What are the Top Ten Sinkings in WW2 by a Sub?

[Mush Martin]

I was Just reading the thread Crab Walk where they are talking about
the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff.

Many or assumably most of us are familiar with the worst sinking of the war

But my question is what are the top ten sinkings of the war.

list some nominees and we will put up a poll.

arguments should be supported with info.
So post a blurb on the sinking your nominating.

MM

[leeclose]

the HMS Royal oak has to be one of hem sunk at Scapa flow on October 14, 1939. with the loss of 833 lives ive also attached a sonar image of her as she lies it seems to be one of the greatest feats of the U-boats but such a tragic loss of life.

Plus she is an offical War grave and is still leaking Fuel oil more than 65+ years later. When she was sunk, while providing anti-aircraft protection for Kirkwall, it was laden with 3,000 tonnes of furnace oil. After the sinking, around 1,000 tonnes remained on board and has been slowly leaking ever since.

This prompted a rescue operation by the MoD's Salvage and Marine Operations branch, starting in 2001, which has so far tapped into some of the 70 fuel tanks and slowly extracted almost half of the remaining oil.

Of the 390 servicemen who survived, only around a dozen are still alive, most in their 80s. It is a night that Robert Edmunds, now 88 and living in Hull, will never forget.

The crew of the U-47 must have thought xmas had come and no doubt Priens most prodigous sinking for the whole of WW2.
Prien described the devastation in his log: "After three tense minutes comes the detonation… There is a loud explosion, roar and rumbling. Then come columns of water, followed by columns of fire and splinters fly through the air."

For Prien he received a heroes welcome back home while 833 families received thet telegram of fate to say a father/son/brother etc had died serving king and country probablu for me one of the Best and worst sinkings of WW2.

[Mush Martin]

I for one would rank Priens attack among the top ten
on Dash and Boldness alone. Never Mind the actual
effectiveness.

all of the sinkings submitted of course will usually involve deep
tragedy.

that is the sad and darkside of our fascination.
but I think for most here at subsim it is the situational
mental game of submarine operation that fascinate us
and consume us. I am not given to the impression
that we are bloodthirsty. on the contrary as a matter
of fact as a community we seem to fairly consistently
try to remember the cost in lives.

[leeclose]

Yup mush we deffinatl;y know the diffrence between fact and fiction r more to the point having fun theres an old saying and its true "War is Hell" never a truer word spoken. Any way its gota be my fav sinking Prien had balls in my honest opinion

[Brag]

SH3 & GWX bring out a historical awarness and understanding difficult to achieve by other means alone (books,films, archives).

In a little way, we've been there.

[Warmonger]

I regularly check the "What happened on..." section over at uboat.net and click through the ships sunk or damaged especially in '44 or '45.

When I look at some of the locations where those ships have been torpedoed I always wonder "How on earth did the sub manage to do this?", sink ships in the Channel or in St. George's strait or close to the English coastline with all the planes, DDs, mines and whatever around.

So my nomination would be just about every ship sunk in late '44 or '45.

[leeclose]

Sory war i think he was more meaning a specific sinking not all of em over a 2 year period nice try tho

[mr chris]

Here are the biggest by the U-Boat arm.
http://uboat.net/special/biggest.htm

[Mush Martin]

Originally Posted by Brag

SH3 & GWX bring out a historical awarness and understanding difficult to achieve by other means alone (books,films, archives).

In a little way, we've been there.

That is exactly correct more so than books or movies we create a living
history here.

we are privelidged to understand the subject today in a way our fathers
never could.

this is why The Conservative Lobby that Strive for Historical Correctness
are so Important to this community.

I am quite likely viewed more as a pariah than a purist by the action Uberboot is getting. But Historical Correctness was the whole driving
force behind River Class frigate. The game was missing the second most
common commonwealth combatant. 136 ships needed to be put back into
the game. (Thanks again BBW)

I am a lover of subsims and have played them since 8bit nintendo but
I think of myself as a student of History first.

[Mush Martin]

Empress of Britain should make it and certainly more than that.

MM

[Crosseye76]

The Biggest of them all: Archerfish > Shinano.

[mookiemookie]

The Laconia incident should be mentioned. Not for it's value as a sinking, but more for its importance in what it meant for the overall course of the war as it led to the Laconia Befehl (take no prisoners, offer no assistance, etc).

From the standpoint of the sinking of a target of military/propaganda importance, I'd go with the Royal Oak, Barham, or the sinking of the Courageous in '39. Royal Oak showed that even Scapa Flow wasn't safe, the Barham showed the vulnerability of capital warships to submarine attack, and the Courageous was a blow to the U-boats most hated enemy, the airplane.

[Mush Martin]

Originally Posted by Crosseye76

The Biggest of them all: Archerfish > Shinano.

Lucky to have gotten the hits and lucky that ship and crew werent
prepared this one definately would go down as a victory of intelligence.
with it being the best example of a directed intercept.

[Mush Martin]

I Believe that Athenia should Probably get a slot.

it was the opening kickoff for the biggest campaign in history.
First is first, its an Interesting study in um military diplomacy.
its the incedent that drew Canada into the war.
it occured less than six hours after the declaration of war
and it wasnt a bad attack.( I'm not passing a moral judgement)
(im talking about technically)

[leeclose]

Yup it was a pretty nasty one with lots of kick back