List of maritime disasters in the 19th century

The Sultana, worst maritime disaster of the 19th century

A maritime disaster is an event which usually involves a ship or ships and can involve military action. Because of the nature of maritime travel, there is often a substantial loss of life. This list covers those disasters where 30 or more lives were lost.

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Peacetime disasters

Many maritime disasters happen outside the realms of war. All ships, including those of the military, are vulnerable to problems from weather conditions, faulty design or human error. Some of the disasters below occurred in periods of conflict, although their losses were unrelated to any military action. The table listings are in descending order of the magnitude of casualties suffered.

Year	Country	Description	Deaths	Image
1865	United States	Sultana – On 26 April 1865 this Mississippi riverboat, steaming north with an excessive number of passengers on board, suffered a series of boiler explosions. An estimated 1,800 of her 2,427 passengers died in the ensuing fire or of drowning in the freezing river.	1,800+
1822	China	Tek Sing – The Chinese ship, called a junk, was bound for Batavia, Dutch East Indies. On 6 February 1822 she tried a shortcut through the Gaspar Strait between Belitung and Bangka Islands and grounded on a reef. The junk sank in about 30 metres (100 ft) of water, killing about 1,600 people.[1]	1,600
1807	United Kingdom	HMS Blenheim and HMS Java – While sailing in convoy to India both ships were lost without trace in a gale and are presumed to have foundered somewhere off Rodrigues. Blenheim was reported to be in poor shape and it is speculated that Java may have sunk while trying to rescue Blenheim's crew in the storm. About 280 men were lost from Java and 590 from Blenheim.	870
1857	Russia	Lefort – On 22 September 22, 1857 Lefort was in the Gulf of Finland en route from Reval to Kronstadt along with the ships Imperatritsa Aleksandra, Vladimir and Pamiat Asova. The ship had aboard 756 crew and officers along with 53 women, and 17 children who were families of the crew. The squadron was caught in a sudden squall and Lefort heeled over once, righted herself, then heeled over again and sank between the islands of Gogland and Bolshoy Tyuters with the loss of all 826 people aboard.	826
1888	British India	SS Vaitarna – On 8 November 1888, the ship went missing in the cyclonic storm off the coast of Saurashtra region of Gujarat[2]	746
1811	United Kingdom	HMS St George – The second-rate was wrecked near Ringkøbing on the west coast of Jutland on 24 December 1811. She narrowly escaped wrecking on a shoal (Rødsand) south of Zeeland on 15 December, while returning from the Baltic Sea. Under jury masts and a temporary rudder she had got a considerable distance out of the Sleeve when a gale came up. This, combined with a heavy sea, resulted in St George being wrecked at Nazen, about three miles from Ringkøbing, together with the HMS Defence. Seven of her 738 crew were saved. Among the dead were Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds and Captain Daniel Oliver Guion.	731
1878	United Kingdom	SS Princess Alice – On 3 September 1878 the pleasure steamer was making what was billed as a "Moonlight Trip" to Gravesend and back. Bywell Castle collided with her off Tripcock Point. Princess Alice broke in two and sank within four minutes with an estimated 600 deaths.	600
1811	United Kingdom	HMS Defence – on 24 December 1811 the third-rate ran aground off the west coast of Jutland, Denmark. She was under the command of Captain D. Atkins and in the company of HMS St George, under Rear-admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, and HMS Cressy, when a hurricane and heavy seas came up. St George was jury-rigged and so Atkins refused to leave her without the Admiral's permission. As a result, both were wrecked near Ringkøbing. Cressy did not ask for permission and so avoided wrecking. Defence lost all but 14 of her crew of 597 men and boys, including her captain. St George too lost almost her entire crew, including the admiral.	583
1810	United Kingdom	HMS Minotaur – the third-rate was wrecked off Texel in the Netherlands with heavy loss of life in December 1810.	570
1898	France	La Bourgogne – The passenger ship sank on 4 July 1898 after a collision in dense fog with the British ship Cromartyshire off Sable Island, Nova Scotia. La Bourgogne was carrying 730 passengers and crew, of whom 565 were lost.[3]	565
