20 May 1917

Atlantic Ocean
  • The first submarine to be sunk by an aeroplane was the German U-36 attacked in the North Sea by a flying boat piloted by British Flight Sub-Lieutenant C. R. Morrish. ww2dbase [North Sea | AC]
3 Sep 1939

Atlantic Ocean
4 Oct 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • U-23 spotted British merchant ship Glen Farg (Master Robert Galloway Hall) at 0445 hours about 110 kilometers (about 69 miles) south-southwest of Sumburgh Head, Shetland Islands in the North Atlantic, and stopped the ship with machine gun fire. At 0600 hours, when she detected that the British was sending out distress calls, she sank the ship with one G7a torpedo and gunfire. One crew member was killed. The 16 survivors were picked up by HMS Firedrake. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-23 | North Sea | CPC]
8 Oct 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • A RAF reconnaissance plane shot down a German flying boat conducting reconnaissance over the North Sea. ww2dbase [North Sea | TH]
  • Cruiser Köln began in a raid in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Köln | North Sea | CPC]
28 Nov 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • British Royal Navy trawler HMS Kingston Beryl scuttled the stern section of Swedish tanker Gustaf E. Reuter in the North Sea. Gustaf E. Reuter had been attacked by German submarine U-48 on the previous day, and the bow section had sunk overnight during an unsuccessful towing attempt. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | CPC]
29 Nov 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • British destroyers HMS Kingston, HMS Icarus, and HMS Kashmir forced German submarine U-35 to surface and surrender in the North Sea with depth charges. U-35's crew scuttled the submarine to prevent capture. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | CPC]
2 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
3 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • After following the target for about 45 minutes, U-56 sank neutral ship Rudolf (Master Bertil Persson) with one G7e torpedo in the North Sea about 60 kilometers east of May Island at 0013 hours. Six survivors were picked up by British trawler Cardew later in the day; they were landed at Dundee. Eight other survivors remained in lifeboats. 9 were killed. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-56 | North Sea | CPC]
4 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • Eight survivors of neutral ship Rudolf, sunk by U-56 in the North Sea on the previous day, were rescued by Swedish merchant ship Gunlög; they were landed at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
7 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • U-23 fired a torpedo at Danish ship Scotia, sailing in ballast, in the North Sea at 2326 hours. The submarine would continue to pursue into the next day. ww2dbase [U-23 | North Sea | CPC]
8 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • U-23 sank Danish merchant ship Scotia, sailing in ballast, in the North Sea with 0004 hours with one torpedo. Nineteen were killed. The two survivors were picked up by the nearby Danish merchant ship Hafnia immediately. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-23 | North Sea | CPC]
12 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 8,485-ton British registered motor tanker British Liberty was on route from Haifa, Palestine for Dunkerque, France with a cargo of crude oil. As she was nearing Dunkerque she struck a British laid mine 4 miles north-east of the Dyck Light Vessel. Twenty-four of her crew were killed in the explosion. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
14 Dec 1939

