Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Friday, March 24
    Trending
    • This Day in History on March 24th
    • History Short: Has Any US President Ever Been Arrested?
    • This Day in History on March 23rd
    • R.I.P. Lance Reddick (1962-2023)
    • This Day in History on March 22nd
    • This Day in History on March 21st
    • Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through March 20th, 2023)
    • This Day in History on March 20th
    History and Headlines
    • Arts & Entertainment
      • Cinema & TV
      • Games
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Sports
      • Video Games
    • Bizarre Bulletin
      • Misconceptions
      • The Bizarre
      • The Paranormal
      • The Unexplained
    • Lifestyle
      • Animals/Pets
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Health/Medicine
      • Home Improvement
      • Horoscopes
      • Travel
    • Science & Tech
      • Inventions
      • Nature
      • Vehicles
    • Society
      • Business and Economics
      • Crime
      • Military
      • Politics
      • Religion
      • Society
    • About
      • Welcome to Our Site!
      • This Day in History
      • Table of Contents: A History of the World
      • Online History Textbooks
      • A Guide to Some of Our Favorite Scholars and Educators
      • Advance Screenings and Movie Reviews Archive
      • Schedule of Video Adaptations of Our Articles
    • Friends
      • Armchair History TV
      • Fact Fiend
      • RealClearHistory
      • Simply Charly
      • TopTenz
      • ​Unique Interpretations
    History and Headlines
    You are at:Home»Society»Military»October 2, 1942: HMS Curacoa, Yet Another Naval ‘Oops’ Moment!
    Military

    October 2, 1942: HMS Curacoa, Yet Another Naval ‘Oops’ Moment!

    Major DanBy Major DanOctober 2, 2015Updated:June 1, 2020No Comments3 Mins Read
    Email Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Telegram Tumblr Twitter VKontakte WhatsApp

    A Brief History

    On October 2, 1942, the Royal Navy teamed up with the Cunard White Star Line to pull off yet another of Naval History’s great “Oops” moments.  In this incident, the giant luxury liner, RMS Queen Mary, collided with her own escort, the HMS Curacoa, an anti-aircraft cruiser, sinking the hapless cruiser.

    Digging Deeper

    Back on July 3, 2014, History and Headlines featured a list of 10 “Oops” Moments in Naval History.  Today, we have another tale to add to this pantheon of blunders at sea.

    The RMS Queen Mary had been converted to use as a troop ship for World War II, and was carrying the US 29th Division, 10,000 troops, to England from the US.  The Queen was being escorted by the World War I era (commissioned 1918) HMS Curacoa, a light cruiser 450 feet long, 43.6 feet wide and of about 4190 tons.  The Curacoa was manned with a crew of 338 as she sailed with the Queen Mary, the Queen making a zig-zag course to foil U-Boat torpedo attacks.

    In normal rules of the sea, an overtaking ship must yield to the ship it is overtaking, but apparently the haughty Captain of the Queen Mary did not think wartime was normal.  The Queen, all 1019 feet and 81,961 tons of her, turned into the path of the Curacoa.  Despite watch officers on both ships advising their captains of the imminent collision, no corrective action was taken and the Queen Mary struck the Curacoa amidships at an unstoppable 28 knots, slicing the cruiser in half and sinking her.  As per procedure, the Queen Mary continued on her course without rendering assistance and safely made her intended port in England.

    The crew of the Curacoa was rescued only several hours later by other Royal Navy warships, but of the 338 men, only 99 were recovered alive.  In what has become typical government fashion, the incident was completely covered up and kept from the public until after the war.

    The Irate Royal Navy pressed charges against the owners of the Queen Mary after the war, and an investigation by the High Court of Justice found the Royal Navy to be 2/3 at fault, and the Cunard White Star Line responsible for 1/3 of the fault.  Of course, such a finding had tremendous effect on the civilian lawsuits that followed, and the Admiralty was so miffed by the ruling that an order was passed that passenger liners pressed into service would not be escorted.

    As long as ships go to sea, there will be mistakes made, and some of those will be relegated to the history of naval “oops” moments, left for us to tell you about.  Question for students (and subscribers): What other such incidents would you like to know more about?  Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    Holmes, Patrick and David Arthur Thomas.  Queen Mary and the Cruiser: The Curacoa Disaster.  Naval Institute Press, 1997.

    Share. Email Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Telegram Twitter Tumblr
    Previous ArticleOctober 1, 1942/1947: 1st Flight P-59 and F-86, What a Difference 5 Years Makes!
    Next Article October 3, 1995: The Juice is Loose! OJ Simpson Acquitted of Murder
    Major Dan

    Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

    Related Posts

    Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through March 20th, 2023)

    March 20, 2023

    History Short: Why did American Ships fly the Swedish Flag?

    March 8, 2023

    History Short: Napoleon Bonaparte Learns a Hard Lesson!

    March 7, 2023
    Follow Us!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Patreon
    Sign Up For Our Newsletter!
    Most Recent

    This Day in History on March 24th

    March 24, 2023

    History Short: Has Any US President Ever Been Arrested?

    March 24, 2023

    This Day in History on March 23rd

    March 23, 2023

    R.I.P. Lance Reddick (1962-2023)

    March 23, 2023

    This Day in History on March 22nd

    March 22, 2023
    This Day in History Video

    Advertisements




    Amazon Affiliate Disclosure Statement

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via links in the “Historical Evidence” sections of articles.

    About HistoryAndHeadlines.com

    Thanks for visiting History and Headlines!  This site exists primarily for educational purposes and is intended as a resource for Dr. Zar’s students.  Articles are mostly written by either Dr. Zar or his dad (Major Dan).  To any guest readers, please keep that in mind when commenting on articles.   Thank you!

    We try to present our students with historical topics that are both diverse and a bit out of the ordinary.  Our motto is “We try until we succeed!”

    Contact us at admin@historyandheadlines.com

    Guidelines and Policies for Images used on This Site, as well as for Guest and Sponsored Articles, and Other Terms of Use

    Privacy Statement

    © 2023 History and Headlines

    All-Time Most Commented

    July 28, 1866: 18 Year Old Girl Wins Commission to Sculpt Statue of Lincoln (A Truly Great American Woman)

    July 28, 2014

    December 24, 1865: Birth of the Ku Klux Klan

    December 24, 2015

    December 25, 1868: President Johnson Pardons all Confederate Veterans

    December 25, 2015

    February 5, 1909: First Plastic Invented was called Bakelite!

    February 5, 2014

    November 23, 1876: “Boss” Tweed Turned Over to Authorities

    November 23, 2013
    Recommended Book
    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

    You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

    History and Headlines
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.