British Vessels Lost and Damaged at Sea in World War 1

World War 1 at Sea

NOTES, ABBREVIATIONS and SOURCES for original project to update "British Vessels Lost at Sea ("BVLS"), 1914-1918", HMSO, 1919

Transport SS Aragon sinking off Alexandria 30 December 1917;
over 600 lives are being lost as this happens (Janet Mitchell - click to enlarge)

back to Contents List

The Abbreviations and Sources following these notes, now apply to a number of other World War 1 Projects

NOTES for ORIGINAL "BVLS" PROJECT

General

(1) Sources in brackets after each entry start with + OR H for HMSO, followed by main sources in approximate publication date order e.g J for Jane's, C for Conway's etc. All other sources, which are in lower case, follow in alphabetical order.

(2) It is realised that some publications will have used the same primary sources for their information, but there are enough variations to warrant noting those that agree and disagree. This might help to highlight data about which there are doubts.

(3) Within a given area e.g. North Sea, ships attacked are generally listed in order North to South, and West to East; the exception is the English Channel which goes East to West, or down-Channel.

(4) Ships in BOLD capitals are those sunk or otherwise lost; in lower case bold, attacked and/or damaged. Variations in the published information are in brackets starting with an abbreviation for the source e.g. (wi - in 53.50N, 00.50E).

(5) Loss, attack and damage dates are normally those given in the original HSMO publication. Corrections, often the result of later and more accurate research, are included in the entry in bold.

(6) Time of attack and time of sinking appear to be used interchangeably in most sources. Unless the vessel exploded or sank almost instantly (for example, an ammunition or iron ore ship), there would be a delay of from minutes to hours or even days between damage inflicted and ship disappearing beneath the water or being beached. Where possible, these differences are identified.

(7) Times of sinking may be British or German depending on the source - there is usually a 1 hour difference

(8) All identified loss positions are quoted, whether bearings or latitude and longitude. Variations may be due to a number of reasons including incorrect transcription. No attempt has been made to reconcile the differences.

(9) Where two U-boat attack positions are quoted, mainly by U-boat.net, both are quoted without comment.

Warships

(10) Warship information is generally in the order - type, class, displacement tonnage, launch year, armament, speed, crew, captain if known, unit, operation if known. How sunk or damaged, lives lost (in brackets: source abbreviations starting with + for original HMSO)

(11) Auxiliary and hired vessel information is in the order - gross tonnage/build year, owner, registration port or place of ownership/ management, crew if known, master or skipper, voyage and cargo, conditions if known. How sunk or damaged, lives lost (source abbreviations starting with + for original HMSO)

Merchant Vessels

(12) Merchant ship and fishing vessel information is generally in the order - gross tonnage/build year, owner, registration port or place of ownership/management, crew if known, master or skipper, voyage and cargo, conditions if known. How sunk or damaged, lives lost (source abbreviations starting with + for original HMSO)

(13) Three items of information, the first two from the original HMSO lists, have been excluded to save space. (i) All merchant ships and fishing vessels torpedoed, were ATTACKED WITHOUT WARNING; (ii) if no casualties are shown, NO LIVES WERE LOST; (iii) all sinkings and attacks were by GERMAN SUBMARINES or U-boats unless otherwise stated.

(14) All merchant ships are steamships, unless otherwise identified, and mainly cargo ships - "cargo steamship" is sometimes added as a reminder. Where known, liners, passenger & cargo ships, and colliers are identified, plus tankers, tugs, dredgers etc. Those carrying coal may be colliers but this is not assumed.

(15) Merchant ships have their gross registered tonnage (grt) first and then year of build. Even small differences in grt are usually noted. Searching the internet for ships whose names are in common use e.g. SS New York City, can be helped by adding the correct grt in the search box.

(16) Some colliers sunk and damaged may have been Admiralty-chartered, but unless specifically listed as such, are included with the merchant ships.