Atlantic Ocean
1 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-58 sank neutral Swedish steamer Lars Magnus Trozelli with one torpedo in the North Sea 50 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom at 1100 hours, killing 7. The survivors were picked up Norwegian merchant ship Ask. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
9 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German bombers sank three Allied merchantmen in the North Sea. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • The British submarine HMS Starfish (N19) attacked a German minesweeper off the German North Sea coast in the Heligoland Bight. However this attack failed because, due to drill error, the torpedoes remained stuck in the tubes. She returned for second attack but the hydroplanes jammed and the commanding officer Lieutenant Thomas Turner decided to remain under water at the depth of about 27 metres for the remainder of day to carry out repairs. The German minesweeper M-7 located her and dropped 2 depth charges which did no damage. At 1050 hours one of the electricians asked for permission to restart one of the Sperry motors to prevent the gyro from wandering, and the request was granted. No sooner the motor started, 4 depth charges rained on top of the boat, fairly close aboard, causing widespread damage. At 1440 hours another depth charge attack was carried out, 20 of these falling fairly close to the hull, shearing rivets and starting plates which began leaking. By 1800 hrs the situation inside was serious, the engine room crankcases and starboard main motor bearings were flooded, the torpedo trenches and bilges were full, water was pouring through the starboard engine clutch and lapping the starboard main motor casing. HMS Starfish laid on the bottom until Lieutenant Turner, having formed the opinion the enemy was not likely to leave the vicinity in the near future, gave the order to surface at 1820 hours. In order to accomplish this, the submarine was forced to drop the ballast keel, barely making it due to loss of high pressure air and water in the hull, coming up at a 45-degree angle. She sank very shortly after with no loss among the crew, which was picked up by the waiting ships and taken as prisoners of war. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
  • Carrying a cargo of coal from West Hartlepool on the eastern coast of England, United Kingdom to Drammen, Buskerud in Norway, the Norwegian 1,334-ton steam merchant Manx was torpedoed at 0221 hours as she cleared Kinnaird Head in north Scotland by U-19 (Joachim Schepke). Eight of the crew managed to get to an upturned lifeboat but four died of exposure in the cold water. Four men endured eight hours on the boat until rescued by the Norwegian freighter Leka, the other 2 who had got on a raft were seen by Isis, another Norwegian ship. Originally it was thought that the Manx had hit a mine however, records show that U-19 had indeed claimed a merchant ship on this date, Schepke made no mention of the ship being Norwegian therefore neutral. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | CPC, HM]
11 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The Fredville, a 1,150-ton Norwegian steam merchant, was attacked and sunk approximately 100 miles east of the Orkney Isles at 1632 hours. There had been two explosions in the hold, the first seemed to cause little damage but 10 minutes later a much larger explosion broke the ship in two. The ship in ballast was on her way to Methil, Scotland, United Kingdom. 5 of the crew found time to get into a lifeboat and made repeated attempts to find any more survivors from the after part of the ship that remained afloat but none were found. The 5 men were picked up by a Swedish ship and taken to Kopervik, Karmøy Island, Norway. It was probable that the ship was sunk by German submarine U-23 (Otto Kretschmer), though at the enquiry held later the crew said that they thought there could have been bombs put into the coal bunkers by the Wollweber Group who were a group of Communist saboteurs who were responsible for the loss of several Scandinavian ships; they also stated that the ship was marked with the Norwegian flag and had navigation lights on. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-23 | North Sea | CPC, HM]
16 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • After penetrating Heligoland Bight, the British submarines Seahorse, Undine, and Starfish were reportedly sunk by the Germans. ww2dbase [Heligoland Bight, North Sea | CPC]
18 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-25 sank Swedish merchant ship Pajala with three torpedoes in the North Sea at 1625 hours. Escort HMS Northern Duke rescued 35 after unsuccessfully depth charging U-25. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • German submarine U-55 sank Swedish merchant ship Foxen in the North Sea, killing 17, at 1745 hours. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • German submarine U-9 attacked Swedish merchant ship Patricia with two torpedoes in the North Sea at 2353 hours, but the torpedoes went astray, hitting and sinking Flandria instead. Norwegian merchant ship Balzac would rescue four survivors two days later. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
19 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-9 torpedoed and sank Swedish merchant ship Patricia, which escaped U-9's first attack on two hours prior, in the North Sea at 0145 hours. 19 men were killed; 4 survivors were later picked up by Swedish merchant ship Frigg. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • British submarine Sunfish fired 4 torpedoes at German submarine U-14 off Helgoland, Germany; all torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
21 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Finnish merchant ship Onto (Master Ivar Ström) struck a mine in the North Sea 40 kilometers northeast of Great Yarmouth, England, United Kingdom at 2213 hours. The mine was laid by U-56 on 8 Jan 1940. The ship sank, and all 20 aboard survived in two lifeboats. One lifeboat, with 14 aboard, was rescued by a Greek steam merchant; the other was rescued by HMS Auckland. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-56 | North Sea | CPC]
24 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-23 torpedoed and sank Norwegian cargo ship Varild in the North Sea at 1900 hours, killing the entire crew of 15. ww2dbase [U-23 | North Sea | CPC]
27 Jan 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-20 (Kapitänleutnant Harro von Klot-Heydenfeldt) attacked a convoy of merchant ships in the North Sea southeast of Copinsay, Orkney, Scotland, United Kingdom. At 2003 hours, the small 844-ton Norwegian vessel Faro was damaged by a torpedo that detonated early before hitting the ship. Faro's master ordered the abandonment of the ship and two lifeboats were launched, one drifted away and it and the 8 men in it were never found; the master would try to save the ship on the next day, but to no avail. The 2,319-ton Danish vessel England (2,319-tons) together with the Fredensborg (2,094-tons) both tried to assist the Faro but were torpedoed as they did so. The England broke in half and sunk 2 minutes after the attack, killing 20; Fredensborg capsized soon after, also losing 20 men. Only one seaman from the two ships survived. Two hours later the 1,591-ton Norwegian merchant Hosanger was hit. The explosion blew off the stern and the ship went straight down. One, Magnus Sandvik, a deck boy, managed to get to a raft with three others, they were found after 15 hours by HMS Northern Reward. A line thrown to the raft but Sandvik, who was the only one left alive was too cold to hold it. A seaman from the Royal Naval vessel dived into the sea and saved him. Both were hospitalized in Kirkwall, Orkney. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC, HM]
