List of shipwrecks in December 1918

The list of shipwrecks in December 1918 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during December 1918.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

December 1918
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31	Unknown date
References

1 December

List of shipwrecks: 1 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Einswarden	Imperial German Navy	The Einswarden-class Vorpostenboot was sunk by mines in the German Bight.
Sea Gull	United Kingdom	The tug, towing coal barge Margarida (  United Kingdom ) from the Tyne for Boulogne, France, was stranded on the Goodwin Sands, off Kent, England, rolling over and becoming a wreck. The crew were rescued by the boat of Margarida, which had been kept from stranding. [1] [2]
Tours	France	The steamer was beached/wrecked on Gower Rocks in bad weather at the foot of the Pwlldu Head cliff, located near Swansea Wales, United Kingdom, and was abandoned. Refloated in July 1919 and towed to Swansea. [3] [4]

2 December

List of shipwrecks: 2 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Tours	France	The ship ran aground in Deepslade Bay. She was on a voyage from Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Inférieure to Swansea, Glamorgan, United Kingdom. Tours was refloated on 29 June 1919. [5]

3 December

List of shipwrecks: 3 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
George H. Van Vleck	United States	The steamer foundered in the Detroit River near Ecorse, Michigan, obstructing the channel. Wreck removal work finished 5 April 1919. [6] [7]
Mineola	United States	The forward half of the steamer (she had been cut in two to facilitate passage through the Welland Canal) foundered in a severe snowstorm in Lake Ontario five miles (8.0 km) south of Duck Island. Lost with all 11 hands. [8]

4 December

List of shipwrecks: 4 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Kum-Chow	Burma	The steamship departed from Rangoon for Colombo, Ceylon. No further trace, reported missing. [9]

5 December

List of shipwrecks: 5 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
HMS Cassandra	Royal Navy	Russian Civil War: British campaign in the Baltic: The C-class cruiser struck a mine and sank in the Gulf of Finland with the loss of ten of her 400 crew. [10]

6 December

List of shipwrecks: 6 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Capt. Jack	United States	The lighter sank at New London Navy Yard, New London, Connecticut, when an extremely low tide caused her to settle on a pile which penetrated her bottom. [11]

7 December

List of shipwrecks: 7 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Gerisoles	United States	The cargo ship foundered in Lake Superior with the loss of all hands. [12]
Inkerman	United States	The cargo ship foundered in Lake Superior with the loss of all hands. [12]

8 December

List of shipwrecks: 8 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Minola	United States	The cargo ship foundered in Lake Ontario. [12]
North West	United States	The cargo ship foundered in Lake Ontario. [12]

9 December

List of shipwrecks: 9 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Eva C.	Newfoundland	The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean ( 42°00′N86°00′W / 42.000°N 86.000°W / 42.000; -86.000 ). Her crew were rescued. [13]

10 December

List of shipwrecks: 10 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Moto	United Kingdom	The cargo ship collided with a warship and sank in the North Sea 20 nautical miles (37 km) north of the mouth of the River Tyne. Her crew were rescued. [14]

11 December

List of shipwrecks: 11 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
USS Lake Bloomington	United States Navy	The cargo ship grounded and sunk east of Point de la Combre, France, at the mouth of the Gironde River. [15]
Richard	United States	The lighter was beached near the Central Vermont Dock, New London, Connecticut, to keep her from sinking. [11]

12 December

List of shipwrecks: 12 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Helen Stewart	United Kingdom	The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean 12 nautical miles (22 km) north of Graciosa, Canary Islands, Spain. Her eight crew survived. [16]

13 December

List of shipwrecks: 13 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Rudmore	United Kingdom	The cargo ship collided with Crown of Galicia (  United Kingdom ) and sank in the River Thames at Purfleet, Essex. Her crew were rescued. [17]

15 December

List of shipwrecks: 15 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Grecian Prince	United Kingdom	The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with the loss of six of her eight crew. [18]
Sehome	United States	The passenger ship collided with General Frisbie (  United States) and sank in San Francisco Bay with the loss of two of her crew. [13]

