Thelist of shipwrecks in May 1939 includesships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost duringMay 1939.
| May 1939 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
| References | ||||||
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bengt Sture |  Sweden | Thecargo ship ran aground atBerwick upon Tweed,Northumberland, United Kingdom. She was later refloated undamaged.[1] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bardaland | Sweden | Thecargo ship ran aground offDanzig,Germany owing to failure of her steering gear.[2] She was refloated later that day.[3] |
| Malacca Maru |  Japan | The cargo ship was driven ashore near Wood Island and broke in two.[4] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mayon |  United States | Thecargo ship ran aground south of the Apo Lighthouse,Negros Island, Philippines.[3] She was refloated on 22 May and sailed toManila, Philippines for repairs.[5] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Seisho Maru | Japan | Thecargo ship ran aground inTokyo Bay.[6] She was refloated undamaged later that day.[7] |
| Vathy of Samos |  Greece | The cargo ship ran aground atKalloni.[6] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Kalipso |  Australia | Thecoaster caught fire and sank in theClarence River,New South Wales.[8] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alsia |  Denmark | Thecargo liner caught fire 20 nautical miles (37 km) south ofBarberyn Island,Ceylon. The crew abandoned ship and were taken on boardCanton ( United Kingdom).[9]Alsia came ashore, still burning, at Uduwata Point, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) north ofGalle, on 11 May.[7][10] The gutted ship broke her back and was atotal loss.[11] |
| Arantzazu Mendi |  Spain | Thecargo ship ran aground atKearney Point,County Down, United Kingdom.[9] She broke her back on 14 May,[12] and was consequently scrapped.[13] |
| Dorothy Luckenbach | United States | Thetanker ran aground in theCrocket Channel.[14] She was refloated undamaged on 11 May.[15] |
| Hochelaga |  Canada | Thecargo ship ran aground atCharlottetown,Prince Edward Island.[14] She was refloated the next day.[7] |
| Lindenbank | United Kingdom | The cargo ship ran aground on Arena Island,Sulu Sea, Philippines. She was refloated the next day but then sank 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) off the island. Her crew were rescued byUSS Pope ( United States Navy).[16][17][18] |
| Malacca Maru | Japan | The cargo ship ran aground on Wood Island whilst on a voyage fromSingapore toOsaka and broke her back. She was declared atotal loss.[9] |
| HMAS Tattoo |  Royal Australian Navy | TheS-classdestroyer was scuttled in thePacific Ocean off the coast ofNew South Wales.[19] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Medée |  France | Thecargo ship ran aground atOuistreham,Calvados.[14] |
| Villa Franca |  Portugal | The cargo ship ran aground atLe Havre,Seine-Inférieure, France.[14] She was refloated the next day.[7] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pikepool | United Kingdom | Thecargo ship ran aground in theUruguay River 6 nautical miles (11 km) downstream ofFray Bentos, Uruguay.[15] She was refloated on 18 May.[11] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Comol Rico | United States | Thetanker ran aground atPort Eads, Louisiana. She was refloated the next day.[12] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Prestatyn Rose | United Kingdom | Thecargo ship ran aground atLlanelli,Carmarthenshire. She was refloated later that day.[12] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fjeld |  Norway | Thecargo ship ran aground atNantes,Loire-Inférieure, France. She was refloated later that day with severe damage.[20] |
| Signfred | Sweden | The cargo ship ran aground atKalmar.[20] She was refloated damaged on 17 May and sailed toOscarshamn for repairs.[11] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Colne | United Kingdom | TheThames barge collided withSan Andres (Norway) in theRiver Thames atBlackwall Point and was severely damaged. She was beached at Point Wharf,Greenwich.[21] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Aden | United Kingdom | Thedredger capsized in theNorth Sea (55°38′N1°20′W / 55.633°N 1.333°W /55.633; -1.333) whilst under tow.[22] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin F. Packard | United States | Thefull-rigged ship was scuttled offLong Island, New York.[23] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rosedene | United Kingdom | Thecoaster ran aground atSaint-Valery-sur-Somme,Somme, France.[11] She was refloated undamaged the next day.[24] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Aquarius | United States | Thecargo ship caught fire whilst laid up atNew Orleans, Louisiana and was severely damaged.[24] |
| Gunny | Sweden | The cargo ship ran aground at Gisslan and was severely damaged.[24] She was refloated on 22 May and sailed toGefle.[5] |
| Silver Sword | United States | The cargo ship ran aground atPort Eads, Louisiana.[24] She was refloated the next day.[5] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Consul Hintz |  Germany | Thecargo ship ran aground onSomeri, Finland.[24] She was refloated the next day.[5]Consul Hintz arrived on 28 May atHelsinki for drydocking.[25] |
| Eha |  Estonia | The cargo ship ran aground onMärket, in theBaltic Sea and became waterlogged. Her crew abandoned ship.[24] |
| Saimaa |  Finland | The cargo ship ran aground on Someri.[24] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dicky | United Kingdom | Thecargo ship collided in theRiver Thames atRainham, Essex withValparaiso (Sweden) and was extensively damaged. She was beached to prevent her sinking.[5]Dicky was refloated on 24 May.[26] |
| Kankyo Maru | Japan | Tsunchiko Maru ( Japan) collided withKankyo Maru atShimonoseki, damaging her severely.Tsunchiko Maru then collided withZuiko Maru ( Japan).Kankyo Maru sank with the loss of sixteen crew.[5] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Souvenir | United States | Thefishing vessel foundered inDixon Entrance, on the border between theTerritory of Alaska andBritish Columbia,Canada, 30–35 nautical miles (56–65 km; 35–40 mi) south-southeast ofDuke Island in theAlexander Archipelago, Territory of Alaska. Themotor vesselMary Ellen (Flag unknown) rescued both people on board.[27] |
| USS Squalus | United States Navy | TheSargo-classsubmarine sank off theIsles of Shoals with the loss of 26 crew. She was refloated, repaired, and recommissioned asUSS Sailfish ( United States Navy). |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Huasco |  Chile | Thepassenger ship capsized and sank inTalcahuano Bay.[28] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| France | United Kingdom | Thecargo ship foundered in theCaribbean Sea offGeorgetown,British Guiana.[29] |
| Polzella | United Kingdom | The cargo ship became stranded on the Payung Reef, offBatavia (Jakarta),Netherlands East Indies.[25] She was refloated on 1 June.[30] |
| Yewmount | United Kingdom | The cargo ship ran aground atDeauville,Calvados, France. She was refloated undamaged later that day.[25] |
| Ship | State | Description |
|---|---|---|
| En Min |  Manchukuo Imperial Navy | Dongan Incident: TheOn Min-class riverpatrol launch was severely damaged bymachine gun fire bySoviet Border Troops in theUssuri River, grounding on the Manchurian side of the river, atotal loss.[31] |