2 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-59 (Kapitänleutnant Harald Jürst) was on patrol in the North Sea close to Lowestoft, England, United Kingdom and sank 2 British merchant steamers. At 0624 hours, the unescorted 838-ton tanker Creofield was hit amidships by a single G7e torpedo, the creosote cargo she was carrying exploded and the ship sank immediately taking her 17 man crew with her. In the evening she sank the 1,064-ton Portelet, in ballast heading for Sunderland, England, at 2040 hours she was hit and sank less than a mile southwest by west of the Smith's Knoll Lightship. The master Alexander Joseph Walsh and 8 crew members were picked up by a Finnish merchant, Oscar Midling, and taken to Immingham; 2 crewmen had been killed in the attack. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
3 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-58 chased Estonian vessel Reet for 13 hours, sinking her with torpedoes in the North Sea halfway between Stavanger, Norway & Aberdeen, Scotland, killing 18. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
4 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) sank 2 merchant steamers whilst on patrol off the Shetland Islands, the first was the small 1,365-ton Norwegian freighter Hop in ballast and heading for Middlesborough, England, United Kingdom. The ship sank rapidly and there were no survivors. Hop was 1 of the 55 Norwegian ships lost during the neutrality period between 3 Sep and 8 Apr 1939. The second vessel was the 4,330-ton British Leo Dawson, carrying iron ore to Immingham, England. A single torpedo hit aft at 2125 hours and she sank stern first taking her entire crew of 35 men with her including 15 year old Mess Room Boy, John Wynn. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
6 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Estonian steamer Anu sank after hit a mine 30 miles east of Dundee, Scotland, United Kindgom, killing the captain, his wife, the cook, and four crew members. The mine was laid by German submarine U-13 on 12 Dec 1939. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
9 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German destroyers Z3, Z4, and Z16 deployed 110 mines in the Shipwash, a busy sea lane in the North Sea east of Harwich, England. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
19 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp and Karl Galster, participants of Operation Nordmark, were dispatched from the main body for a mission in the Skagerrak between Denmark and Norway and beyond. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • U-23 sank British merchant ship Tiberton with a G7e torpedo at 0405 hours in the North Sea about 33 miles east of Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom. It broke in two and sank within 30 seconds, killing all 34 aboard. The ship was carrying iron ore from Norway, bound for Britain. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-23 | North Sea | CPC]
20 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-54 became missing in the North Sea and its crew of 41 were never seen again. It was believed that she ran into mines laid by HMS Ivanhoe and HMS Intrepid in early Jan 1940. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • Operation Normark was called off after the German fleet consisted of Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Admiral Hipper failed to spot any British convoys in the North Sea. The ships headed for Wilhelmshaven, Germany. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
21 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-57 damaged British steamer Loch Maddy 25 miles southeast of Wick, Scotland, United Kingdom, killing 4. She would be sunk by U-23 on the following day. 35 survivors were picked up by destroyer HMS Diana. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
22 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Six German destroyers were launched into the North Sea during Operation Wikinger, which attempted to attack British fishing boats that had been reporting the movement of German warships. He 111 aircraft of the German Luftwaffe, never been notified of such an operation, misidentified the destroyers and attacked them, sinking destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maas at 1945 hours, killing 282 while 60 survived. Destroyer Z3 Max Schultz was able to evade the bombs, but ran into a minefield, detonated a mine, and sank, killing 308. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
  • In the Atlantic Ocean, German submarine U-23 sank British steamer Loch Maddy, which was damaged by U-57 and abandoned by its crew on the previous day. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | U-23 | North Sea | CPC]
23 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • British destroyer HMS Gurkha sank German submarine U-53 by depth charges 25 miles south of the Faroe Islands in the North Sea, killing the entire crew of 42. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
24 Feb 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • M1 rammed and sunk four Danish fishing trawlers Ejjam (E 92), Gerlis (E 456), Merkator (348), and Polaris (E 504) off the Dogger Bank in the North Sea. There were four crewmen aboard each ship, and even though some survived the sinking initially, commanding officer Oberleutnant zur See Hans Bartels of M1 did not pick up any survivors, thus all of them would eventually be lost. Bartel suspected that the trawlers were reporting German movements to the British while flying the flag of a neutral nation. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | M1 | North Sea | CPC]
2 Mar 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 695-ton Dutch motor merchant Rijnstroom loaded with general cargo was hit in the bow by a torpedo fired by German Submarine U-17 (Kapitänleutnant Udo Behrens) and sank within five minutes. The ship was reported missing after leaving the Downs (an area of safe anchorage in the southern North Sea) just a small amount of wreckage was later found, none of the 12-man crew survived. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
9 Mar 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 2,719-ton British steamer Chevychase hit a mine whilst steaming over the Cromer banks, east coast of England, United Kingdom. 21 survivors were picked up, of whom 8 were wounded. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
  • The Estonian cargo ship Hanonia, captured by the German submarine U-34 in 1939, had been laying mines off North Foreland, Kent, England, United Kingdom since the beginning of the month when she struck a rock and was grounded. The ship was towed to Bergen, Norway by the Germans for repairs. She would later be sunk by a mine in May 1940. The mines she had laid off Ken sank seven cargo ships: the Santa Godelieva, the Amor, the Rose Effeuillee, the Melrose, the Saba, the Saint Annaland and the Tina Primo. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
11 Mar 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 2,325-ton Dutch steam merchant Amor struck a mine in the North Sea that had been laid by the German minelayer Schiff II/Ulm two days prior. The ship sank near to the West Hinder Light, Zeebrugge. There were no casualties among the crew of 33. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
12 Mar 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • HMS Sealion (Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Bryant, RN) was detected, hunted and depth charged by a German armed trawler in the North Sea about 25 nautical miles to the north-west of Heligoland. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
13 Mar 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-44 hit a mine in Mine Field No. 7 in the North Sea laid by the destroyers HMS Express, HMS Esk, HMS Icarus and HMS Impulsive. All 47 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
26 Mar 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-22 became missing in the North Sea, its crew of 27 was never seen again. It was probable that she hit a mine. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
2 Apr 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Germans attacked Allied Scapa Flow and North Sea convoys. ww2dbase [North Sea | TH]
6 Apr 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-1 disappeared in the North Sea, and the crew of 24 were never seen again. The submarine most likely was lost to a British naval mine. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
8 Apr 1940