(17) Merchant vessel ownership is often a total puzzle, and little attempt has been made to sort them out. Instead, variations are usually noted without comment, and even these may be wrong or misleading or just out-of-date due to change of ownership. The companies named may include holding companies, subsidiaries, charterers, managers, etc., and the place names can be ports of registration or locations of offices.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN TEXT

+	listed in original British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1914-18
*	bar to gallantry award
AA	anti-aircraft gun
AB	Able Seaman
ABS	armed boarding steamer
Accom	accomodation
Adm	Admiral (flew flag at sea)
Adty	Admiralty
aka	also known as (e.g. Q-ship aliases)
AM	Albert Medal
AMC	armed merchant cruiser
A/No.	Admiralty Number
ANZAC	Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
A/P	Auxiliary Patrol or auxiliary patrol vessel
A/S	anti-submarine
B.	German destroyer built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
BC	British Columbia, Canada
BCF	Battle Cruiser Force
BCS	Battle Cruiser Squadron
BEF	British Expeditionary Force
Bros	Brothers
BS	Battle Squadron
c	circa or approximate
Capt	Captain
CB	Order of the Commander of the Bath
Cdr	Commander
Cdre	Commodore (flew broad pendant at sea)
C-in-C	commander-in-chief
CMB	coastal motor boat
CO	commanding officer
Co	company or County, mainly in Ireland
CPO	Chief Petty Officer
CS	Cruiser Squadron (heavy or large)
CTL	constructive total loss
CV	Cape Verde Islands
DBS	distressed British seamen
DCB	distance controlled boat
DF	Destroyer Flotilla
Div	Division of destroyers, part of a DF
DOW	died of wounds
DSC	Distinguished Service Cross
DSM	Distinguished Service Medal
DSO	Distinguished Service Order
Exam	Examination
ft	feet
G.	German destroyer built by Germaniawerft, Kiel
GC	George Cross
grt	gross registered tons, usually auxiliaries, merchant ships, fishing vessels
H.	German destroyer built by Howaldtswerke, Kiel
HA	high angle
HF	Half Flotilla = 1/2 German TBF
HM S/M	HM Submarine
HMS	His Majesty’s Ship
HMSO	His Majesty's Stationery Office, usually referring to British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18
HMT	HM Trawler
HQ	headquarters
HS	Hospital ship
HX	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
i/c	in command
in	inches, gun calibre
IoM	Isle of Man
IoW	Isle of Wight
Is	island
Ja	Jamaica
kts	knots
LCS	Light Cruiser Squadron
LH	lighthouse
LS	Leading Seaman
Lt	Lieutenant or light
Lt-Cdr	Lieutenant-Commander
LV	light vessel or ship
m	miles
M/S	minesweeper
mag	magnetic
Mass	Massachusetts, USA
MB	motor boat
Me	Maine, USA
mg	machine gun(s)
MID	Mentioned in Dispatches
Mid	Midshipman
min	minutes
Misc	miscellaneous
Mk	mark
ML	motor launch
mm	millimeters
MMR	Merchant Marine Reserve
MN	Merchant Navy
Mon	Monmouthshire, now Gwent, S Wales
Mr	Master or mister, merchant ship captain
MS	merchant seamen
MTB	motor torpedo boat
NB	New Brunswick, Canada
NF	Newfoundland
No.	Number
Nos	Numbers
NS	Nova Scotia, Canada
NSW	New South Wales, Australia
NZ	New Zealand
Ore	Oregon, USA
P/No.	Pendant Number
pdr	pounder, shell weight
PO	Petty Officer
POW	prisoner(s) of war
Pt	Point
PT	prize trawler
QARNNS
QF	quick firing
Q-ship	submarine decoy ship, possibly Q for Queenstown, Ireland
RAF	Royal Air Force
RAMC	Royal Army Medical Corps
RAN	Royal Australian Navy
RD	Reserve Decoration
Reg	port of registration; for fishing vessels followed, if known, by port abbreviation and
RFA	Royal Fleet Auxiliary
RFC	Royal Flying Corps (Army)
RFR	Royal Fleet Reserve
RIM	Royal Indian Marine
RM	Royal Marine(s)
RMA	Royal Marine Artillery
RMLI	Royal Marine Light Infantry
RN	Royal Navy
RNAS	Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Naval Air Station
RNLI	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
RNR	Royal Naval Reserve
RNVR	Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Rtd	retired
S.	German destroyer built by F Schichau, Elbing
sec	seconds
SG	Scouting Group (German BCS)
SP	Steam Packet (company)
Sqn	Squadron
SS	steamship or Steam Ship (company) or Steam Shipping (company)
SSV	special service vessel
St	Saint, ship’s names may sometimes use both Saint and the abbreviation
Sub-Lt	Sub-Lieutenant
t	tons displacement, usually warships, or weight of cargo
TB	torpedo boat
TBF	Torpedo Boat Flotilla (German DF)
TM	Thames Measurement tonnage
T/S	training ship
tt	torpedo tube(s)
U.	German submarine or U-boat
UB.	small German coastal submarine
UC.	German coastal minelaying submarine
V.	German destroyer built by A G Vulcan, Stettin
Va	Virginia, USA
VC	Victoria Cross
W/T	wireless telegraphy
yds	yards
ZHF	Zeebrugge Half Flotilla

