List of ships sunk by Axis warships in Australian waters

Ships sunk by surface raiders

The six German and three Japanese surface raiders that operated within Australian waters sank 18 ships and killed over 826 sailors, see Axis naval activity in Australian waters

Axis naval activity in Australian waters

Although Australia was remote from the main battlefronts, there was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during the Second World War. A total of 54 German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets...

Ships sunk by submarines

The following table has been adapted from Appendix V of A Critical Vulnerability: The impact of the submarine threat on Australia's maritime defence 1915 - 1954 by David Stevens. Stevens' appendix lists all known Axis submarine activity in Australian waters

Australia Station

The Australia Station was the British—and later Australian—naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.-History:In the early years following the establishment of the colony of New South Wales, ships based in Australian waters came under the control of the East Indies...

during World War II and includes data on unsuccessful submarine attacks on Allied shipping, attacks made in Papuan and Netherlands East Indies waters and Japanese patrols in Australian waters which did not result in any attacks on Allied ships.

Date	Submarine	Ship	Tonnage	Location	Remarks
20/1/42	I 159	Eidsvold	4184	Christmas Island Christmas Island The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
1/3/42	I 154	Modjokerto	8806	South of Christmas Island
1/3/42	I 2	Parigi	1172	Off Fremantle Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
3/3/42	I 1	Siantar	8867	200 nm NW of Shark Bay Shark Bay Shark Bay is a World Heritage listed bay in Western Australia. The term may also refer to:* the locality of Shark Bay, now known as Denham* Shark Bay Marine Park* Shark Bay , a shark exhibit at Sea World, Gold Coast, Australia* Shire of Shark Bay...
4/3/42	I 7	Le Maire	3271	NW of Cocos Islands
5/5/42	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	John Adams	7180	120 nm SW of Noumea Nouméa Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
7/5/42	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Chloe	4641	35 nm from Nouméa
31/5/42	M 24	HMAS Kuttabul HMAS Kuttabul (ship) HMAS Kuttabul was a Royal Australian Navy depot ship, and former Sydney harbour ferry. During the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, Kuttabul was torpedoed and sunk, with 21 Commonwealth naval personnel aboard....	448	Sydney Harbour	Midget launched from I 24
3/6/42	I 24	Iron Chieftain	481	27 nm E of Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
4/6/42	I 27	Iron Crown	3353	40 nm SW of Gabo Island Gabo Island Gabo Island is a 154 ha island located off the coast of eastern Victoria, Australia, between Mallacoota and Cape Howe on the border with New South Wales. It is separated from the mainland by a 500 m wide channel; access is available by arranged flights and boats...
12/6/42	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Guatemala	5527	40 nm NE of Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	Straggling from a convoy
20/7/42	I 11	George S. Livanos	4883	15 nm E of Jervis Bay Jervis Bay Jervis Bay is a large bay bounded by the state of New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, and a detached enclave of the Australian Capital Territory. HMAS Creswell is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch in the Jervis Bay Territory.-History:...
21/7/42	I 11	Coast Farmer	3290	25 nm E of Jervis Bay
22/7/42	I 11	William Dawes	7176	15 nm E of Tathra Head Tathra, New South Wales Tathra is a seaside town on the Sapphire Coast found on the South Coast, New South Wales, Australia in Bega Valley Shire. It has a population of 1,622....
24/7/42	I 175	Murada	3345	85 nm NE of Newcastle Newcastle, New South Wales The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...	Torpedoed/undamaged (although claimed as sunk by I-175)
25/7/42	I 175	Cagou	2795	NE of Sydney
25/7/42	I 169	Tjinegara	9227	92 nm SE of Nouméa
30/8/42	I 175	Dureenbee	233	20 nm off Moruya Moruya, New South Wales Moruya is a small regional centre in New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River, approximately 300 kilometers south of Sydney. At the 2006 census, Moruya had a population of 10,278 people. The town relies predominantly on agriculture, aquaculture, and tourism...	Trawler
18/1/43	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Kalingo	2047	110 nm E of Sydney
18/1/43	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Mobilube	10222	60 nm E of Sydney	Tanker
22/1/43	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Peter H. Burnett	7176	420 nm E of Sydney
29/1/43	I 10	Samuel Gompers	7176	500 nm NE of Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
30/1/43	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Giang Ann	?	30 nm E of Newcastle
8/2/43	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Iron Knight SS Iron Knight SS Iron Knight was a 4,812 GRT Australian iron ore carrier which was sunk during World War II by a Japanese submarine.-History:Iron Knight was built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow for Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Broken Hill...	4812	21 nm off Montagu Island	Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy, 36 of complement of 50 lost
10/2/43	I 21 Japanese submarine I-21 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She displaced 1,950 tons and had a speed of . I-21 was the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters, participating in the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942 and sinking...	Starr King	7176	150 nm E of Sydney
11/4/43	I 26	Recina	4732	20 nm off Cape Howe	Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy
24/4/43	I 26	Kowarra	2125	160 nm N of Brisbane
26/4/43	I 177	Limerick	8724	20 nm SE of Cape Byron Cape Byron Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia. It is located about northeast of the town of Byron Bay and projects into the Pacific Ocean...
27/4/43	I 178	Lydia M. Childs	7176	90 nm E of Newcastle
29/4/43	I 180	Wollongbar II SS Wollongbar (1922) Wollongbar was a 2,239 ton passenger steamship built by the Lithgows, Port Glasgow in 1922 for the North Coast Steam Navigation Company, as a replacement for which was wrecked in 1921.-Fate:...	2239	Off Crescent Head Crescent Head, New South Wales Crescent Head is a beachside community 440 km north-northeast of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia in Kempsey Shire. At the 2006 census, Crescent Head had a population of 1,076 people. Its major industries include tourism and fishing. It has a small golf course overlooking the...
5/5/43	I 180	Fingal SS Fingal SS Fingal was a Norwegian merchant ship of 2,137 tons which was sunk during World War II off the coast of Australia.-Brief history:The Fingal was built at Moss Værft, Norway 1923....	2137	Off Nambucca Heads
14/5/43	I 177	Australian Hospital Ship Centaur AHS Centaur Australian Hospital Ship Centaur was a hospital ship which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on 14 May 1943...	3222	24 nm ENE of Point Lookout	Hospital ship Hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
16/6/43	I 174	Portmar	5551	250 nm NE of Sydney	Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy
22/6/43	I 17 Japanese submarine I-17 I-17 was a Japanese B1 type submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy which saw service during World War II. She was the first Axis ship to shell the United States mainland.-Pearl Harbor:...	Stanvac Manila	10245	Off Nouméa	Two PT boat PT boat PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were... s also destroyed
24/12/44	U 862 Unterseeboot 862 German submarine U-862 was a German Type IXD2 U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was the only German submarine to operate in the Pacific Ocean during World War II...	SS Robert J. Walker	7180	Off Moruya, 2 of crew lost	The only ship sunk during the war by a German U-boat in the Pacific Ocean. Attack on ship, sinking and rescue of crew described in the Australian Official Histories of the Second World War. (Liberty ship Liberty ship Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by... )
6/2/45	U 862 Unterseeboot 862 German submarine U-862 was a German Type IXD2 U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was the only German submarine to operate in the Pacific Ocean during World War II...	SS Peter Silvester	7176	820 nm SW of Fremantle	In the Indian Ocean, 32 of crew lost (Liberty ship Liberty ship Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by... )

Ships sunk by surface raiders

Ships sunk by submarines

See also