Atlantic Ocean
9 Apr 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • French submarine Sybille, under British command, departed Harwich, England, United Kingdom to patrol the North Sea west of Denmark. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
11 Apr 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Battleship Warspite and aircraft carrier furious joined the Home Fleet which continued unsuccessfully to find the German force west of Norway. Light cruisers and some destroyers were detached for re-fuelling. A sortie was made by battleships Rodney, Valiant and Warspite, the carrier Furious and the heavy cruisers Berwick, Devonshire and York under command of Admiral Charles Forbes. An unsuccessful attack was undertaken against three German destroyers after the cruiser Hipper set out undetected and heads south with the destroyer Friedrich Eckoldt. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | North Sea | HM]
22 Apr 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Two British Hudson bombers attacked German submarine U-43 in the North Sea. U-43 escaped with minor damage. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
9 May 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-9 (Wolfgang Lüth) fired two torpedoes at French submarine Doris 40 miles off of the Dutch coast at 0014 hours. One struck amidships, blowing the boat in half and killing 42 French and 3 British men. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | TH, HM]
16 Jun 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The British T-class submarine HMS Tetrarch (N 77) (Lieutenant Commander R. G. Mills) torpedoed and sank the 5,978-ton German tanker Samland south west of Lista, Norway. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
22 Jun 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The French Flower-class corvette La Bastiase struck a mine whilst on sea trials in the mouth of the River Tees, north east England, United Kingdom. The mines were seen to be dropped by enemy aircraft the previous day. The vessel was a total loss killing her commanding officer Lieutenant de Vaisseau Georges Albert Lacombe, some of her crew and some of the engineers from Smith's Dock who were on board for the trials. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
25 Jun 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • HMS Snapper (N 39) (Lieutenant W. D. A. King, DSO, RN) torpedoed and sank the 286-ton German armed trawler V 110 south of Stavanger, Norway. The 2,515-ton German merchant Robert Sauber (built 1910) was hit by a dud torpedo and was lightly damaged. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
22 Jul 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • British submarine HMS Clyde fired 6 torpedoes at another British submarine HMS Truant, in the North Sea off Fejeosen, Norway in an episode of mis-identification. All torpedoes missed their target. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
29 Jul 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 5,925-ton British cargo steamer Clan Monroe struck a mine off Harwich, England, United Kingdom whilst acting as an auxiliary transport. She was taken in tow and beached in Hollesley Bay in a depth of 27 feet at low water. Thirteen people were killed. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | North Sea | HM]
  • The 1,262-ton British merchant steamer Moidart hit a mine and sank whilst on passage from Greenhithe near London for Newcastle in northern England, United Kingdom, carrying a cargo of cement. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | North Sea | HM]
1 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-34 detected British submarine HMS Spearfish on the surface in the North Sea and sank Spearfish with her last torpedo at 1904 hours, killing 41; one survivor, Able Seaman William Pester, was taken aboard U-34 as a prisoner of war. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | North Sea | CPC]
7 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean
8 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean
14 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean
15 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean
31 Aug 1940