INFORMATION SOURCE ABBREVIATIONS

Primary Sources (in order used)

H or +	British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18, HMSO, August 1919
J	Jane's Fighting Ships of World War 1, Studio edition, 1990
J	Jane's Fighting Ships, Sampson Low Marston, 1914
L	Lloyds War Losses, the First World War: Casualties to Shipping through Enemy Causes 1914-1918, Lloyds Official List, c 1919
Lr	Lloyds Register of Shipping, various - 1912/13 to 1916/17
Mn	History of the Great War, The Merchant Navy, 3 volumes by Archibald Hurd, John Murray 1921-29
Rn	History of the Great War: Naval Operations, 5 vols with 4 vols of maps by Julian S Corbett & Henry Newbolt, Longmans, Green, 1920-31
C	Ships of the Royal Navy, Volumes 1 & 2 by J J Colledge, 1989
C	Ships of the Royal Navy: A supplement to the historical index by J J Colledge, 1986
Cn	Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, Conway Maritime Press 1979
Cn	Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921, Conway Maritime Press 1985
Cn	Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, Conway Maritime Press 1980
D	British Warships 1914-1919 by F J Dittmar & J J Colledge, Ian Allan, 1972
He	British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era 1860-1919 by David Hepper, Chatham Publishing 2006 (sources also quoted as ADM - Admiralty record number)
un	Uboat.net is now included as a primary source for U-boat attacks

Secondary Sources (in alphabetical order)

