Is there a list of ships sunk by the Luftwaffe?

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Paul Thompson

Hello Nick,

... Sorting through the diaries is a research task in itself!

Regards,

Paul

That's kind of the thing about research — it does entail a lot of footslogging to get to what you want. As for being surprised no one else has published about this, you could [activate business-speak] see it as an opportunity [end business-speak]. If you wanted to do something on this you'd have the field to yourself!

More seriously, if you were to start a list and post updates here or on a web page, you would probably find that people would contribute additions and corrections

[Juha]

In fact Chronik des Seekrieges is an updated and enlarged version of the Rohwer's and Hummelchen's book. If one can read German it is better to use the website.

[Juha]

BTW, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...September_1940

etc is surprisingly good.

[Larry deZeng]

Paul -

Three helpful websites worth examining:

http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html
http://www.schiffswrackliste.de/

Within the past two years, several individuals active on Axis History Forum have stated that they are working on comprehensive lists of WWII ships sunk or damaged by aircraft. Some searching over there might lead you to these individuals.

Larry

[Dénes Bernád]

When I worked on "From Barbarossa to Odessa" project, I had very hard time in finding precise data on Soviet ships sunken by the Luftwaffe (and, to a lesser extent, by ARR). Nevertheless, I hope I managed to capture most such incidents that happened in the North-Western area of the Black Sea, between June and October 1941.

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Brian Bines

Paul, I have only used the site I mentioned in respect of some research I done for one of my neighbours a RN vet. I thought it might have been of some use to you. The Book "Kampfgeschwader 100 Wiking" by Ulf Balke includes chapters on shipping attacks by that unit including the sinking of the Roma and attack on the Warspite etc.,

Regards
Brian Bines

Brian, thank you for these additional thoughts, I've sent you a private message about this.

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

That's kind of the thing about research — it does entail a lot of footslogging to get to what you want. As for being surprised no one else has published about this, you could [activate business-speak] see it as an opportunity [end business-speak]. If you wanted to do something on this you'd have the field to yourself!

More seriously, if you were to start a list and post updates here or on a web page, you would probably find that people would contribute additions and corrections

Nick, I wholly agree with your thoughts about research, having done a bit of it on Luftwaffe strengths and losses. I must admit that the prospect of becoming "Paul Thompson, the eminent expert on Luftwaffe naval operations" appeals to my vanity! Time, as ever, is the issue.

I think your idea of starting an online list is eminently sensible and I'll do that, after checking with the AxisHistory members mentioned by Larry. I want to make sure I won't be duplicating somebody else's work, although I may exaggerate the danger!

Regards,

Paul

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Juha

BTW, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...September_1940

etc is surprisingly good.

Juha,

That's right. Even though Wikipedia's reputation is deservedly bad, it is good at what it does, namely providing summaries of web sources. Uboat.net, Warsailors and Wrecksite have been brought together on the Wikipedia lists, the thing to do next is to verify the result and resolve discrepancies among the sources. I aim to start doing that on the blog that I've mentioned in my answer to Nick.

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Paul -

Three helpful websites worth examining:

http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html
http://www.schiffswrackliste.de/

Within the past two years, several individuals active on Axis History Forum have stated that they are working on comprehensive lists of WWII ships sunk or damaged by aircraft. Some searching over there might lead you to these individuals.

Larry

Larry, thank you again! I didn't know about Miramar Ship Index, that will be a most useful addition to the source collection. As mentioned above, I'll set about contacting the Axis History members.

Originally Posted by Dénes Bernád

When I worked on "From Barbarossa to Odessa" project, I had very hard time in finding precise data on Soviet ships sunken by the Luftwaffe (and, to a lesser extent, by ARR). Nevertheless, I hope I managed to capture most such incidents that happened in the North-Western area of the Black Sea, between June and October 1941.

Dénes, I have had exactly the same problem. I have got your book and will make use of it! I wonder, thinking of "the other side of the hill", do you happen to have a list of Romanian naval losses to aircraft? I am thinking especially of the vessels lost to air-dropped mines on the Danube, since these seem to have attracted very little coverage.

Regards,

Paul

[peter.r]

For British merchant vessels lost there is "British merchant vessels lost or damaged by enemy action during the second world war" its an old book published by the British Gov in 1947 and reprint by PSL in the 1970s or 1980s.Hope this is of some help.

[RT]

Wonder if one could guess the casualties, for all these losses ...probably tens of thousands

Rémi

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by peter.r

For British merchant vessels lost there is "British merchant vessels lost or damaged by enemy action during the second world war" its an old book published by the British Gov in 1947 and reprint by PSL in the 1970s or 1980s.Hope this is of some help.

peter.r,

Thank you, book will certainly prove useful! For the moment, I plan to concentrate purely on warships and use the books I've already got, for the simple reason that I have a busy schedule right now. Even so, I think that whatever lists I'll create will be of interest to TOCH members, since nobody has previously taken the trouble of extracting this information from titles like "Spitfires over Sicily". The authors of the books, including Brian and Dénes, will not read anything new, but perhaps they'll appreciate the publicity!

Two merchant marine books that I don't have and may well be very useful are "Shipping Company Losses of the Second World War" and "The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships". Comments from those who have read these would be welcome.

Originally Posted by RT

Wonder if one could guess the casualties, for all these losses ...probably tens of thousands

Rémi

Rémi,

Casualty totals for the US Merchant Marine are online here. The received figure for the British Merchant Navy seems to be "over 30,000", so you are correct regarding the magnitude of losses.

Regards,

Paul