The badly overloaded passenger steamer, packed with over 1,000 refugees fleeing advancing
Chinese Communist forces during the
Chinese Civil War, sank near the
Zhoushan Archipelago after a collision with the cargo vessel Chienyuan during a voyage from
Shanghai,
China, to
Keelung,
Taiwan, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew.
Chinese Civil War: The
Black Swan-classsloop ran aground on in the
Yangtze River at Rose Island, 15 nautical miles (28 km) east of
Chianking after she was shelled and damaged by the
People's Liberation Army with the loss of 22 crew killed and 31 wounded.
HMS Consort (Royal Navy) came to her assistance and was also attacked with the loss of 10 crew killed and three injured. On 26 April,
HMS London and
HMS Black Swan (both Royal Navy) refloated Amethyst. They also came under fire, with three crew killed and 14 wounded. Amethyst made a dash for freedom down the Yangtze on 30 July, reaching
Hong Kong on 11 August.[12]
The
cargo ship was driven ashore 1+1⁄2 nautical miles (2.8 km) from
Punta Mogotes, Argentina and was abandoned by her crew. She was on a voyage from
Bahia Blanca, Brazil to Itay. She was a total loss.[19]
The
cargo liner ran aground near
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil on her maiden voyage. Declared a total loss after breaking in two during attempt to tow her into harbour.
The cross-
Channelferry struck a
mine 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) off
Dunquerque, France and sank with the loss of five of her 65 crew. All 60 surviving crew members and all 218 passengers on board were rescued by
Cap Hatid (France) and various
tugs from Dunquerque.[41]
Chinese Civil War: The cargo ship loaded with ammunition exploded and sank at
Kaohsiung,
Formosa with the loss of over 500 lives. Two other ships were sunk and many fires started in Kaohsiung.[53]
The cargo ship caught fire at Hong Kong due to
barratry. She sank the next day and was declared a total loss. Raised on 22 March 1950 and subsequently scrapped..[60]
The ship caught fire and sank whilst moored in
Toronto Harbour with the loss of at least 118 lives. The vessel was raised in November 1949 and subsequently scrapped.
The minesweeper sank in the
Strait of Magellan while en route from
Rio Gallegos to
Ushuaia, all hands lost. Worst peacetime maritime disaster in Argentina as of 2018 (77 dead and missing).
The British motor-schooner, built in 1915, on voyage from
Plymouth to
Jersey with a cargo of lime, was wrecked off L'Etacq,
JerseyChannel islands. Hanna was lost.[85]
^Gardiner, Robert, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982 Part I: The Western Powers, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983,
ISBN0870219189, p. 102.
^"Ship Sinks in Thames". The Times. No. 51297. London. 4 February 1949. col E, p. 4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 385.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"Ship Sunk in Channel Collision". The Times. No. 51305. London. 14 February 1949. col D, p. 4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 66.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^
abcChesneau, Roger, ed., Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, New York: Mayflower Books, 1980,
ISBN0-8317-0303-2, p. 413.
^
abcGray, Randal, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983,
ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 328.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. not cited.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 419.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 454.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"Dover-Ostend Ship Sunk". The Times. No. 51414. London. 22 June 1949. col D, p. 4.
^"Ship Strikes on Wreck". The Times. No. 51415. London. 23 June 1949. col D, p. 4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 388.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 457.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 209.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"Fire in French Liner". The Times. No. 51517. London. 20 October 1949. col D, p. 3.
^"Steamer Escapes The Goodwins". The Times. No. 51518. London. 21 October 1949. col A, p. 4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 415.
ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Gray, Randal, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983,
ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 348.
^Jordan, Roger (1999). The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939. London: Chatham publishing. p. 530.
ISBN1-86176-023-X.
^Gray, Randal, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983,
ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 304.