The university ship, formerly the ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth (United Kingdom), sank in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, due to an on-board fire caused by a suspected arson attack.
Somalia
The cargo ship foundered off British Columbia, Canada with the loss of all hands.[2]
The cargo ship collided with (flag unknown) off Odessa, Soviet Union. Both vessels sank.[5]
Panama
The coaster capsized and sank in the Atlantic Ocean 10 nautical miles (19 km) off Leixões, Portugal after her cargo shifted.[6]
17 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 17 January 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Denmark
The oil rig supply vessel foundered in the North Sea 12 nautical miles (22 km) west of the Vyl Lightship with the loss of nine of her nineteen crew.[7]
27 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 27 January 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Queen Frederica
Greece
The cruise ship was diven aground in the Fowey Estuary after breaking free from her moorings in a storm.[8]
While en route from Mobile, Alabama, where she had been built, to Kodiak, Alaska, the newly constructed crab-fishing vessel disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico with the loss of all four people – the owner, his wife, their eight-year-old child, and a crewman – aboard. Her wreck was discovered lying in 8,920 feet (2,720 m) of water approximately 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) off the United States Gulf Coast in 2012, and it was positively identified in 2013.[3]
19 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 19 February 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Marcello G
Italy
capsized and sank at Naples. Declared a constructive total loss but later repaired and returned to service.
The ran aground off whilst assisting with the refloating of the landing craft (Soviet Navy). She was refloated on 18 May and towed in to Murmansk. She was declared a constructive total loss.[16]
29 February[]
List of shipwrecks: 29 February 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Panama
The cargo ship foundered 160 nautical miles (300 km) south of Muroto, Japan. Her captain went down with the ship, the rest of her crew were rescued by two patrol boats (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force).[17]
Vietnam War: The blockade runner was scuttled when she was intercepted by enemy vessels near the border between Cambodia and South Vietnam. Six of her crewmen were killed. It is unclear whether the intercepting vessels were Cambodian, South Vietnamese, or both.[25]
The cargo ship struck a submerged object off Portoscuso, Sardinia, and was holed. She was beached to prevent her from sinking. She later was refloated but was declared a total loss.
The 7,113-ton, British cargo liner, wrecked in , Uruguay after colliding with the oil tanker (Liberia) and subsequent fire. She was the first British ship to be lost with all hands since World War II. 74 fatalities.
The schooner sank in the Pacific Ocean about 200 nautical miles (370 km) west of the Galapagos Islands after being holed by a pod of killer whales. All six people on board escaped in a life raft and a dinghy and drifted for 38 days before being rescued.
18 June[]
List of shipwrecks: 18 June 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Icebreaker II
United States
The speedboat was swamped and lost on the Yukon River in Alaska 23 miles (37 km) north of Ruby with the loss of one life.[32]
The 57-gross register ton, 57.8-foot (17.6 m) crab-fishing vessel sank quickly off the northeast coast of Montague Island at the entrance to Prince William Sound on the south-central coast of Alaska after striking an unidentified object. Her crew of three reached shore in a life raft.[22]
Sank off Margate, Kent. Later raised and scrapped.[15]
Ecuador
The tug ran aground off Guayaquil and wrecked. Later scrapped in situ.[37]
August[]
6 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 6 August 1972
Ship
Country
Description
West Germany
The coaster was cut in two when in collision with (Colombia) in the English Channel and sank with the loss of eleven of her 13 crew. The stern section sank, but the bow section remained afloat. It was sunk by the French Navy as it was a hazard to navigation.[38]
9 August[]
List of shipwrecks: 9 August 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Somalia