Atlantic Ocean
2 Sep 1940

Atlantic Ocean
6 Sep 1940

Atlantic Ocean
7 Sep 1940

Atlantic Ocean
24 Sep 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German motor torpedo boat S-30 sank British ship Continental Coaster in the North Sea 10 miles off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, killing 4. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
27 Sep 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • British minesweeper HMS Halcyon hit a mine at the mouth of River Tees in the North Sea off northern England, United Kingdom and was heavily damaged. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
9 Oct 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • British minesweeping trawler HMS Sea King hit a mine and sank 28 miles east of Grimsby, England, United Kingdom; 14 were killed. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
17 Oct 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • In the North Sea, German motor torpedo boats S-24 and S-27 attacked Allied convoy FN.311 10 miles off Lowestoft, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom; British ship Hauxley was damaged by a torpedo, killing 1, sinking on the next day. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | North Sea | CPC]
7 Nov 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • British minesweeping trawler HMT William Wesney hit a mine and sank in the North Sea 13 miles east of Harwich, England, United Kingdom; 5 were killed and 7 survived. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
8 Nov 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • Dutch submarine O-22 disappeared in the North Sea 40 miles southwest of Norway; 42 Dutch and 3 British sailors were missing and were presumed dead. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
24 Dec 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • German 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron attacked a British convoy in the North Sea off Aldeburgh, England, United Kingdom. S-28 sank British minesweeping trawler HMT Pelton, killing 20. British destroyer HMS Verdun reported sinking one of the torpedo boats. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
30 Dec 1940

