Shipwrecks caused by wartime losses

World War II Maritime Casualties (1941–1944)

The waters around the Western Cape became part of the global conflicts of the 20th century, and wartime losses added a very different chapter to the region’s maritime history. Merchant ships, tankers, troopships, naval vessels and submarines were lost through enemy action, mines, collisions, scuttling and other wartime circumstances. This list brings together the recorded wartime shipping casualties associated with the Western Cape, including vessels lost off the coast and those caught up in the wider naval campaigns around the Cape.

  • Belgian Fighter (1941) – Torpedoed by U-68 south-southeast of Cape Town.
  • Boringia (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk rapidly by U-159.
  • U-179 (1942) – Destroyed off Cape Town with depth charges.
  • Chickasaw City (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-172.
  • Firethorn (1942) – Torpedoed by U-172 off Cape Point.
  • Pantelis (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-172.
  • Koumoundouros (1942) – Torpedoed by U-68 southwest of Cape Point.
  • Gaasterkerk (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-68.
  • City of Athens (1942) – Struck a German mine near Dassen Island.
  • Clan Mactavish (1942) – Torpedoed by U-159 after rescuing survivors.
  • Oklahoman (1942) – Torpedoed by U-504 near Robben Island.
  • Soudan (1942) – Wrecked after hitting a mine near Cape Agulhas.
  • Coloradan (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-159.
  • Sarthe (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-159.
  • Examelia (1942) – Torpedoed and destroyed by U-172.
  • Empire Nomad (1942) – Torpedoed by U-159 south of Cape Point.
  • East Indian (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-181.
  • Ross (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-172.
  • Laplace (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-159.
  • Argo (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by Italian submarine Cagni.
  • Alcyone (1942) – Mined and sunk off Cape Town harbour.
  • Swiftsure (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-68.
  • Jeremiah Wadsworth (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-172.
  • Aegeus (1942) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-159.
  • Orcades (1942) – Torpedoed by U-172 aftera  long chase.
  • Queen Anne (1943) – Torpedoed by U-504 near Cape Agulhas.
  • Agwimonte (1943) – Torpedoed by U-177 off Cape Agulhas.
  • Aelybryn (1943) – Torpedoed and severely damaged by U-160.
  • Storaas (1943) – Torpedoed and sunk by U-177 off Agulhas.
  • Tabor (1943) – Torpedoed by U-506 off Mossel Bay.
  • Dahomian (1944) – Torpedoed by U-852 off Kommetjie.
  • UIT-22 (1944) – Sunk off Cape Point by Allied Catalinas.
  • Columbine (1944) – Torpedoed near the Vredenburg Peninsula.

See also U-Boats off the Western Cape Coast

Discover the story of shipwrecks around the Western Cape in chronological order or search shipwrecks by region; alternatively, explore the alphabetical list