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Canadian & Newfoundland Merchant Losses during the Second World War Due to Enemy Actions

Compiled by Commander Fraser M. McKee 2015

Fort Camosun

The Fort Camosun settles in the water after being torpedoed in the Strait of Juan de Fuca by a Japanese submarine, (Photo from Maritime Museum of British Columbia 992.027.0014)

Legend to symbols used in list:

  • Ships (listed alphabetically in capitals); date lost – number of persons lost/survivors
  • Date format: year.month.day
  • Number lost includes only merchant seamen & DEMS gunners
  • (N) = Newfoundland ship
  • * = Foreign ship operated by Canada
  • # = Fishing schooner or sailing vessel
  • c. = circa - approximately
  • (+ a no.) = passengers or soldiers also lost (often approximate)
  • A.D. HUFF – 1941.02.22 – 2/40; Sunk by gunfire from the GNEISENAU, mid–Atlantic south of Greenland.
  • ALBERT C. FIELD – 1944.06.18 – 4/29; by aerial torpedo, off Isle of Wight, English Channel.
  • ANGELUS *# – 1943.05.19 – 8/2; Sunk by gunfire, from U–161, 375 miles south of N.S.
  • AVONDALE PARK – 1945.05.7 – 2/33; by torpedo, from U–2336, off Firth of Forth, North Sea.
  • BIC ISLAND * – 1942.10.28 – 36/0; by torpedo, from U–224, mid-Atlantic.
  • CALGAROLITE – 1942.05.9 – 0/45; by torpedo & gunfire, by U–125, NW Caribbean, south of Cuba.
  • CANADIAN CRUISER – 1941.02.21 – 0/34; Sunk by explosive charge placed by the ADMIRAL SCHEER, in the northern Indian Ocean.
  • CANADOLITE – 1941.05.25 – 0/41; Captured by the raider KORMORAN, mid–Atlantic near equator. Taken to France. (Sunk at Brest in a RAF raid in August 1944 re–flagged as the SUDETENLAND).
  • CARIBOU (N) – 1942.10.14 – 31 (+106)/101 (+ some passengers); by torpedo, from U–69, between Sydney, N.S. and Port–aux–Basques, Newfoundland.
  • CAROLUS * – 1942.10.9 – 11 (4 Cdns)/19; by torpedo, from U–69, in Gulf of St. Lawrence, near Métis, QC.
  • CHR. J. KAMPMANN * – 1942.11.3 – 19/8; by torpedo, from U–160, eastern Caribbean north of Venezuela.
  • COLLINGDOC – 1940.07.13 – 2/c.20; Mined in the Thames off Southend. Raised, used as a Scapa Flow blockship.
  • CORNWALLIS – 1944.12.3 – 44/5; by torpedo, from U–1230, in Gulf of Maine, off U.S. coast.
  • DONALD STEWART – 1942.09.3 – 3/16; by torpedo, from U–517, in Strait of Belle Isle, between Newfoundland and Labrador.
  • EMPRESS OF ASIA – 1942.02.5 – 1 (+15 & 1 as POW)/(unknown – c.400+); Set afire by Japanese aircraft, run ashore, abandoned off Singapore.
  • ERIK BOYE * – 1940.06.15 – 0/22; by torpedo, from U–38, west of Land’s End, Cornwall.
  • ESMOND (N) – 1941.05.9 – 0/50; by torpedo, from U–110, mid–Atlantic southeast of Greenland.
  • EUROPA * – 1941.05.4 – 0/45; Set afire & holed in aircraft raid on Liverpool; partly repaired, damaged again in later raid and abandoned.
  • FRANK B. BAIRD – 1942.05.22 – 0/23; Sunk by gunfire, from U–158, southeast of Bermuda.
  • GERALDINE MARY (N)– 1940.08.4 – 2 (+1)/48; by torpedo, from U–52, eastern Atlantic, west of Scotland.
  • GEORGE L. TORIAN – 1942.02.22 – 13(+2)/4; by torpedo, from U–129, Caribbean southeast of Trinidad.
  • HELEN FORSEY (N)# – 1942.09.6 – 2/4; Sunk by gunfire, from U–514, Atlantic, southeast of Bermuda.
  • HUMBER ARM (N) – 1940.07.8 – 0/43; by torpedo, from U–99, south end St. George’s Channel, northwest of Cornwall.
  • JAMES E NEWSOM # – 1942.05.1 – 0/8; Sunk by gunfire, from U–69, Atlantic, northeast of Bermuda.
  • JASPER PARK – 1943.07.6 – 4/51; by torpedo, from U–177, Indian Ocean, southeast of Durban, South Africa.
  • J.B. WHITE – 1941.03.17 – 2/39; by torpedo, from U–99, eastern North Atlantic, northwest of Scotland.
  • JOHN A HOLLOWAY – 1942.09.6 – 1/23; by Torpedo, from U–164, central Caribbean North of Aruba.
  • KENORDOCK – 1940.09.15 – 7/13; Sunk by gunfire, from U–99, Atlantic, west of northern Scotland.
  • KITTY’S BROOK (N) – 1942.05.10 – 9/23; by Torpedo, from U–588, southeast of Cape Sable, N.S.
