15,399 ships were sunk in World War II, with a tonnage of 43,658,518 and 567,618 casualities. Sunken Ships of the Second World War presents the data as a handsome single-serve site. You can click on individual dots to find out data on the specific incident.
This dashboard maps out the locations of more than 15,227 ships that were sunk during the Second World War as a result of self-inflicted or enemy action (i.e. not included are ships sunk as a result of natural disasters or accidents). Data on another 4,787 ships was also collected but these are not mapped because of the lack of location data.
Location data may not be exact. This information is sometimes a generalized location (e.g. 50W, 42N) or a best guess. There are undoubtedly errors in the data. If you discover any, please let me know. This is a work in progress.
The northernmost I found was a Norwegian sealer taken out in a Luftwaffe bombing. The ship's name will take you to the War Archives of Norway.
On board was a force of 82 men, whose task it was to regain control of Svalbard (Operation Fritham). They got as far as Isfjord on May 13, but in Grønfjord the ice stopped them, and the next evening 4 German aircraft attacked (Focke Wulf Condors, according to the external link below), hitting Isbjørn with 2 bombs which immediately sank her. Selis was hit shortly thereafter and caught on fire. 12 were killed and 15 wounded. The rest scattered on the ice and were able to avoid the machine gun fire. The survivors rescued some weapons and equipment from Selis and managed to get to Barentsburg, where they were assisted by a British Naval Force on July 2.
The daughter of that ship's doctor commented on the archive there in 2002:
I can confirm that my father was the doctor, Per Hønningstad, born on 6th July 1906, died in april 1975. He was on the sealcatcher Selis, who also got caught on fire, and 12 were killed and 15 wounded. My father, Per Hønningstad later got the British Empire medal for rescuing 9 Englishmen also at Svalbard.
Someone knows this history? I am interested in being connected.Regards
Gerd Hønningstad