ad	Mr Aled Williams of Cardiff (email correspondent)
al	Anglesey & Lleyn Shipwrecks by Ian Skidmore, Christopher Davies 1992
an	The Army's Navy: British Military Vessels and their History since Henry VIII by David Habesch, Chatham Publishing 2001
ap	The Auxiliary Patrol by E Keble Chatterton, Sidgwick & Jackson 1923
as	The Great War at Sea 1914-1918 by A A Hoehling, Corgi 1965
aw	Allenby's War: The Palestine-Arabian Campaigns Blandford Press, 19881916-1918 by David L Bullock,
ba	British Airships, Past, Present and Future by George Whale, c 1920's, internet site
bb	Battlebags, British Airships of The First World War by Ces Mowthorne, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1995
bg	Business in Great Waters, The U-boat Wars 1916-1945 by John Terraine, Leo Cooper 1989
bh	Battles and Honours of the Royal Navy by David A Thomas, Leo Cooper 1998
bi	The Big Blockade by E Keble Chatterton, Hurst & Blackett, post-WW1
bm	Brixham Built, Owned or Registered Fishing Vessels lost to U-Boats in WW1, for Gordon Smith by Mike Miller, 2003compiled
bo	Boston Deep Sea Fisheries: The Story of One of Britain's Major Fishing Companies by Mark Stopper and Ray Maltby, 1995
bp	The British Tankers (BP Tanker fleets) by Norman L Middlemass, Shield Publications 1989
br	British Standard Ships of World War 1 by W H Mitchell and L A Sawyer, Sea Breezes 1968
bs	British Submarines in the Great War by Edwyn Gray, Leo Cooper, 2001
bt	Before the Aircraft Carrier, The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922 by R D Layman, Conway Maritime Press 1989
bw	Beneath the Waves, A History of HM Submarine Losses 1904-1971 by A.S. Evans, William Kimber 1986
ch	Chronology of the Great War, originally published 1918-1920, Greenhill Books edition 1988
co	A Companion to the Royal Navy by David A Thomas, Harrap 1988
cs	Coastal & Short Sea Liners by C V Waine, Wayne Research Publications 1999
cu	Cunningham by John Winton, John Murray 1998
cw	Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to Present by Roger Chesneau, Brockhampton Press 1998
da	Dardanelles: A Midshipman's Diary 1915-19 by H M Denham, John Murray 1981
dc	Handbook of Depth Charges and Equipment - General and Operational Notes, Royal Navy 1943
dd	Endless Story, Being an Account of the Work of the Destroyers, Flotilla Leaders, Torpedo Boats and Patrol Boats in the Great War by Taffrail (Capt Taprell Dorling RN), Hodder & Stoughton 1931
dk	Mr Don Kindell of Ohio, USA, Royal Navy casualty data
dn	Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, internet site
do	A Dangerous Occupation, A Story of Paddle Minesweepers in the First World War by Chris Collard, Wheelhouse Books 1999
dp	The Dover Patrol, 1915-1917 in 2 vols by Adm Sir Reginald Bacon, Hutchinson 1919
dq	The Dover Patrol 1914-1918 by Roy Humphries, Sutton Publishing 1998
dx	Royal Navy Day by Day, edited by Lt Cdr R E A Shrubb RN and Capt A B Sainsbury RNR, 1st edition 1979; also by Capt A B Sainsbury and Lt-Cdr F L Phillips, 3rd edition 2005
ec	The Eclipse of the Big Gun: The Warship 1906-45, Conway's History of the Ship, 1992
ed	Elder Dempster Lines by Duncan Haws, Merchant Fleets, 1990
ev	Evolution of Engineering in the Royal Navy, Volume 1: 1827-1939 by Commander P M Rippon RN, Spellmount Ltd, 1988
fd	Fleetwood's Fishing Industry: The Story of Deep-Sea Fishing from Fleetwood, 1840- 1990 by Peter Horsley and Alan Hirst, 1991
fh	Furness-Houlder Lines by Norman L Middlemiss, Shield Publications 1991
ft	Fleetwood Trawler Losses by The Bosun's Watch 2004, internet site
gb	Gunboat - Small Ships at War by Bryan Perrett, Cassell & Co 2000
gc	George Cross (GC) Database, internet site
ge	The German Submarine War by R H Gibson & Maurice Prendergast, originally 1931, Periscope Publishing reprint
gf	The Grand Fleet, 1914-16, Its Creation, Development and Work Jellicoe, Cassell 1919by Adm of the Fleet Earl
gh	Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War by Adm Reinhard Scheer, Cassell 1919
go	RN Submarine Museum, Gosport, internet site
gr	Mr George Ransome - Royal Navy ship collisions
gs	Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks by Richard Larn, Newton Abbot 1977
gs	Yeoman of Signals George Smith RN, personal records of North Russian Expeditionary Force 1919
gw	The Great War: The Illustrated History of the First World War, edited by H W Wilson and J A Hammerton, 13 volumes, reprinted 1999
gy	Grimsby Fishing Vessel Losses, supplied by Steve Richards of Grimsby 2003
hb	Ms Heather Brewer (email correspondent)
hw	Hull Trawler Losses of World War 1by Hullwebs UK 2004, internet site
ja	Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting by John Campbell, Conway Maritime Press,1986
jm	Mr John Meadows of Lowestoft (email correspondent)
ju	Jutland 1916: Death in the Grey Wastes by Nigel Steel & Peter Hart, Cassell 2003
ke	British Warship Losses of the 20th Century by Paul Kemp, Sutton Publishing 1999
kp	Kaiser's Pirates, The: German Surface Raiders in World War One by John Walter, Arms & Armour Press 1994
kt	The Killing Time: the U-boat War 1914-18 by Edwin Gray, Seeley, Service & Co 1972
lg	The London Gazette - various
lt	A Century of Fishing, Fishing from Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, 1899-1999, compiled and published by Malcolm White