1891	United Kingdom	Utopia – Collided with HMS Anson while trying to enter the Bay of Gibraltar on 17 March 1891. She sank in minutes, killing 562 passengers and crew. Two rescuers from HMS Immortalité also drowned; 318 survivors were rescued.	564
1873	United Kingdom	RMS Atlantic – On the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she ran onto rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, killing 535 people.	535
1890	Ottoman Empire	Ertuğrul – Sank on 18 September 1890 after striking a reef in a typhoon off Kushimoto, Japan. 533 sailors died, including Admiral Ali Osman Pasha.	533
1804	United Kingdom	HMS York – the third-rate left Woolwich under Captain Henry Mitford on the 26 December 1803 for a routine patrol in the North Sea but in January 1804 she struck Bell Rock in the North Sea off Arbroath and sank, killing all 491 men and boys aboard. Captain Mitford was the second son of the historian William Mitford.	491
1854	United Kingdom	City of Glasgow – a British single-screw passenger steamship that disappeared en route from Liverpool to Philadelphia in January 1854 with 480 passengers and crew aboard.	480
1870	United Kingdom	HMS Captain – On 7 September 1870, the turret ship capsized and sank in high winds on the Atlantic Ocean. An estimated 480 sailors died and 18 survived.	480
1858	Germany	Austria – On 1 September 1858 the ship caught fire while traveling from Hamburg to New York. The passing barque Maurice rescued most of the survivors and Catarina picked up more the next morning. As the blackened hulk was left to sink all but 65 of 538 passengers were lost.	473
1874	United Kingdom	Cospatrick – The ship caught fire south of the Cape of Good Hope on 17 November 1874 while on a voyage from Gravesend, England, to Auckland, New Zealand. Three of 472 people aboard survived.	469
1859	United Kingdom	Royal Charter – a steam clipper which was wrecked off the beach of Porth Alerth in Dulas Bay on the north-east coast of Anglesey on 26 October 1859 in a storm. The precise number of dead is uncertain as the complete passenger list was lost in the wreck although an incomplete list (not including those who boarded just before departure) is retained in the Victorian Archives Centre in, Victoria, Australia.	459
1857	United Kingdom	Rival – Carrying volunteers from Glasgow to the Miguelist war, sank off Connemara on 4 December 1832, with the loss of all on board.[4]	432
1857	United States	Central America – Sank off the Carolinas on a hurricane on 9 September 1857. An estimated 425 out of 578 aboard died.	425
1895	Spain	Reina Regente – the cruiser sank in a storm on 9 March 1895, with the loss of all 420 crew.	420
1845	United Kingdom	Cataraqui – An emigrant ship bound for Australia, she struck a reef south-west of King Island, Tasmania, on 4 August 1845. The sinking is Australia's highest civil maritime civil loss of life, killing 400 people.	400
1860	United States	Lady Elgin – Sank after a collision with the schooner Augusta of Oswego on Lake Michigan on 8 September 1860 killing about 400 people.	400
1801	United Kingdom	HMS Invincible – On 16 March 1801, the third-rate was damaged in a storm and driven onto a sandbar off the coast of Norfolk. The following day Invincible drifted off the sandbar and sank in deep water. Over 400 crew were lost; 196 saved.	400
1854	United Kingdom	RMS Tayleur – On 21 January 1854 the Charles Moore & Company clipper ship ran aground and sank on her maiden voyage off Lambay Island, Dublin Bay. Of 652 people aboard 380 were lost. Known as the "first Titanic": a White Star Liner, technically advanced for her time, carrying emigrants and lost on her maiden voyage.	380
1859	United States	Pomona – On 24 April 1859 the emigrant ship Pomona (1181 tons) was wrecked on a sandbank off Ballyconigar. She was carrying, mainly Irish, emigrants from Liverpool to New York. Three hundred and eighty nine people lost their lives. The loss of life on the Pomona was the sixth worst in Irish waters surpassed by the Lusitania, Leinster, Norge, Tayleur and Rival[5]	389
1810	British East India Company	Elizabeth – On 28 December 1810 she was wrecked in a storm on the outer banks of the Dunkirk brake. At least 380 persons were aboard on leaving Cork, Ireland, and it is thought that the number may have been as high as 400, including at least eight women, all of whom were lost. Among the survivors were six Britons and 15 lascars including two of the ship's crew.	380–400
