Dover, was conducting sweeping operations off Dungeness when a mine, possibly caught in her sweeps, exploded. She sank almost immediately. 8 of her crew were lost (some sources say 10 men were lost). #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

9 Mar 1916 // Armed boarding steamer HMS Fauvette struck two German submarine-laid mines in quick succession off North Foreland, Kent, while approaching the Thames Estuary. She sank within four minutes with the loss of 14 crew. #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

Fired on from all sides, HMS Crafty was soon heavily damaged and unable to manoeuvre. One boarding attempt was driven off but a second succeeded, and the numerous Spanish boarders quickly prevailed. The schooner was forced to surrender with 3 dead and 14 wounded. [2/2] #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

9 Mar 1807 // 12-gun schooner HMS Crafty, carrying dispatches from Gibraltar to England, outran her escort and was anchored alone in a bay near Tetuan when three Spanish feluccas, the Gibraltar, the Hurón, and the Pastora, each of 4 guns, surrounded her and attacked. A brisk battle ensued. [1/2]

Yes, it's been argued that the rest of the British fleet had effectively abandoned the Berwick, already damaged in particularly unfortunate circumstances in a gale, to her fate.

Yes, it seems expensive and hard to find unfortunately!

8 Mar 1942 // HM Trawler Notts County was patrolling south-east of Iceland with another trawler when she was torpedoed by U.701. She broke in two and quickly went under, her depth charges exploding as she sank. Just one man survived from her crew of 42. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

8 Mar 1942 // HM Trawler Northern Princess vanished with all 38 crew north-east of Cape Breton Island while sailing from Newfoundland to New York. It was thought she had sunk in bad weather, but it is likely she was the vessel U.587 reported torpedoing in that area. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

8 Mar 1916 // HM Drifter Enterprise II, a Lowestoft boat used as a net barrier tender at Otranto, sank after striking a submarine-laid mine off Brindisi. Eight of her ten crew were lost. The mine had been laid by German submarine UC.12. #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

8 Mar 1915 // HM Trawler Okino, a Grimsby boat employed as a minesweeper in the Dardanelles and Aegean, struck a mine while clearing a field off Smyrna and sank with the loss of ten men from her crew of fifteen. #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

8 Mar 1805 // Ship-sloop HMS Fly was escorting a convoy of merchant ships from Honduras across the Gulf of Mexico and then on to England when she ran aground on Carysfort Reef, Florida, due to an error in her charts. No lives were lost, but the Fly was a total loss. #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

8 Mar 1795 // 3rd-rate HMS Berwick, on her way to join the British fleet off Livorno, encountered three French frigates north of Corsica. After a 90-minute action, with rigging and masts shot into ruin and her captain killed (her only fatality), Berwick surrendered. #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

2nd Engineer Victoria Drummond MBE, Merchant Navy. Photographed 9 March 1942 on HMS Chrysanthemum. Imperial War Museum: A 7842A.

Yes, thank you for the reminder! A wonderful woman with an inspirational career. Great photograph of her from the Imperial War Museum (A 7842A):

Seafaring Women Through History Traditionally, a woman’s place was never on stormy seas. But actually thousands of dancers, purserettes, doctors, stewardesses, captains and conductresses have taken to the waves on everything from fl...

Thank you - reminds me that a re-reading of Stark's book is long overdue for me. Looking forward to having a look at this soon: thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/...

'Inches' Yvonne Trewin, of Paignton, the smallest member of the crew makes a big leap ashore to make fast as the boat comes alongside (original caption). Official Admiralty photograph taken by Harold William John Tomlin, Plymouth, November 1944. Imperial War Museum image: A 26510. Description: a young woman in Naval uniform photographed mid-leap as she jumps from her boat to the shore. In the background can be seen other vessels including warships.

My favourite from this series: a Wren in flight. The leaping Wren is Yvonne Trewin from Paignton, nicknamed 'Inches' because she was the smallest member of her boat's crew (Imperial War Museum A 26510).

This image is one of a series of Admiralty photographs of 'WRNS at Work' taken in Plymouth in November 1944 by Harold Tomlin. The series can be found here (this search should bring them all up, but with the IWM you never can be sure): www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Original caption for this photograph: 'June Saunders, Women's Royal Naval Service, stands on the fo'c'sle of her boat preparing to make fast.' Official Admiralty photograph by Harold William John Tomlin, Plymouth, November 1944 (Imperial War Museum A 26516).

June Saunders, Women's Royal Naval Service, stands on the fo'c'sle of her boat preparing to make fast. Official Admiralty photograph by Harold William John Tomlin, Plymouth, November 1944. Imperial War Museum: A 26516.

Women have always gone to sea and faced the sea's dangers. Women were in many of the naval losses chronicled here, and are numbered among the casualties. Remembering them, and all the women afloat and ashore whose lives are caught up with the sea, on this #InternationalWomensDay #NavalHistory

I know, I've been there (a beautiful place). She was mined off Bardsey but was probably beached, if she was beached, not on the island but on the mainland coast nearby. But she may simply have sunk, sources differ. I hope someone with access to more information can shed light on her final fate.

The Cricket-class TBDs, of which TB.11 was one, were sometimes classed as 'coastal destroyers' and had a complement of 39. HMS Coquette had a complement of 65. The death toll for both in this incident was tragically high.

Yes, a French 28-gun frigate captured in 1783 was the first HMS Coquette.

7 Mar 1942 // Tug HMS St Sampson was damaged while towing burnt-out troopship Georgic in the Red Sea, and sank as a result, all members of her crew being rescued by hospital ship Dorsetshire. The Georgic was salvaged, reconstructed, and returned to service. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

7 Mar 1918 // Oiler RFA Vitol, sailing from Liverpool to Queenstown, hit a mine laid by U-boat U.110 in the Irish Sea off Bardsey Island. Some reports say she sank, others that she was beached as a constructive loss. Four of her crew died. #RoyalFleetAuxiliary #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

7 Mar 1917 // HM Trawler Vivanti, a Grimsby boat in use as a minesweeper, failed to make a rendezvous off Eastbourne, having last been seen the previous evening. Debris and a boat from the Vivanti were washed up near Hastings and she was presumed lost to a mine with all 13 crew. #RoyalNavy #WW1

7 Mar 1916 // HM Submarine E5 was lost with all 31 crew off Schiermonnikoog in the Dutch Frisian Islands, possibly mined, but cause of loss unconfirmed. Her wreck, found in 2016, showed no signs of enemy action and had hatches open. (Imperial War Museum image Q 74842) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

7 Mar 1916 // Destroyer HMS Coquette struck a mine laid by German submarine UC.10 in the North Sea off Clacton, and sank with the loss of 22 men. Torpedo boat TB.11, which had closed to assist, struck another of UC.10's mines and also sank, with 24 men killed. #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

7 Mar 1815 // While making for Berbice, Guiana, brig-sloop HMS Cygnet ran aground on a sandbank off the mouth of the Courantyne River. After being lightened she floated free, but grounded again and began to flood. She was then run ashore and abandoned. #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

The English ship London depicted by Willem van der Velde the elder c1656. Image courtesy Royal Museums Greenwich: National Maritime Museum collection ref PAG6182. Description: a drawing in line and wash of the hull of a large 3-deck sailing ship, seen from the port side with her bows to the left. A large flag is flying from the stern.

7 Mar 1665 (O.S.) // 76-gun HMS London, at anchor in the Thames Estuary, was wrecked by an explosion. Over 300 died: 23 men and 1 woman survived when they were blown clear. The wreck, of great archaeological importance, was found in 2005. (National Maritime Museum image) #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

Incredible story of survival by the merest chance!