Atlantic Ocean
  • British ship Calcium hit a mine in the North Sea (killing 1), and then collided with British ship Sodium. Calcium would ultimately sink. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
14 Feb 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • British motor torpedo boat MTB.41 hit a mine and sank in the North Sea, killing 8. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
7 Mar 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • 12 motor torpedo boats of German 3rd Flotilla attacked British ships of convoys FN.426 and FS.429 off Cromer, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, sinking 6. The ships lost were 957-ton Norman Queen (by S-101, Christiansen; 14 killed), 2,345-ton Corduff (by S-28, Klug; 7 killed), 1,049-ton Rye (by S-27, Büchting; 24 killed), 1,047-ton Kenton (by S-31, Meyer), 4,805-ton Boulderpool (by S-61, Gernet), and 1,547-ton Togston (by S-102, Töniges; 19 killed). ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC, HM]
  • The 934-ton merchant steamer Flashlight, carrying 1,150 tons of coal, was attacked by German aircraft 40 miles east of the Humber Estuary on the east coast of England, United Kingdom. The damage of near misses floundered the vessel; the crew all survived. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
29 Apr 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • 10 miles off the coast of England, United Kingdom in the North Sea, German motor torpedo boats sank British ship Ambrose Fleming, killing 11. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
29 May 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 407-ton German weather-reporting trawler August Wriedt was captured by the destroyer HMS Bedouin (Commander J. A. McCoy RN) in the North Sea heading for Greenland. She was later taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Maria. ww2dbase [North Sea | AC]
10 Jun 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • British steamship Royal Scot struck an acoustic mine in the North Sea, east-south-east of Spurn Point, England, United Kingdom, and sank. British patrol vessel HMS Pintail, providing escort for the convoy, sailed toward the sinking site to rescue survivors. Pintail struck a mine as well, sinking quickly and killing 7 officers (including commanding officer Lieutenant John Leopold Elphinstone McClintock) and 48 ratings; 22 survived. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC, HM]
23 Jun 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 5,265-ton merchant steamer Trelissick was bombed and sunk by German aircraft 3.5 miles off the Sheringham Buoy in the North Sea off the Norfolk coast, England, United Kingdom. She was making her way in ballast from London to the River Tyne, Northumberland. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
  • Converted trawler-minesweeper HMT Nogi was attacked and sunk by German aircraft north of Cromer, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
25 Aug 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • British anti-submarine trawler HMS Vascama and a British Catalina aircraft sank German submarine U-452 with depth charges in the North Sea, killing all 42 aboard. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
3 Oct 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • German bombers attacked and damaged British destroyer HMS Vivacious in the North Sea. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
2 Dec 1941

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 6,968-ton tanker British Captain was sunk by a German mine off Cromer, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
18 Feb 1942