1878	United Kingdom	HMS Eurydice – On 24 March 1878,[6] the training ship Eurydice was caught in a heavy snow storm off the Isle of Wight, capsized, and sank. Two of the ship's 378 crew and trainees survived; most of those who were not carried down with the ship died of exposure in the freezing waters.	376
1815	British East India Company	Arniston – On 30 May 1815, the East India Company ship was wrecked in a storm on the South African coast after a navigational error; 372 people were lost; 6 survived.	372
1816	United Kingdom	Sea Horse - wrecked in Tramore Bay during storm 30 January 1816. She had been chartered to carry members of the 2nd Battalion of the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment from Ramsgate to Cork. The two other ships carrying the rest of the battalion and members of another regiment were also wrecked nearby, killing a further 12 and 190 people respectively.	364
1893	United Kingdom	HMS Victoria – Accidentally rammed by HMS Camperdown and sunk on 22 June 1893 in annual summer fleet exercises off Tripoli in Syria (now part of Lebanon) when Vice Admiral George Tryon ordered two parallel lines of ships to turn toward each other. Of Victoria's 715 crew, 357 were rescued and 358 lost, including Tryon. Known as Admiral Tryon's blunder.	358
1875	Germany	Schiller – On 7 May 1875, the ship sank after hitting the Retarrier Ledges in the Isles of Scilly. Most of her crew and passengers were lost, totalling 335 fatalities.	355
1854	United States	Arctic – a paddle steamer that sank 27 September 1854 off Cape Race, Newfoundland after colliding with the French iron screw steamship Vesta in fog. Of the 534 passengers and crew aboard, 350 were lost, including all 109 women and children.	350
1853	United Kingdom	Annie Jane – was a passenger ship carrying immigrants that was damaged and sunk in a gale off the coast of Vatersay on 28 September 1853. Of the 450 aboard 348 were lost.[7]	348
1806	United Kingdom	HMS Athenienne – On the evening of 20 October 1806, she struck a submerged reef on the Esquirques, in the Strait of Sicily and sank. In all, 347 people died, 141 men and two women were rescued.	347
1895	Germany	Elbe – Sank on 30 January 1895 after a collision with the steamship Crathie in the North Sea. One lifeboat with 20 people in it was recovered out of 354 on the ship.	334
1856	Chile	Cazador – On 30 January 1856 the ship sailed from Talcahuano, Chile bound for Valparaíso carrying the 2nd Company of the Battalion Maipo and their families. The ship ran aground off Point Carranza south of Constitución, Chile: 307–400 people were lost and 23 rescued.	307–400
1887	United Kingdom	Kapunda – On 20 January 1887 the British emigrant ship sank after colliding with the barque Ada Melmoure off the coast of Brazil. Of the 314 aboard 299 were lost.	299
1873	United Kingdom	Northfleet – On the night of 22 January 1873 she was at anchor about 2–3 nautical miles (3.7–5.6 km; 2.3–3.5 mi) off Dungeness. Around 22:30 hrs she was run down by the steamship Murillo that backed off and disappeared into the darkness. In the ensuing panic a total of 293 people were lost.	293
1854	United States	New Era – On 13 November 1854, the ship sank after grounding in a storm at Deal Beach in New Jersey. Of 427 people aboard, an estimated 284 were lost.[8]	284
1866	United States	Evening Star – On 6 October 1866 she sank after sailing into a hurricane 180 miles east of Tybee Island, GA. Of about 300 aboard, 283 were lost. The ship carried lifeboats for 60 people and too few life vests for all aboard. One group of survivors were picked up by a passing vessel and taken to the port of Savannah, GA, while a second group drifted for days and came ashore on the north end of Amelia Island, FL.	283
1880	United Kingdom	HMS Juno – was a training ship when in 1880 she disappeared with her entire crew after setting sail from Bermuda for Falmouth, England on 31 January 1880. It was presumed that she sank in a powerful storm which crossed her route a couple of weeks after she sailed between 12 and 16 February 1880.	281
1898	United States	USS Maine – On 15 February 1898, while at anchor in Havana harbor, Cuba, an explosion of undetermined origin in the ship's magazine damaged and sank the ship. Of the 374 officers and men aboard, 266 died immediately, another eight died later from their injuries. The ship's sinking precipitated the Spanish–American War.	274
1875	United States	Pacific – On 4 November 1875 the ship sank as a result of colliding with the steamship Orpheus southwest of Cape Flattery, Washington. Two of the 275 aboard survived.	273