16 December

List of shipwrecks: 16 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Nils	Norway	The cargo ship struck a submerged wreck at New York, United States and was beached. [16]
Tacoma	United States	Out of service and anchored with no one on board in the harbor at Metlakatla in Southeast Alaska, the 11-ton, 35.7-foot (10.9 m) fishing vessel broke loose from her anchorage during a gale and drifted onto a reef in the harbor, where waves battered her to pieces. [19]

17 December

List of shipwrecks: 17 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Margaret Ann	United Kingdom	The schooner was abandoned in the Irish Sea off the Crow Rock. [16]
Silex	United States	The steam-powered canal boat sank near Essex, Connecticut. [11]

19 December

List of shipwrecks: 21 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
George Loomis	United States	The steamship departed from San Francisco, California for Marshfield, Oregon. No further trace, reported missing. [9]

20 December

List of shipwrecks: 20 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Gitano	United Kingdom	The steamship was sighted off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire whilst on a voyage from Hull, Yorkshire to Gothenburg, Sweden. No further trace, reported missing. [9]

21 December

List of shipwrecks: 21 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Killarney	United States	The 13-gross register ton motor vessel departed Petersburg, Territory of Alaska, bound for a cannery at Thomas Bay in Southeast Alaska with three people and a cargo of approximately five tons of salt, coal, cans, and groceries aboard and was never seen again. [20]

22 December

List of shipwrecks: 22 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Privateer	United Kingdom	The steam paddle tug, on a voyage from Le Tréport to the River Tyne, ran ashore at Équihen near Boulogne-sur-Mer, France and became a total loss. The crew were saved. [21] [22]

24 December

List of shipwrecks: 24 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Aryan	United States	The barque burned in the Pacific Ocean 260 miles (420 km) east of the Chatham Islands. One lifeboat with her captain and 12 people reached Kaingaroa, Chatham Islands. The other lifeboat with nine crewmen never reached land. [23] [24]

26 December

List of shipwrecks: 26 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Scow No. 12	United States	The scow sank near the wharf of the Bay State Dredging Company, East Boston, Massachusetts. [25]
Spartak	Soviet Navy	Russian Civil War: British campaign in the Baltic: Battle of Revel: The Kapitan Izylmetyev-class destroyer ran aground on the Develsej Bank on the approaches to Tallinn while under pursuit by HMS Calypso and HMS Caradoc (both   Royal Navy) and was captured. Refloated and transferred to Estonia as Wambola (  Estonian Navy). [26]

27 December

List of shipwrecks: 27 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
USS Teaser	United States Navy	The patrol vessel was destroyed by fire in Hampton Roads, Virginia. [27]

28 December

List of shipwrecks: 28 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
USS Tenadores	United States Navy	The cargo ship ran aground in dense fog on the Île d'Yeu, Vendée. Salvage efforts were abandoned on 2 January 1919 because she had rolled on her side and was breaking up. [15] [28]
USS Lake Weston	United States Navy	The Lake-class cargo ship stranded on the rocks about one mile (1.6 km) west of Nash Point in the Bristol Channel, Great Britain. Declared a total loss and stripped. The wreck was later sold, salvaged and returned to commercial service by new owners. [15] [29]

29 December

List of shipwrecks: 29 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Merida	United Kingdom	The cargo ship was wrecked in the English Channel off Le Touquet, Pas-de-Calais, France. [30]

30 December

List of shipwrecks: 30 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
USS Katherine W. Cullen	United States Navy	The barge sank while in tow of USS Heron (  United States Navy), 15 miles (24 km) southeast from Boston Light, Massachusetts. [15] [31]

31 December

List of shipwrecks: 31 December 1918

Ship	State	Description
Arendal	United States	The 123.58-foot (37.67 m), 210-gross register ton three-masted schooner was abandoned along the coast of Wisconsin. She subsequently deteriorated into a wreck. [32]
Manda	United Kingdom	The fishing vessel departed from Grimsby, Lincolnshire. No further trace, reported missing. [9]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1918

