The tanker ran aground on Scharhörn, in the Elbe estuary.[2] She was pulled off the reef and towed into Cuxhaven on early morning 10 January, after many failed attempts and heavy damage.[1][3]
10 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 10 January 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Sweden
The coaster sank in the Gulf of Bothnia with the loss of all sixteen crew.[4]
22 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 22 January 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Soviet Union
The cargo ship collided with (Sweden) in the Kiel canal and sank.[5]
26 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 26 January 1954
Ship
Country
Description
United Kingdom
The collier collided with (Sweden) in the Thames estuary and sank with the loss of eight of her ten crew.[6]
The coaster struck the wreck of Empire Blessing (United Kingdom) and was holed. An attempt was made to beach her but she sank near Vlissingen, Netherlands.
19 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 19 February 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Panama
The cargo ship struck rocks at the Black Sea entrance to the Bosphorus and sank.[13]
24 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 24 February 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Denmark
The icebreaker collided with the ferry (Denmark) in Nyborg Firth and ran aground. Two of her crew were killed.[14]
The cargo ship collided with (Turkey) in the Black Sea and sank. All crew rescued by Yolac Port.[18]
10 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 10 March 1954
Ship
Country
Description
United Kingdom
The tug capsized and sank whilst assisting the berthing of (Sweden) at Hull, Yorkshire. Three of her four crew were killed.[19]
United Kingdom
The collier collided with another ship and then went aground at the mouth of the Tees. Salvage attempts abandoned in May and the wreck was blown up on 26 August 1955.[20][21]
The minesweeper foundered in the Mediterranean Sea 20 nautical miles (37 km) east of Gibraltar with the loss of 33 of her 77 crew. The survivors were rescued by (Italy). HMS Superb (Royal Navy) assisted in the rescue operation.[25]
30 March[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 March 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Empire Windrush
United Kingdom
The ocean liner sank in the Mediterranean Sea following an explosion and fire in the engine room on 29 March. All passengers and crew rescued apart from the four killed in the explosion.
April[]
7 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 7 April 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Italy
The cargo ship ran aground in the Scheldt, Belgium, and broke in two.[26]
15 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 15 April 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Chelan
Canada
While towing a barge from Skagway, Territory of Alaska, to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the 541-ton, 154-foot (46.9 m) motor Fishing vessel, a former Coastal freighter, sank in a storm off the entrance to Sumner Strait approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) west of Cape Decision in Southeast Alaska with the loss of all 14 people aboard. Only two bodies were recovered. Her wreck was found in June 1979, but plans to salvage her were abandoned.[15][27][28]
The minesweeper caught fire and sank in the English Channel off Ostend, Belgium. All 31 crew rescued by the steamship Phoenix (Netherlands) and (France).[29]
The passenger steamboat capsized and sunk on Lake Balaton, near the port of Balatonfüred. There were 178 passengers aboard the ship, 23 of whom died. Later, the ship was raised, and turned back to service.
June[]
4 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 4 June 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Panama
The Liberty ship ran aground at Bombay, India. She was later refloated but declared a constructive total loss and scrapped.[39]
The 78-gross register ton, 58.8-foot (17.9 m) motorcargo vessel was beached near Petersburg in Southeast Alaska after striking a log, and became a total loss.[30]
8 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 8 August 1954
Ship
Country
Description
United Kingdom
The cargo ship ran aground at Hook of Holland, Netherlands and was holed.[54]
The ore carrier capsized and sank off Virginia with the loss of 37 of her 48 crew.[70]
Denmark
The cargo ship sank off Terschelling, Netherlands with the loss of twelve of her twenty crew.
United Kingdom
The coaster ran aground in the Scheldt, Belgium. Later refloated.[69]
8 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 8 October 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Laura III
Italy
During an attempt to set a new world water speed record, the hydroplane went out of control on Lake Iseo in Italy at an estimated speed of 306 kilometres per hour (190 mph) and somersaulted. Its pilot, Mario Verga, was thrown from the boat and killed.
9 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 October 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Norway
The cargo ship was in the Atlantic Ocean when there was a boiler explosion and she was set on fire. The crew abandoned ship, and were rescued by Corrientes (Argentina). They were landed at Lisbon, Portugal. Two crew were killed in the explosion and the ship sank.[71]
Norway
The cargo ship suffered a fracture to her main deck whilst in the North Sea. She reached the Faroe Islands on 10 October.[72]
14 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 October 1954
Ship
Country
Description
Netherlands
The cargo ship collided with a tug and sank in Lake Michigan 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) off Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. All of her crew were rescued.[73]
The tug capsized and sank at Tilbury Docks whilst assisting to berth Arcadia (United Kingdom). Five of her nine crew were killed. Raised on 28 October, later repaired and returned to service.
The coaster sank off The Lizard, Cornwall, United Kingdom with the loss of all twelve crew.[79]
27 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 27 November 1954
Ship
Country
Description
South Goodwin Lightship
United Kingdom
Capsized on the Goodwin Sands with the loss of all seven crewmen. The only survivor was a Ministry of Agriculture scientist who had been on board bird-watching.[80]
Liberia
The tanker broke in two in the Irish Sea. Both halves towed to the Clyde.[79]
The coaster was reported to be listing severely 20 nautical miles (37 km) north east of the Channel Islands.[79]
30 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 November 1954
Ship
Country
Description
United Kingdom
The cargo ship foundered in St George's Channel, 44 nautical miles (81 km) off Cork, Ireland with the loss of 24 of her 40 crew. Sixteen survivors rescued by (United Kingdom) and transferred to LÉ Maev (Irish Naval Service) and landed at Cobh.[81]
The T-classsubmarine was swept out of her dock at HMNB Chatham when a caisson collapsed. She ended up aground in the Medway. Four people were killed. Later repaired and returned to service.
The cargo ship caught fire and capsized at Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Although refloated, she was declared a constructive total loss and was scrapped.[88]
^Gardiner, Robert, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982 Part I: The Western Powers, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN0-87021-418-7, p. 110.
^"Spanish Minesweeper Lost in Gale". The Times. No. 52891. London. 27 March 1954. col C, p. 6.
^"Italian Ship Breaks in Two". The Times. No. 52901. London. 8 April 1954. col B, p. 5.
^"Attempt To Raise Tug". The Times. No. 53077. London. 1 November 1954. col C, p. 2.
^ ab"Floods on East Coast After High Tides". The Times. No. 53088. London. 13 November 1954. col A, p. 6.
^"Chinese Nationalist Warship Sunk". The Times. No. 53089. London. 15 November 1954. col D, p. 8.
^Gray, Randal, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 327.
^"Many Ships Shelter". The Times. No. 53123. London. 24 December 1954. col B, p. 6.
^"Suez Canal Blocked By Wreckage". The Times. No. 53128. London. 1 January 1955. col A-C, p. 8.
^Dunn, Laurence (1975). Merchant Ships of the World in Color 1910–1929. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. pp. 179–80.
^Gray, Randal, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 328.