Atlantic Ocean
4 Mar 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 6,675-ton British steam merchant Frumenton, carrying 10,393 tons of wheat, struck a mine eleven miles east of Great Yarmouth, England, United Kingdom and sank whilst on passage from St John's to London. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
11 Mar 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 951-ton coastal collier Horseferry was attacked and torpedoed by a German E-boat, east of Cromer Knoll, Norfolk, England. Eleven of her crew were killed in the attack. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | North Sea | HM]
13 Mar 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 1,459-ton Swedish cargo ship Hermod was on a voyage from Rotterdam, the Netherlands to Helsingborg, Sweden when she was torpedoed by a British MTB-boat and sank off Terschelling, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
  • The 4,398-ton German-controlled Belgian steam merchant Liège was torpedoed by a British motor torpedo boat and sank off Terschelling, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
26 Mar 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • The Dutch steam trawler Corrie, built in 1900 by Cochrane & Cooper Ltd. and owned at the time of her loss by N. V. Vissch Maats Corrie of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, was sunk in the North Sea by Royal Navy motor torpedo boats. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
3 Apr 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-702 became missing in the North Sea 100 miles off the Norwegian coast; all 44 aboard were never seen again. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
8 Apr 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 2,374-ton steam merchant Ara was a Swedish refrigerated cargo steamer that was mined in the North Sea near the Island of Borkum, Helgoland, Germany. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
14 May 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • German minesweeping trawler M-1307 struck a friendly mine and sank in the North Sea. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
27 May 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • British minesweeper HMS Fitzroy hit a British mine and sank in the North Sea 43 miles east of Great Yarmouth, England, United Kingdom; 12 were killed. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
7 Jun 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • Vickers Wellington Mk III bomber No. X3279 (JN-M) piloted by Flying Officer Malcolm Blunt RAAF 150 RAF-squadron had taken off from RAF Snaith near Goole, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom on a bombing raid on the port of Emden, Germany. The bomber was attacked and shot down over the Dutch coast by the German night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Ludwig Becker of 6/NJG 2 flying a Do 215 B-5 aircraft based at Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. The bomber crashed into the Waddenzee region of the North Sea killing all six of the crew. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
14 Jul 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • Cruiser Köln began a minelaying operation in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Köln | North Sea | CPC]
  • In the North Sea, the survivors of American freighter Carlton, which had sank on 5 Jul 1942, was discovered by German submarine U-376; he survivors refused German medical assistance, accepting only rations, blankets, and cigarettes. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | North Sea | CPC]
15 Jul 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • Cruiser Köln completed a minelaying operation in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Köln | North Sea | CPC]
20 Nov 1942

Atlantic Ocean
  • Wing Commander H. D. Fraser led 25 aircraft, nine of which carried torpedoes, from No. 236 Squadron RAF to attack a convoy off the Dutch coast. It was a shambles. The promised fighter escort failed to show up, three Beaufighters were shot down, seven more damaged and two crashed at Donna Nook and North Coates, both of which in Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom. Their only success was to sink a German tug. ww2dbase [North Sea | AC]
26 Feb 1943

Atlantic Ocean
  • Whilst attacking USAAF bombers returning to their bases in England, United Kingdom, German nightfighter pilot Ludwig Becker was shot down over the North Sea off Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands and killed. Earlier that day he had been given command of 12. Staffel of NJG 1 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He had 44 confirmed kills. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
12 Mar 1943

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 3,176-ton French steam merchant Dalila was torpedoed by British boats in the North Sea off the coast of Gravelines, France. She had been scuttled in the arsenal of Cherbourg, France on 18 Jun 1940 on the orders of the British Admiralty. She was refloated and seized by the Germans in 1941. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
28 Mar 1943

Atlantic Ocean
  • The German patrol boat V-2018 (Vogtland) of 20th Vorpostenboot Flotilla based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands was heavily damaged by a mine off Terschelling, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
29 Mar 1943

Atlantic Ocean
  • The German patrol boat V-2018 (Vogtland), damaged from a mine on the previous day off Terschelling, the Netherlands, was placed under tow. While being towed, she struck another mine and was destroyed. Four men on board were killed. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
18 Apr 1943

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 4,906-ton Norwegian motor tanker Hoegh Carrier had come under German control in 1940 and had served out of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She was located, attacked, and sunk by British aircraft off Den Helder, the northernmost part of the Netherlands. Two of her crew were killed in the bombing. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
7 May 1943