Ship	State	Description
Benito Juarez	United States	The steamer foundered in a north east gale in Pacific Ocean off Molokai, Hawaii ( 21°36′00″N156°11′00″W / 21.60000°N 156.18333°W / 21.60000; -156.18333 ) on either 3, 10, or 12 December. Nine crewmen were killed. [33] [14] [34]
N F Co. No. 1	United States	The 30-ton scow was wrecked in Washington Bay ( 56°43′00″N134°23′20″W / 56.71667°N 134.38889°W / 56.71667; -134.38889 (Washington Bay) ) in Southeast Alaska. [35]
Pioneer	United States	With no one on board, the 11-gross register ton, 33.5-foot (10.2 m) fishing vessel sank in the harbor at Metlakatla, Territory of Alaska. [36]
SM U-3	United Kingdom	The Type U-3 submarine foundered while under tow.
Undola	New South Wales	The steamship departed from Bellambi for Sydney. No further trace, reported missing. [9]
Yâdigâr-ı-Millet (aka Jadhigar-i-Millet)	Ottoman Navy	The salvaged S165-class destroyer sank at her dock at Istanbul, Turkey. Raised in 1924 and scrapped.

References

1. "Shipwreck on Goodwins". Evening Express. No. 12683. Aberdeen. 2 December 1918. p. 3. Retrieved 18 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Loss of Life at Sea". Daily Record. No. 22427. Glasgow. 2 December 1918. p. 3. Retrieved 18 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Tours". Wrecksite. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
4. "American Marine Engineer March, 1920". Unknown. Retrieved 20 August 2020– via Haithi Trust.
5. Tovey, Ron. "A Chronology of Bristol Channel Shipwrecks" (PDF). Swansea Docks. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
6. "Annual report of the chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers Year ending June 30, 1919". Government Printing Office, Washington. 1919. Retrieved 14 August 2019– via Googlebooks.
7. "George H. Van Vleck (Propeller), U150042, fire, 3 Aug 1914". maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
8. "Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1919". Government Printing Office, Washington. Retrieved 14 August 2019– via Haithi Trust.
9. Returns of Vessels Totally Lost, Condemned, &c, 1st January to 31st March, 1919 (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1919. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
10. "Soviet Naval Battles during Civil War (Redone)". Soviet-Empire. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
11. "Records of the T. A. Scott co". mysticseaport.org. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
12. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 41969. London. 10 December 1918. col C, p. 14.
13. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 41975. London. 17 December 1918. col D, p. 16.
14. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 41972. London. 13 December 1918. col E, p. 14.
15. "U. S. Navy Ships Sunk or Damaged from Various Causes during World War I". usmm.org. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
16. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 41976. London. 18 December 1918. col D, p. 14.
17. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 41973. London. 14 December 1918. col F, p. 14.
18. "Trawler mined and sunk". The Times. No. 41974. London. 16 December 1918. col A, p. 8.
19. "Alaska Shipwrecks (T) – Alaska Shipwrecks". alaskashipwreck.com.
20. "Alaska Shipwrecks (K) – Alaska Shipwrecks". alaskashipwreck.com.
21. "Lloyd's Telegrams". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. No. 14133. 30 December 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 7 November 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
22. Returns of Vessels Totally Lost, Condemned, &c, 1st October to 31st December 1918 (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. August 1919. p. 7. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
23. "Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1919". Harvard University. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
24. "Aryan (+1918)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
25. "Records of the T. A. Scott co". mysticseaport.org. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
26. "Soviet Naval Battles during Civil War (Redone)". Soviet-Empire. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
27. "U. S. Navy Ships Sunk or Damaged from Various Causes during World War I". usmm.org. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
28. "Tenadores". history.navy.mil. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
29. "S.S. Lake Weston (American Freighter, 1918) Originally named War Swift. Served as USS Lake Weston (ID # 2926) in 1918-1919. Later renamed Panaghis Vergottis, Strand, Rundo, Salt, Solbritt, and Fidelia". Shipscribe. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
30. "Merida". Uboat.net. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
31. "Katherine W. Cullen". history.navy.mil. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
32. "Arendal - WI Shipwrecks". www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org.
33. "Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1919". Government Printing Office, Washington. Retrieved 14 August 2019– via Haithi Trust.
34. "Benito Juarez (+1918)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
35. "Alaska Shipwrecks (N) – Alaska Shipwrecks". alaskashipwreck.com.
36. "Alaska Shipwrecks (P) – Alaska Shipwrecks". alaskashipwreck.com.