1878	Germany	SMS Grosser Kurfürst – The ironclad sank on her maiden voyage in a collision with the ironclad SMS König Wilhelm. The two ships, along with SMS Preussen were steaming in the English Channel on 31 May 1878 when they encountered a group of fishing boats and, in turning to avoid them, Grosser Kurfürst inadvertently crossed too closely to König Wilhelm. The latter rammed Grosser Kurfürst which sank in the span of about eight minutes taking between 269 and 276 of her crew with her.	269–276
1805	British East India Company	Earl of Abergavenny – On 5 February 1805 the East Indiaman Earl of Abergavenny sank shortly after striking Shambles Bank near Portland Bill. Of the 402 people aboard 263 were lost, including her captain John Wordsworth Jr, brother of the poet William Wordsworth.	263
1847	British East India Company	Cleopatra, with a crew of 151 carrying 100 convicts plus guard from Mumbai to Singapore sank during a tropical cyclone of the Malabar Coast on 14 April 1847.[9]	251+
1854	United States	Powhattan – On 16 April 1854, the ship sank off the coast of New Jersey in a severe storm, with no survivors. The loss of life was estimated by various sources to be between 250 and 311 people.[10]	250–311
1858	United States	Pennsylvania – On 13 June 1858, the steamboat was on the Mississippi River near Ship Island, below Memphis, Tennessee when her boiler exploded. Her passenger manifest was estimated at 450 and the initial loss of life at 250. The first vessel on site was Imperial, which picked up several passengers and took them to New Orleans. Diana took many others to Memphis. Several were seriously injured and the death toll increased. They included Mark Twain's younger brother Henry Clemens, whose skin and lungs were so badly scalded that he died of his wounds on 21 June. Eyewitnesses testified that the engineer was not at his post in the engine room just prior to the explosion, instead being in the company of some women.	250
1850	United Kingdom	RMS Royal Adelaide – a paddle steamer that ran between London and Cork. On 30 March 1850 the ship was lost on the Tongue Sands north of Margate with the loss of all aboard.	250
1847	United Kingdom	HMS Avenger – the frigate sailed from Gibraltar on 17 December 1847 bound for Malta. On 20 December she ran onto the Sorelle Rocks near Malta. Eight of her 250 crew survived.	242
1850	United States	G. P. Griffith - On 17 June the paddle steamer G.P. Griffith caught fire and the ship's course altered towards the shore.[11] The Griffith's speed fanned the flames consuming the aft of the ship and forcing the passengers forward. The crew abandoned their posts causing the Griffith's engines to run out of steam and the paddle wheels to slow and stop. However, the ship's momentum carried it forward until it hit a sandbar in water eight feet deep less than half a mile from the beach. Flames quickly consumed the ship, burning to death anyone left aboard. Many passengers jumped into the water, where most drowned or were pulled under by other panicked passengers who could not swim.	241-289
1863	United Kingdom	Anglo Saxon – On 27 April 1863 the steamship ran aground north of Cape Race, killing 237 people.	237
1873	France	Ville du Havre – The liner Ville du Havre collided with Loch Earn in the mid-Atlantic on 22 November 1873. Of 313 passengers and crew, 61 passengers and 26 crew survived. Loch Earn was also abandoned, with all 85 of her passengers and crew being rescued.	226
1865	United States	Brother Jonathan – was a paddle steamer that struck an uncharted rock near Point St George, off Crescent City, California, on 30 July 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold. 19 survived the wreck, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the US Pacific Coast.	225
1835	United Kingdom	Neva – She was a convict ship that left Cork, Ireland, bound for Sydney, Australia. On 13 May 1835 she was wrecked on a reef near King Island, Tasmania. 224 people, mainly women and children, were lost.	224
1866	United Kingdom	London – On 10 January 1866, while travelling from Gravesend in England to Melbourne, Australia, a storm caught and sank the ship in the Bay of Biscay. Of the 239 aboard, 19 were rescued.	220
1898	United States	Portland – On 26 November 1898, the steamship left India Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, for Portland, Maine, on a regularly scheduled run. She never reached her destination. None of the 192 passengers and crew survived the massive storm that also wreaked havoc on New England's coast – a storm that was later dubbed "The Portland Gale" after the tragic loss of the ship.	192