Atlantic Ocean
14 May 1943

Atlantic Ocean
  • Twenty year old The Honourable Thomas Henry Sackville was the son of Herbrand Edward Brassey Sackville, 9th Earl of De la Warr; he was a Flying Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Squadron 613 based at RAF Wellingore only 10 miles from the RAF College at Cranwell, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom. He and New Zealander Flight Lieutenant W. J. Dooley were flying RAF Mustang aircraft in a fighter sweep over northern Europe when they were jumped by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 Feldwebel M. Winkler of 2./JG 27. Winkler shot down both the Mustang fighters which crashed into the North Sea. Sackville's aircraft broke up on hitting the water and he was killed. Dooley ditched his Mustang I AP207 and was picked up by a Dornier Do 24 Flying Boat and taken as a prisoner of war. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
  • Lancaster I bomber W4110 of No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron piloted by 23-year-old Flying Officer William Rail, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from Vumba, Southern Rhodesia was shot down by nightfighter pilot Unteroffizier Karl-Gustav Pfeiffer of IV/NJG 1 and crashed into the North Sea west of Den Helder, the Netherlands. The aircraft had been returning to RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom after a raid on Pilzen, Czechoslovakia. All seven of the crew were killed and were later named on the Runnymede Memorial on Cooper's Hill in Runnymede, Surrey, England. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
11 Mar 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • Aircraft of No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted minelaying operations off of Helgoland, Germany. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
18 Mar 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • Aircraft of No. 466 Squadron RAAF conducted minelaying operations in the North Sea off of Helgoland, Germany. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
21 May 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • Flying Officer Cornelius G. Hogelin was returning from a mission in northern Germany when his P-51 B Mustang fighter-bomber (43-24783) developed engine trouble as he was over the North Sea. He lost his life after radioing that he was ditching 16 kilometres west of Den Haag, the Netherlands. He was stationed at RAF Bottisham near Cambridge, England, United Kingdom and was in the 361st Fighter Wing. Aircraft belonging to this wing could be identified by a yellow cowling and stripe on the tail of their planes. Hogelin's body was never found and his name is entered upon the USAAF Memorial Wall in Cambridge. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
14 Jul 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • From the North Sea, British carrier task force under Admiral Moore unsuccessfully attacked German battleship Tirpitz in Kaafjord, Norway. ww2dbase [Tirpitz | North Sea | CPC]
18 Jul 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • A Mosquito aircraft of the British No. 333 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF damaged German submarine U-286 in the North Sea; 1 was killed, 7 were wounded. U-286 would be able to sail to Kristiansand, Norway later on the same day. ww2dbase [North Sea | CPC]
22 Oct 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • A Heinkel III aircraft from German Air Force 1/KG53 (5K+ER) crashed into the North Sea off Zandvoort, the Netherlands; one of the crew Obergefreiter Walter Hasler was drowned getting free on the aircraft, the rest were picked up. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
24 Oct 1944

Atlantic Ocean
  • Two new Stafflen (squadrons) were now introduced into operations with German Air Force III/KG3, with the group having bourne the brunt of the past weeks' action. Two of the new Heinkel bombers were shot down on their first night. Flight Lieutenant Desmond Tull DFC, flying a Beaufighter aircraft of the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) shot down the first 60 miles east of Great Yarmouth, England, United Kingdom; this was Tull's 9th victory. The other was attacked by Flight Officer Bill Beadle (HK310/VA-J) of 125 Squadron; the German pilot nursed his badly damaged aircraft back with a dead crewman; the aircraft was a total loss after catching fire on the runway. ww2dbase [North Sea | HM]
27 Jan 1945

Atlantic Ocean
  • After sundown, HMS Diadem and HMS Mauritius engaged in combat with German destroyers in the North Sea; German destroyer Z31 was heavily damaged during the engagement, but would survive to return to port. ww2dbase [Mauritius | North Sea | CPC]
12 Mar 1945

Atlantic Ocean
  • The 1,743-ton steam passenger ship Paris, seized by the Germans and used as troop transport for the Kriegsmarine since 21 Aug 1940 and then a minesweeper mother ship since 3 Jun 1941, was hit by two torpedoes from the Shetland-based motor torpedo boat MTB-711 (with Norwegian crew) and sank in seconds off KvaløytÃ¥ light, Haugesund, Norway. 86 were killed, some of whom were Norwegian, 70 were rescued. ww2dbase [Conclusion of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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