"You needn't worry...He will keep out of your way:" The Ramming of HMS Curacoa

During the dark days of World War II, HMS Curacoa was accidentally rammed and sunk by HMT Queen Mary off the coast of Northern Ireland on October 2, 1942. It was a military blunder that cost hundreds of lives and continues to haunt the Queen Mary today.

The HMS Curacoa, under the command of Captain John W. Boutwood, was charged with protecting the liner as she made her way to Gourock, Scotland. He took up a position about five miles ahead of Queen Mary at around 10:00 am as she made her way to disembark the over 10,000 soldiers aboard. The Cunard White Star liner was commanded by Captain C. Gordon Illingworth, who had his ship steer a standard zigzag course - known as Zigzag No. 8. Captain Boutwood, however, was not sure at which point in the pattern Queen Mary was currently at, which was the first in a series of errors.

The two ships started drifting dangerously close to each other. The Queen Mary's Junior First Officer Stanley Wright ordered "Hard-a-starboard!" Captain Illingworth emerged from the chartroom to see what the matter was. Examining the situation, he told Wright not to worry and ordered a correction.

After taking the appropriate action, Captain Illingworth told his subordinate that he "needn't worry about her. These fellows know all about escorting. He will keep out of your way."

At around the same time aboard Curacoa, some of Captain Boutwood's officers were concerned that Queen Mary was not keeping a steady course - and she eventually began overtaking the cruiser. Senior First Officer Noel Robinson took the watch from Wright and saw how close the Curacoa was approaching from starboard. He at first tried to ease off to port, but finally ordered Queen Mary "Hard-a-port!"

But it was too late.

The two ships collided with each other at 2:12 pm. The massive Queen Mary split Curacoa in two, leaving the cruiser's halves engulfed in flames. She sank six minutes later with a loss of 338 men - from a total crew of 439. The Queen Mary was under strict orders not to stop for anything and continued on to Scotland, where she was outfitted with a concrete plug and sailed to Boston for more permanent repairs.

Each ship was subsequently found to be responsible for the disaster. A recent dive to the Curacoa's wreck found that her rudder was still set ahead and made no attempt to correct course. It is likely, however, that everything happened so quickly that the cruiser's crew had no time to respond.

Either way, it was indeed a tragic day for both the Queen Mary and the British Royal Navy.

References: David A. Thomas & Patrick Holmes, Queen Mary and the Cruiser: The Curacoa Disaster (London: Leo Cooper, 1997), 79-91.

A Death Ship?

The MS Athena encountered some "bloody terrifyingly bad" weather after leaving Falmouth, England back in September 2006. Winds were so powerful that one 70-year old doctor was knocked to the deck and died as a result of his injuries.

This was not the first tragedy to befall the ship: the Athena was originally launched in 1948 as the Swedish liner Stockholm.

It was under her original name that she collided with the Italian liner Andrea Doria on the evening of July 25, 1956 and killed a total of 51 people. While the Andrea Doria eventually sunk to the bottom, hundreds of survivors were rescued by both the Stockholm and Ile de France, which had steamed to the Italian liner's aid. Once loaded with survivors, the Swedish ship limped into New York with severe damage to its bow.

The Stockholm was never able to live down its involvement in the accident and became subsequently known as a "death ship," and the fatality in September 2006 only added to this reputation. It seems that even under a new name, the old ship is haunted by its past.


References: Alan Feurer, "From 'Death Ship' to Cruise Ship," The New York Times, September 23, 2006, under N.Y./Region, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EFDB1E31F930A1575AC0A9609C8B63&scp=29&sq=Andrea%20Doria&st=cse (accessed January 25, 2011).