1870	United Kingdom	City of Boston – a British iron-hulled single-screw passenger steamship of the Inman Line which disappeared in the North Atlantic en route from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool in January 1870. A fierce gale and snowstorm took place two days after her departure which may have contributed to her loss. Collision with an iceberg was another explanation suggested at the time.	191
1816	United Kingdom	Boadicea - wrecked in Courtmacsharry Bay during storm 30 January 1816. The ship had been travelling in company with the Sea Horse and Lord Melville which were also both wrecked with heavy loss of life.	190
1847	United States	Phoenix On 21 November 1847, the screw steamer Phoenix burned on Lake Michigan with the loss of at least 190 but perhaps as many as 250 lives.	190-250
1842	United Kingdom	Waterloo – On 28 August 1842 the British convict ship Waterloo was driven ashore, along with several other vessels, when a north-westerly gale struck Table Bay. The ship heeled over on her side and broke apart on the beach, killing 189 of the 302 aboard.	189
1863	United Kingdom	HMS Orpheus – On 7 February 1863 Orpheus sank off the west coast of Auckland, New Zealand after grounding on a sand bar. Of the 259 aboard 189 were lost making it the highest maritime loss of life in New Zealand waters.	189
1826	France	Nathalie – sank in ice off Newfoundland, British North America in May 1826, killing 189 of the 250 people aboard. She was en route from Granville, Manche to Newfoundland.[12]	189
1856	United States	Pacific – a wooden-hulled sidewheel paddle steamer that disappeared with all hands sometime after she left Liverpool on 23 January 1856. Contemporaries concluded she had probably hit an iceberg off Newfoundland, as the ice had been particularly extensive that year.	186
1881	Canada	Victoria – A double-decked sternwheeler capsized and sank in the Thames River, Ontario on 24 May 1881, 182 people drowned.	182
1848	United States	Ocean Monarch – Shortly after leaving Liverpool on 24 August 1848 the barque caught fire and eventually sank outside the harbor. Of 398 people aboard, 178 were lost.	178
1893	Russia	Russalka – On 7 September 1893 the ironclad monitor Russalka sank in the Gulf of Finland in a storm while steaming from Reval to Helsingfors. All 177 of her crew were lost.	177
1814	United States	USS Wasp - The sloop of war USS Wasp disappeared in October 1814 while headeing for the Caribbean.	173
1833	United Kingdom	Lady of the Lake – was an Aberdeen-built brig that sank off the coast of Newfoundland after striking ice on 11 May 1833 with the loss of up to 265 passengers and crew.	170–265
1853	United Kingdom	Madagascar – The full rigged ship disappeared without a trace in 1853 after sailing from Melbourne for London, with the loss of about 110 passengers and about 50 crew.	160
1852	United States	Atlantic – the Collins Line steamship sank after being in collision with the steamship Ogdensburg on Lake Erie off Long Point on 20 August 1852. Of more than 500 people aboard, an estimated 150–200 people were lost.[13][14]	150-200
1858	United Kingdom	HMS Sappho - It is believed that the HMS Sappho foundered with all hands during February 1858 off the southeast coast of Australia.	147
1854	United Kingdom	HMS Prince – The stores ship was destroyed on 14 November 1854 at a deep water anchorage off Balaklava by a hurricane-force storm which tore her from her anchorage and dashed her onto rocks. She broke up completely within ten minutes; six of her 150 crew were saved.	144
1881	United Kingdom	HMS Doterel – The sloop sank at anchor off Punta Arenas after an explosion on 26 April 1881 killing 143 members of a crew of 155, while on her way to join the Pacific Station.	143
1894	New Zealand	Wairarapa (New Zealand) – On 29 October 1894 the steamship, en route from Sydney to Auckland, ran into Great Barrier Island. She was traveling at nearly full speed through heavy fog. About 140 out of 230 people aboard were lost.	140
1840	United States	Lexington – On 13 January 1840 the paddlewheel steamboat Lexington was en route from Manhattan to Stonington, when a casing around her smokestack caught fire and ignited nearly 150 bales of cotton cargo nearby. The fire could not be extinguished and the ship was abandoned. Her overcrowded lifeboats sank almost immediately after launch, leaving almost all her passengers and crew in freezing water. Of the estimated 143 people aboard, four survived by clinging to floating bales of cotton.	139