mc	150 Years of the Maltese Cross: the Story of Tyne, Blyth and Wear Tug Companies by John H Proud, 1993
md	Mediterranean Submarines - Submarine Warfare in World War One by Michael Wilson & Paul Kemp, Crecy, 1997
me	Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During The Great War 1914-1920, War Office, HMSO, March 1922
mf	The First World War: the Mediterranean Front 1914-1923 by Michael Hickey, Osprey
mh	Official History of the Great War, Medical Services General History
ms	Miramar Ship Index , also internet site
na	Naval Aviation in the First World War - It's Impact and Influence by R D Layman, Caxton Editions, 2002
nb	Naval Battles of the First World War by Geoffrey Bennett, Pan Books, 1983
nh	A Naval History of World War 1 by Paul G Halpern, UCL Press, 1994
ns	Century of North Sea Passenger Steamers, A by Ambrose Greenway, Ian Allan 1986
nw	The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1914-1918 by Paul G Halpern, Allen & Unwin 1987
on	100 Years of Royal Navy Submarines by Jeremy Flack, Airlife Publishing, 2002
os	Outrage at Sea, Naval Atrocities of the First World War by Tony Bridgland, Leo Cooper, 2002
pa	Mr Pat Gariepy, Oregon, US (email correspondent)
pb	Paddle Steamers of the Bristol Channel by Nigel Coombes, Twelveheads Press 1990
pd	Peterhead Fishing Vessel Losses, provided by George Strachan 2003
pg	Mr Peter George - fishing vessel information
pm	Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks by Ted Goddard, Hughes & Sons 1983
po	P & O, A Fleet History by Stephen Rabson & Kevin O'Donogue, World Ship Society 1988
ps	Paddle Steamers by Bernard Cox, Blandford Press 1979
pt	The Royal Navy at Portland since 1845 by Geoffrey Carter, Maritime Books, 1987
rf	The Russian Fleet, 1914-17 by Rene Greger, Ian Allan 1972
ry	The Rogue's Yarn: The Sea-going Life of Captain 'Joe' Oram edited by Wendy Harris, Combined Books 1993
sb	The World War One Source Book by Philip J Haythornthwaite, Arms & Armour Press 1998
sc	Swept Channels: Being an Account of the Work of the Minesweepers in the Great War by Taffrail, Hodder and Stoughton 1935
sf	The Steam Collier Fleets by J A MacRae & C V Waine, Wayne Research Publications 1990
se	Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy by Lt Cdr B Warlow RN, Maritime Books 2000
sh	British Shipbuilding Yards by Norman L Middlemiss in 3 Volumes, c1994-95
sk	Sea Killers in Disguise, Q Ships and Decoy Raiders by Tony Bridgland, Leo Cooper 1999
sl	The Anglo-Saxon/Shell Tankers by N L Middlemass, Shield Publications 1990
sm	Smoke on the Horizon, Mediterranean Fighting 1914-1918 by Vice-Admiral C V Usborne, Hodder and Stoughton 1933
sn	The Starvation Blockades: Naval Blockades of WW1 by Nigel Hawkins, Leo Cooper 2002
ss	The Sea is Strong by Admiral Sir Dudley de Chair, George G Harrap 1961
st	Stealth at Sea: The History of the Submarine by Dan van der Vat, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994
su	Submarines & The War at Sea 1914-18 by Richard Compton-Hall, MacMillian Ltd, 1991
td	Admiralty Trawlers and Drifters, 1916 - 1921, D.N.C. Admiralty
te	British Merchant Ships Sunk by U-boats in the 1914-18 War by A J Tennent, 1990 (sources include Lloyd's Marine Collection, Guildhall Library, and Der Handelskrieg mit U-booten, 1914-18, 5 vols by Rear Admiral Spindler,1932-66)
tf	The National Army Museum Book of the Turkish Front 1914-1918, The Campaigns at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia and in Palestine by Field Marshal Lord Carver, Sidgwick & Jackson 2001
tg	The Great War at Sea 1914-1918 by Richard Hough, Oxford University Press, 1983
th	A Companion to the Royal Navy by David A Thomas, Harrap 1988
ti	HMS Tiger at Bay: A Sailor's Memoir by Victor Hayward, William Kimber 1977
tl	The Ships List, internet site
tn	The Naval Who's Who, originally January 1917, reprinted J B Hayward & Son 1981
tr	The Review: Quarterly Journal of the Naval Historical Collectors & Research Association, various editions
ts	The Submariners: Life in British Submarines 1901-1999 by John Winton, Constable 1999
tt	Travels of the Tramps, Twenty Tramp Fleets by Norman L Middlemiss, Shield Publications 1989
tu	British Steam Tugs by P N Thomas, Wayne Research Publications, 1983
ty	Tyrwhitt of the Harwich Force by A Temple Patterson, Macdonald & Jane's 1973
ub	U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars by Paul Kemp, 1999
un	U-boat-net, internet site
uw	Undersea Warfare by Richard Humble, New English Library 1981
vc	The Victoria Cross at Sea by John Winton, Arms & Armour 1978
wd	Wartime Disasters at Sea, Every Passenger Ship Loss in World Wars I and II by David Williams, Patrick Stephens 1997
wg	Commonwealth War Graves Commission, internet site
wi	War Illustrated, The, edited by Sir John Hammerton, bound weekly wartime journal
wi	Shipwreck Index of the British Isles in 6 volumes by Richard & Bridget Larn, Lloyd’s Register 1995-
ww	Weapons & Warfare of the 20th Century by Eric Morris and others, Octopus Books, 1976
zo	The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids 1918 by Deborah Lake, Leo Cooper, 2002
zp	Zeppelin, The German Airship Story by Manfred Griehl & Joachim Dressel, Arms and Armour 1990
zr	The Zeebrugge Raid by Philip Warner, William Kimber 1978

back to Naval-History.Net

revised 13/1/13