Ships hit by U-boats in WWII
Largest ships hit by U-boats
The British Steam passenger ship Duchess of Atholl. She was hit by U-178 (Hans Ibbeken) on 10 Oct 1942.
Since the tonnage between merchants and warships cannot be directly compared this list is shown in parts.
Largest Merchants ships hit by U-boat
Allied merchant ships of 15,000 GRT and more sunk by German U-boats during the Second World War. This list includes auxiliary warships such as armed merchant cruisers (AMC's).
| Date | Name of vessel and U-boat responsible |
| 28 Oct 1940 | Empress of Britain (42,348 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-32 (Jenisch) |
| 21 Dec 1942 | Strathallan (23,722 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-562 (Hamm) |
| 10 Oct 1942 | Orcades (23,456 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-172 (Emmermann) |
| 7 Mar 1941 | Terje Viken (20,638 GRT) a whale factory ship sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer) |
| 6 Jun 1940 | HMS Carinthia (20,277 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-46 (Endrass) |
| 10 Oct 1942 | Duchess of Atholl (20,119 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-178 (Ibbeken) |
| 14 Nov 1942 | Warwick Castle (20,107 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-413 (Poel) |
| 12 Sep 1942 | Laconia (19,695 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-156 (Hartenstein) |
| 11 Nov 1942 | Viceroy of India (19,627 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-407 (Brüller) |
| 3 Nov 1940 | HMS Laurentic (F 51) (18,724 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer) |
| 7 Dec 1942 | Ceramic (18,713 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-515 (Henke) |
| 13 Jun 1940 | HMS Scotstoun (17,046 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-25 (Beduhn) |
| 17 Mar 1944 | Dempo (17,024 GRT) a troop transport sunk by U-371 (Mehl) |
| 29 Oct 1942 | Kosmos II (16,966 GRT) a whale factory ship sunk by U-624 (Soden-Fraunhofen) |
| 10 Aug 1940 | HMS Transylvania (F 56) (16,923 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-56 (Harms) |
| 13 Apr 1941 | HMS Rajputana (F 35) (16,644 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-108 (Scholtz) |
| 2 Dec 1940 | HMS Forfar (F 30) (16,402 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-99 (Kretschmer) |
| 8 Sep 1944 | Empire Heritage (15,702 GRT) a steam tanker sunk by U-482 (Matuschka) |
| 2 Jul 1940 | Arandora Star (15,501 GRT) a steam passenger ship sunk by U-47 (Prien) |
| 3 Feb 1942 | Amerikaland (15,355 GRT) a motor merchant sunk by U-106 (Rasch) |
| 27 Aug 1940 | HMS Dunvegan Castle (15,007 GRT) an Armed Merchant Cruiser sunk by U-46 (Endrass) |
21 ships larger than 15,000 GRT sunk (409,996 total GRT) | |
Warships
Warships of 4,000 tons and more sunk by German U-boats during the Second World War.
| Date | Name of vessel and U-boat responsible |
|---|---|
| 25 Nov 1941 | HMS Barham (04) (31,100 tons) a battleship sunk by U-331 (Tiesenhausen) |
| 14 Oct 1939 | HMS Royal Oak (08) (29,150 tons) a battleship sunk by U-47 (Prien) |
| 13 Nov 1941 | HMS Ark Royal (91) (22,600 tons) an aircraft carrier sunk by U-81 (Guggenberger) |
| 11 Aug 1942 | HMS Eagle (94) (22,600 tons) an aircraft carrier sunk by U-73 (Rosenbaum) |
| 17 Sep 1939 | HMS Courageous (50) (22,500 tons) an aircraft carrier sunk by U-29 (Schuhart) |
| 15 Nov 1942 | HMS Avenger (D 14) (13,785 tons) a escort carrier sunk by U-155 (Piening) |
| 21 Dec 1941 | HMS Audacity (D 10) (11,000 tons) a escort carrier sunk by U-751 (Bigalk) |
| 29 May 1944 | USS Block Island (CVE 21) (9,393 tons) a escort carrier sunk by U-549 (Krankenhagen) |
| 11 Mar 1942 | HMS Naiad (93) (5,450 tons) a light cruiser sunk by U-565 (Jebsen) |
| 16 Jun 1942 | HMS Hermione (74) (5,450 tons) a Light cruiser sunk by U-205 (Reschke) |
| 18 Feb 1944 | HMS Penelope (97) (5,270 tons) a light cruiser sunk by U-410 (Fenski) |
| 15 Dec 1941 | HMS Galatea (71) (5,220 tons) a light cruiser sunk by U-557 (Paulshen) |
| 24 Nov 1941 | HMS Dunedin (D 93) (4,850 tons) a light cruiser sunk by U-124 (Mohr) |
13 warships larger than 4,000 tons sunk (188,368 total tons). | |