1841	United Kingdom	President – On 11 March 1841 the British passenger liner, with 136 passengers and crew and an extensive cargo manifest, encountered a gale. She was seen on her second day out laboring in heavy seas in a dangerous area between Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank and was not seen again.	136
1890	United Kingdom	RMS Quetta – was a British-India Steam Navigation Company ship on a regular route between Great Britain, India and the Far East. She was wrecked on the Far North Queensland coast on 28 February 1890. Of 292 people aboard, 134 were lost.	134
1833	United Kingdom	Amphitrite – The ship sailed from Woolwich, England on 25 August 1833 with 108 women convicts and 12 children. While off Boulogne, France she encountered a gale and was blown ashore on 31 August. The captain refused offers of aid from the shore as prisoners were aboard. The ship then broke up, killing 133 people; three survivors were rescued.	133
1881	New Zealand	Tararua – The passenger steamship struck the reef off Waipapa Point in The Catlins on 29 April 1881 in New Zealand's highest civilian shipping loss of life. Of 151 passengers and crew aboard, 20 survived.	131
1892	United Kingdom	Bokhara – A steamship that sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, off the coast of Formosa, killing 125 people.	125
1870	United States	USS Oneida – The sloop-of-war sank on 24 January 1870 off Yokohama, Japan after the British steamship City of Bombay collided with her and sailed off without giving assistance. Japanese fishing boats saved 61 sailors but 125 men died.	125
1883	United Kingdom	Daphne – capsized and sank moments after her naming and launching at a shipyard in Govan Glasgow, Scotland, on 3 July 1883. When launched, she had a work crew aboard to continue fitting out the ship. Although 70 people were saved, an estimated 124–195 died, which included many young boys.	124–195
1867	United Kingdom	RMS Rhone – On 29 October 1867 the passenger liner was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands in a hurricane killing about 123 people.	123
1857	United Kingdom	Dunbar – She was wrecked near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia, in 1857 killing 121 people.	121
1861	Prussia	SMS Amazone – On 14 November 1861, off the coast of the Netherlands, the Prussian training vessel sank in a storm, killing 107 of 145 aboard.	107
1898	United Kingdom	Mohegan – The steamship sank off Cornwall after hitting a reef on 14 October 1898, killing 106 people; 40 were rescued by shore-based lifeboat.	106
1899	United Kingdom	Stella – the British passenger ferry was wrecked on a submerged reef on 30 March 1899, 105 of the 190 passengers and crew aboard were lost.	105
1884	United States	City of Columbus – the passenger steamship ran aground off Massachusetts in January 1884. About 100 people froze to death or drowned, 29 were saved by rowboats from the shore and a revenue cutter.	100
1875	United Kingdom	Gothenburg – A steamship that was wrecked on the Barrier Reef off the north Queensland coast in 1875, in a cyclone-strength storm, killing between 98 and 112 persons; 22 survived.	98-112
1850	United Kingdom	Edmond – A chartered passenger sailing vessel that was driven ashore by a storm and broke in two just off the coast of Kilkee, County Clare on 19 November 1850. About 98 people were lost.[15]	98
1877	United States	USS Huron – On 23 November 1877 the ship left for a scientific cruise on the coast of Cuba. She soon encountered heavy weather and was wrecked shortly after 0100 hrs on 24 November near Nags Head, North Carolina. For a time her crew worked in relatively little danger, attempting to free their ship but she soon heeled over, carrying 98 officers and men to their deaths.	98
1847	United States	Stephen Whitney – On 10 November 1847, while sailing in thick fog, Captain C.W. Popham mistook the Crookhaven lighthouse for the one at the Old Head of Kinsale on the south coast of Ireland. About 10 pm the ship struck the western tip of West Calf Island and completely broke up within ten minutes. Of 110 people aboard, 92 were lost.	92
1837	United States	Home – On 7 October 1837 the packet ship struck a sandbar off New Jersey. Unaware of the extent of the damage, her captain continued toward Charleston when she encountered the 1837 Racer's Storm. She started shipping water as she rounded Cape Hatteras and was put aground to ride out the developing storm. Before a rescue could be effected the next day, surf broke her up, killing 90 people.	90
1881	Netherlands	Koning der Nederlanden – Her shaft broke on 4 October 1881 and she sank the next day 400 miles of Chagos Archipelago. Three life boats with c. 90 passengers and crew were never found.	90[16]
