The Deadliest Shipwreck in British Maritime History | Lancastria

In the summer of 1940, a handful of bombers from Germany’s Luftwaffe dealt Great Britain its deadliest maritime disaster ever with the sinking of the HMT Lancastria.
Estimates vary, but in less than an hour, between 4,000 and 7,000 soldiers, sailors, and civilian refugees lost their lives along France’s Atlantic coast.
Resources:
www.usni.org/m...
www.historic-u...
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*Please note, I am simply a hobbyist and not a certified professional in this field. I use this channel to share my findings on topics that interest me.*

[@HistoricGentleman]

HMT= His (Her) Majesty’s Transport, not trawler

[@StunningHistory]

Also His Majesty’s Troopship

[@Daniel_Huffman]

As well as Hired Military Transport.

[@FlyingForFunTrecanair]

My great uncle died on the Lancastria; his sister had a baby boy shortly afterwards and named the boy after her late brother. The boy is my dad.

[@Phaaschh]

Thanks for this. The more often this story is aired, the better.
I wonder when the most recent FoI request was made to access the Lancastria files? The 100-year lock seems deeply suspicious.

[@chrisvickers7928]

The Tragically Hips song "Nautical Disaster' may have been based on this disaster.

[@MomentsInTrading]

Really interesting 👍🏻

[@Lewdcina]

always happy when I get the notification that you uploaded

[@StunningHistory]

I appreciate that

[@robstrukk]

Brilliant Vid again! She gets too little attention for such an awful tragedy.
Looking forward to more from your channel!

[@StunningHistory]

Thank you very much! Was interesting to dig into this story.

[@chrismccallion1862]

Two points, you mention that a bomb went down one of her funnels, she only had one funnel. You also mention that she had a starboard list, she listed over to port and this is demonstrated in the photos of her having rolled over onto her port side.

[@StunningHistory]

It began listing to starboard but rolled onto the port side.

[@Phaaschh]

@@StunningHistory Captain Sharpe ordered men over to the port side to help counterbalance the list. Unfortunately it was all too effective.

[@joeanderson9852]

👍👍

[@BMan100]

Nice vid, keep it up!

[@StunningHistory]

Thanks! 🙏

[@Jamirquai_J._Spunklestain]

What a cruel tragedy! The behaviour of the British government is incomprehensible to me.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Why? Churchill said to his staff that "The newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today at least", and imposed a 'D' Notice on the sinking. Wasn't he, in fact, quite correct?
In his memoirs, Churchill stated that he had intended to release the news a few days later, but that events in France "crowded upon us so black and so quickly that I forgot to lift the ban".
How would you suggest that the government should have behaved?

[@Phaaschh]

Do you mean the "D" notice, which under the extreme circumstances of the time was surely understandable, or are you referring to the 100 year classification, which is something else entirely, and is frankly disturbing?

[@Jamirquai_J._Spunklestain]

​@@PhaaschhI am referring exclusively to the 100 year classification.

[@Phaaschh]

@@Jamirquai_J._Spunklestain right. In which case, we're in the same court.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@Phaaschh I refer to the 'D' notice. News of the sinking appeared in US newspapers in late July, 1940,, and in British newspapers on 25 & 26 July. By then, sadly, subsequent events had rather overtaken it.
However, no-one in Britain was prosecuted for publicising the tragedy.