  • LADY DRAKE – 1942.05.5 – 6 (+ 6)/240; by torpedo, from U–106, northwest of Bermuda.
  • LADY HAWKINS – 1942.01.19 – 92 (+ c.158)/21 (+50 passengers & RN seamen); by torpedo, from U–66, southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
  • LENNOX – 1942.02.23 – 2/20; by Torpedo, from U–129, between British Guyana and Trinidad.
  • LIVERPOOL PACKET – 1942.05.30 – 2/19; by torpedo, from U–432, 12 miles south of Nova Scotia.
  • LIVINGSTON (N) – 1944.09.5 – 14/14; by torpedo, from U–541, south end of Cabot Strait, off Cape Breton.
  • LORD STRATHCONA – 1942.09.5 – 0/44; by torpedo, from U–513, at anchor in Conception Bay, Newfoundland.
  • LUCILLE M. # – 1942.07.25 – 0/11; Sunk by gunfire, from U–89, southeast of Cape Sable, N.S.
  • MAGOG – 1940.07.5 – 0/23; Sunk by gunfire then torpedo, from U–99, Atlantic, southwest of Ireland.
  • MAPLECOURT – 1941.02.6 – 38/0; by torpedo, from U–107, northeast Atlantic, off Ireland.
  • MILDRED PAULINE # – 1942.05.01 – 7/0; Sunk by gunfire, from U–136, Atlantic, southeast of Nova Scotia.
  • MONA MARIE # – 1942.06.28 – 0/7 (+ 1); Sunk by gunfire, from U–126, in Caribbean east of Grenada.
  • MONT LOUIS – 1942.05.8 – 13/8; by torpedo, from U–162, off British Guyana, NE South America.
  • MONTROLITE – 1942.02.4 – 28/20; by torpedo, from U–109, Atlantic northeast of Bermuda.
  • NIPIWAN PARK – 1945.01.4 – 2/29; by torpedo, from U–1232, 30 miles south of Halifax.
  • NORFOLK – 1942.09.18 – 6/13; by torpedo, from U–175, off Georgetown, British Guyana.
  • OAKTON – 1942.09.7 – 0 (?)/19; by torpedo, from U–517, east of Gaspé, QC.
  • POINT PLEASANT PARK – 1945.02.23 – 9/49; by torpedo, from U–510, south Atlantic, NE of Capetown, South Africa.
  • PORTADOC – 1941.04.7 – 2 (as POWs)/c.20; by torpedo, from U–124, Atlantic east of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
  • PRESCODOC – 1942.07.29 – 16/5; by torpedo, from U–160, north of Georgetown, British Guyana.
  • PRINCESS MARGUERITE – 1942.08.17 – 0 (+ c.55 soldiers)/131; by torpedo, from U–83, eastern Mediterranean, north of Port Said.
  • ROBERT MAX (N)# – 1941.08.4 – 0/6; Sunk by gunfire, from U–126, Atlantic southeast of Azores.
  • ROBERT W. POMEROY – 1942.04.1 – 1/22; Mined, North Sea off Norfolk.
  • ROSE CASTLE – 1942.11.2 – 3/13; by torpedo, from U–518, at anchor, Conception Bay, Newfoundland.
  • ROTHERMERE (N)– 1941.05.20 – 21 (+1)/24; by torpedo, from U–98, mid-Atlantic, south of Greenland.
  • ST MALO * – 1940.10.12 – 28/16; by torpedo, from U–101, north Atlantic, northeast of Ireland.
  • SARNIADOC – 1942.03.14 – 21/0; Sunk by gunfire, from U–161, central Caribbean west of Dominica.
  • SHINAI – 1941.12.24 – 2 (1 as POW)/?; Abandoned in Sarawak River, North Borneo; seized by Japanese forces. (Sunk re–flagged as the SHINAI MARU in the Celebes by USAF in September 1944).
  • TABER PARK – 1945.03.13 – 32/4; by torpedo from midget submarine KU5, in the North Sea, off Norfolk.
  • THOROLD – 1940.08.22 – 9/17; Sunk by dive bombers, St. George’s Channel, off southwest Wales.
  • TORONDOC – 1942.05.21 – 23/0; by torpedo, from U–69, Caribbean, west of Martinique.
  • TREVISA – 1940.10.16 – 7/14; by torpedo, from U–124, mid–Atlantic south of Iceland.
  • TROISDOC – 1942.05.21 – 0/18; Sunk by gunfire, from U–558, Caribbean, west of Jamaica.
  • VANCOUVER ISLAND * – 1941.10.15 – 65(+c,.40)/0; by torpedo, from U–558, mid-north Atlantic.
  • VICTOLITE – 1942.02.10 – 47/0; by torpedo, from U–564, Atlantic northwest of Bermuda.
  • VINELAND – 1942.04.20 – 1/35; by torpedo, from U–154, Atlantic, northeast of Windward Passage, east of Cuba.
  • WATERLOO – 1940.07.10 – 0/20; Sunk by aircraft bombing, southern North Sea off East Anglia.
  • WATERTON (N)– 1942.10.11 – 0/c.27; by torpedo, from U–186, in Cabot Strait, off Cape Breton.
  • WATUKA – 1944.03.22 – 1/26; by torpedo, from U–802, southeast of Halifax, N.S.