1859	South Australia	Admella – On 6 August 1859 the passenger steamship was wrecked on a submerged reef off Carpenter Rocks, southwest of Mount Gambier, South Australia. Survivors clung to the wreck for over a week and many people took days to die within sight of land and saw successive rescue attempts fail. Of 113 people aboard there were 24 survivors, including only one woman, Bridget Ledwith. Of 89 dead, 14 were children.	89
1878	United States	Metropolis – On 31 January 1878, the wooden steamship sank off the North Carolina coast killing 85 people.[17]	85
1865	United Kingdom	Comet – On 13 April 1865 fire broke out aboard the clipper ship Comet in the cargo of wool while heading from Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia for London. The captain and all 80 passengers abandoned ship in 3 boats and were lost. On April 17, just as the Comet was about to sink, the 17 crew members remaining aboard were rescued by the British barque Dauntless.	81
1825	British East India Company	Kent – On 1 March 1825, in the Bay of Biscay, the Honourable East India Company ship caught fire, exploded and sank. Of those aboard 547 were rescued; 81 were lost.	81
1813	United Kingdom	Currach Fishing Tragedy – On 11 February 1813, 200 currachs were fishing off Bruckless Bay, Donegal. The shoal of herring moved out to sea, followed by the fragile boats. A sudden storm capsized most of them. Over 80 fishermen drowned [18]	80
1880	United States	Alpena – The sidewheel paddle steamer capsized and sank on Lake Michigan in the "Big Blow" storm of 15 October 1880. An estimated 80 people were lost.	80
1892	Japan	Chishima – The Japanese cruiser was lost one week after her formal commissioning into the Japanese navy. On 30 November 1892 the British P&O cargo ship Ravenna struck Chishima amidships cutting her into two off Matsuyama, Ehime in poor weather. Her captain and 74 crew were lost but Ravenna suffered only minor damage.	75
1893	United Kingdom	Naronic – The ship was lost at sea after leaving Liverpool on 11 February 1893 bound for New York, with the loss of all 74 people aboard. The ship's fate remains a mystery.	74
1882	Netherlands	HNLMS Adder – Sunk on 5 July 1882	65[19]
1807	United Kingdom	HMS Anson – The third-rate was wrecked off Loe Bar, Cornwall, on 29 December 1807. The previous day she had been driven onto a lee shore by a gale while attempting to return to Falmouth. She had anchored, but the first anchor rope snapped at 4 am. The ships smaller anchor rope broke at 7 am and now with no anchor the Captain attempted to breach the ship but she hit the rocks broadside. The mainmast broke and fell onto the beach and some men managed to get ashore.[20] Estimates of the number of people lost vary from 60[21] to 190.[20]	60-190
1895	United Kingdom	Catterthun – On 7 August 1895, after leaving Sydney bound for Hong Kong the ship ran in to a gale just after midnight near Point Stephens Light. A few hours later, near Seal Rocks, she hit a reef, was badly damaged and sank within 20 minutes. 55 people were lost; one lifeboat with 26 survivors reached shore with the aid of a local sailing boat.	55
1844	United States	Lucy Walker – On 23 October 1844, the sidewheel steamboat Lucy Walker was en route from Louisville, Kentucky to New Orleans when her three boilers exploded, she caught fire and sank mid-stream in the Ohio River about 4 miles (6.4 km) below New Albany, Indiana. Débris and body parts were washed up on both banks of the river. Since passenger and crew lists were lost, estimates range from 50 to 100 people lost, with some 50 survivors. The boat may have been racing another vessel, her captain driving Lucy Walker's engines too hard.	50–100
1820	United States	USS Lynx - The USS Lynx departed St. Mary's, Georgia, on 11 January 1820, bound for Kingston, Jamaica, to continue her service suppressing pirates. She was never seen nor heard from again, and despite the searching of schooner Nonsuch, no trace of her or her 47-man crew was ever found.	47
1876	United Kingdom	HMS Thunderer – On 14 July 1876, shortly after completion, the ironclad turret ship suffered a disastrous boiler explosion which killed 45 people. One of her eight 30 lbf/in2 (210 kPa) box boilers burst as she proceeded from Portsmouth Harbour to Stokes Bay to carry out a full power trial.	45

Wartime disasters

Disasters with high losses of life can occur in times of armed conflict. Shown below are some of the known events with major losses.