The cargo ship ran aground near Cape Negrais, India and was declared a constructive total loss. She was on a voyage from Penang, Malaysia to Calcutta.[39]
The supertanker collided with the supertanker Oswego Guardian (Liberia) 20 nautical miles (37 km) south of Cape Agulhas, South Africa, suffered a massive explosion, and sank with the loss of 46 of her 50 crew members.[40]
The cabin cruiser sank when a wave capsized it after its engine failed in the Indian Ocean off Lourenço Marques, Mozambique. Three of the four people on board drowned. The only survivor was a South African woman who swam 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) to safety on a buoy and reported that two dolphins protected her from sharks and helped her stay afloat when she tired during her swim.[42]
4 September[]
List of shipwrecks: 4 September 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Taoyuno
Republic of China
The fishing vessel was sunk with the loss of 22 of her 23 crew when it was in collision with the bulk carrier (Greece) 600 nautical miles (1,100 km) west of the Cape of Good Hope.[43]
The bulk carrier collided with a pier at Holland, Michigan in bad weather. A 12-foot (4 m) hole was torn in the vessel's bow and the ship sank. The ship was later refloated, repaired and returned to service.[47]
The cargo ship was abandoned when its cargo of railway locomotives broke free of their chains, causing the ship to list when she was 200 nautical miles (370 km) south east of Cape Race. Newfoundland.[55]
Panama
The cargo ship foundered off Puerto Rico. All 21 crew rescued by the United States Coast Guard.[55]
Sweden
The cargo ship sank after it was in collision with (Greece) in the Baltic Sea. One crewman was killed.[55]
After burning for five days following a 19 December collision with the tanker Horta Barbosa (Brazil), the supertanker sank in the Persian Gulf after a series of explosions.
Liberia
The bulk carrier disappeared in the North Pacific Ocean 760 nautical miles (1,410 km) south of Kodiak Island and 800 nautical miles (1,500 km; 920 mi) south of Kodiak, Alaska, with the loss of her entire crew of 30 South Korean nationals. Searchers found only four overturned lifeboats, some debris, and an oil slick.[29][58]
26 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 19 December 1972
Ship
Country
Description
Denmark
The cargo ship ran aground in a gale near the , Cabo Raso, Portugal and broke in two .[59]
After the 84-foot (25.6 m) tug had sunk during dredging operations and then been refloated, she was scuttled as an artificial reef in the North Atlantic Ocean south of Long Island off Atlantic Beach, New York, in 80 feet (24 m) of water sometime in 1972.[60][61]
^Mitchell, W H, and Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. not cited. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"Five dead, four missing as oil rig vessel sinks". The Times. No. 58378. London. 18 January 1972. col D, p. 1.
^"Liner runs aground". The Times. No. 58387. London. 28 January 1972. col F, p. 1.
^"Seamen saved by helicopter". The Times. No. 58395. London. 7 February 1972. col F, p. 5.
^"22 seamen lost in trawler". The Times. No. 58571. London. 5 September 1972. col C, p. 6.
^Du Toit, Allan (1992). South Africa's Fighting Ships: Past and Present. Rivonia, South Africa: Ashanti Publishing. ISBN1-874800-50-2., pp. 163, 165–166.
^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. 303.
^"P. T. Teti". Hunting New England Shipwrecks. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
United States
Hong Kong
Somalia
Romania
Panama
Denmark
Greece
United States
Liberia
United States Coast Guard).[10]
United States Navy
Norway
Royal Navy).[13]
India
Italy
Soviet Navy
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force).[17]
Sweden
United Kingdom
Belgium). One of her seven crew was killed.[21]
Vietnam People's Navy
Canada
United States
France) and sank with the loss of seven of her eleven crew.[36]
West Germany
Ecuador
Colombia) in the English Channel and sank with the loss of eleven of her 13 crew. The stern section sank, but the bow section remained afloat. It was sunk by the French Navy as it was a hazard to navigation.[38]
Republic of China
South African Navy
Marine Nationale
People's Republic of China
Royal Hellenic Navy
South Korea
Brazil), the supertanker sank in the Persian Gulf after a series of explosions.
Netherlands).
Egyptian Navy