Author’s Notes: These ships were all registered in Canada or Newfoundland during the war, and were the only ones sunk by enemy action while flying the Canadian Red Ensign as far as has been researched. Many other Canadian–owned ships were registered elsewhere when they were sunk. They often appear on lists of ‘Canadian’ ships lost, but they were not Canadian–registered at the time. This includes vessels such as these:

  • AVONDALE PARK was the last Allied merchantman sunk during the Atlantic war, off Scotland, by a new ‘electric’ U–boat.
  • COLLINGDOC is the only one of these ships of which a part can still be seen, as remains of the wartime barriers at Scapa Flow, Orkney UK.
  • NIPIWAN PARK is questionable, as only the bow 1/3 was lost. The balance was towed into Halifax, a new bow built and the ship was sold to Irving Oil in 1946. Also the Park in Manitoba is spelled as Nipawin Park – (an error by the builders!).
  • JAMES E. NEWSOM was Lunenburg–registered when she sailed, but registry changed to Barbados when she sailed from there and was sunk.
  • Most of Canadian Pacific’s EMPRESS, DUTCHESS and BEAVER–class ships were British registered.
  • Some Imperial Oil tankers – JOSEPH SEEP & JAMES McGEE, both mined, were registered in Panama.
  • WESTERN HEAD (Bahamas); Paterson’s SORELDOC was sold, then registered in Panama; ST LINDSAY (Cardiff, Wales).
  • Canadian Pacific’s MONTROSE became HMS FORFAR, sunk 1940.12.2. CNSS’s LADY SOMERS became an Admiralty boarding ship and was sunk 1941.07.15
  • All FORT–class ships were British or U.S. registered when lost.
  • LADY NELSON was sunk in harbour at Castries St. Lucia, she was raised, became a hospital ship.
  • NEREUS & PROTEUS, were acquired from the USN, reportedly sunk by explosives put aboard by spies and saboteurs in the British Virgin Islands. This is not accurate, and were both elderly and unsafe ships that almost certainly broke up at sea in heavy weather. (Researched by the USCG.)
  • A multitude of merchantmen and fishing schooners were lost due to the stress of weather, poor navigation, convoy collisions, or broken machinery. Many of them crop up on lists, such as these:
  • The FLORA ALBERTA, a fishing schooner, was run down by a convoy. The SILVER STAR PARK, was in a convoy collision, and caught fire (she was towed in & repaired).
  • Ships run ashore & lost include the CANATCO (Labrador), the WATKINS F. NISBET (English Channel), the R.J. CULLEN (Hebrides).
  • Ships that foundered include LISIEUX, HAMILDOC.
  • The GREENHILL PARK caught fire alongside in Vancouver BC, and was salvaged.

To quote from this article please cite:

McKee, Fraser M. (2015) Canadian & Newfoundland Merchant Losses during the Second World War Due to Enemy Actions Nauticapedia.ca 2015. http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Merchant_Losses2.php

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