Year	Country	Description	Lives lost	Image
1801	Spain	Second Battle of Algeciras – On the moonless night of 12 July 1801, the large Spanish warships Real Carlos and San Hermengildo fired on one another, each mistaking her consort for a British opponent. Fires that broke out aboard both ships subsequently reached their powder magazines and exploded, destroying the ships and killing the majority of their combined complement of over 2,000 sailors.	1,700+
1805	France	Indomptable – Sank in a storm on 22 October 1805 in the Battle of Trafalgar. Of 1,200 aboard, 1,050 were lost.	1,050
1855	France	Sémillante – On 15 February 1855 the French frigate was carrying French troops in the Crimean War when she was caught in a storm in the Strait of Bonifacio near the Lavezzi Islands. Lost in a thick fog, a gust of wind drove her into rocks on Lavezzo, and about midnight she sank. Her complement was 301 and she was carrying 392 troops. No-one survived.	693
1805	France	Achille – at the Battle of Trafalgar the Téméraire-class ship of the line caught fire, exploded and sank, killing 480 of her 638 crew.	480
1805	France	Redoutable – After being captured at the Battle of Trafalgar, Redoutable sank in a storm on 22 October 1805. Of 643 aboard, 474 were lost in the battle and sinking.	474
1852	United Kingdom	HMS Birkenhead – The troopship struck a rock near Cape Town on 26 February 1852 while ferrying troops to the 8th Xhosa War. The ship sank with the loss of 450 men.	450
1807	United Kingdom	The troopships Rochdale and Prince of Wales – Bound for the Napoleonic war were caught by a storm in Dublin Bay and lost on 19 November 1807. More than 400 people were lost.	400
1866	Italy	Re d'Italia – The Italian ironclad frigate was rammed and sunk by the Austro-Hungarian flagship SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max in the Battle of Lissa on 20 July 1866. After being rammed, the ironclad quickly capsized and sank with the loss of 27 officers and 364 men out of a crew of 558. Other sources reported 440 dead and 160 survivors, or 177 survivors.	391
1805	United Kingdom	Aeneas – On 23 October 1805 the British troopship was wrecked after striking a reef on the Newfoundland coast in a storm. Seven of the 347 aboard survived.	340
1894	China	Jingyuan – In the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894 a Japanese squadron led by Admiral Tsuboi Kozo, with the ships Yoshino, Takachiho, Akitsushima and Naniwa, concentrated fire on Jingyuan for more than an hour. Briefly, Jingyuan seemed to be closing on Yoshino in an attempt to ram but at 16:48 she lurched to starboard and burst into flames. Soon after, with a large explosion, Jingyuan rolled over and sank. Of 270 crew, seven survived.	263
1807	United Kingdom	HMS Ajax – In the Dardanelles Operation a fire destroyed the third-rate. It broke out on 14 February 1807 in the bread-room, where the Purser and his assistant had negligently left a light burning, while Ajax was anchored off Tenedos. As the fire burned out of control the officers and crew were forced to take to the water. 250 men were lost; 380 were rescued.	250
1894	China	Zhiyuan – In the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894 Zhiyuan was hit in the bow by a shell fired by either Naniwa or Takachiho at 15:50 hours which caused a great explosion after which she rapidly sank. Of her 252 officers and men, 245 were lost.	245
1866	Italy	Palestro – The Italian ironclad screw gunboat was set afire and later exploded in the Battle of Lissa, on 20 July 1866. The explosion killed 19 officers and 193 men; 23 survived. Other sources report 231 dead and 19 survivors, or 228 dead and 26 survivors, or 227 casualties out of a crew of 269.	212-231
1895	China	Laiyuan – In the Battle of Weihaiwei on 5 February 1895 the Chinese cruiser was attacked by two Japanese torpedo boats and struck by a torpedo fired by Kotaka. Laiyuan rolled over and capsized with a loss of about 170 of her crew of 270.	170
1807	United Kingdom	HMS Primrose – In January 1809 the brig-sloop sailed for Spain as part of a convoy. In a snowstorm she ran aground at 5am on 22 January on Mistrel Rock, The Manacles, a mile offshore, and was wrecked. The sole survivor was a drummer boy.	120
1809	United Kingdom	HMS Lark – On 3 August 1809 the sloop foundered in a gale off Cape Causada (Point Palenqua), Santo Domingo. She was at anchor when the gale struck and had set sail at daybreak to get out to sea. While she was shortening sail a squall struck that turned her on her side. A heavy sea struck her and she filled rapidly with water. She sank within 15 minutes, killing most of her crew. Some survived by clinging to floating wreckage. However, by evening when the brig-sloop HMS Moselle arrived all but three of her 120 crew were dead.	117
1864	United States	USS Tecumseh – The Canonicus-class monitor was sunk by a mine on 5 August 1864 in the Battle of Mobile Bay. She capsized and rests upside down northwest of Fort Morgan. Of 100 aboard, 94 were lost.	94

See also

• List of maritime disasters
• List of maritime disasters in the 18th century
• List of maritime disasters in the 20th century
• List of maritime disasters in World War I
• List of maritime disasters in World War II
• List of maritime disasters in the 21st century
• Shipwreck
• List of shipwrecks
• List of disasters
• List of accidents and disasters by death toll
• List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
• List of RORO vessel accidents

References