# List of ships sunk by Axis warships in Australian waters

This is a list of Allied ships sunk by Axis warships operating in Australian waters during the Second World War.
Fifty four Axis surface raiders and submarines (both German and Japanese) carried out these attacks, sinking 53 merchant ships and three warships within the Australia Station, resulting in the deaths of over 1,751 Allied military personnel, sailors and civilians. A further 88 civilians were killed in air raids.
The definition of "Australian waters" used in this list is the area designated the Australia Station prior to the outbreak of war. This vast area consisted of the waters around Australia and eastern New Guinea, and stretching south to Antarctica. From east to west, it stretched from 170° east in the Pacific Ocean to 80° east in the Indian Ocean, and from north to south it stretched from the Equator to the Antarctic.
A full account is given in Axis naval activity 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.
| Date | Ship | Tonnage (GRT) | Location | Sunk by | Remarks |
| 16 Aug 40 | Notou | 2,489 | Noumea | Orion | |
| 20 Aug 40 | Turakina | 9,691 | Tasman Sea | Orion | |
| 7 Oct 40 | Storstad | 8,998 | Christmas Island | Pinguin | captured; converted to auxiliary minelayer |
| 7 Nov 40 | Cambridge | 10,846 | Bass Strait | Passat | sunk by mines laid |
| 9 Nov 40 | City of Rayville | 5,883 | Bass Strait | Passat | sunk by mines laid |
| 5 Dec 40 | Nimbin | 1,052 | Off Norah Head | Pinguin | sunk by mines laid |
| 26 Mar 41 | Millimumul | 287 | 33 MILES EAST OF BROKEN BAY, NSW | Pinguin | sunk by mines laid |
| 19 Nov 40 | Nowshera | 7,920 | Indian Ocean | Pinguin | |
| 20 Nov 40 | Maimoa | 10,123 | Indian Ocean | Pinguin | |
| 21 Nov 40 | Port Brisbane | 8,739 | Indian Ocean | Pinguin | |
| 30 Nov 40 | Port Wellington | 8,303 | Indian Ocean | Pinguin | |
| 6 Dec 40 | Triona | 4,413 | Nauru | Orion, Komet | |
| 7 Dec 40 | Vinni | 5,181 | Nauru | Orion, Komet | |
| 8 Dec 40 | Triadic | 6,378 | Nauru | Orion, Komet | |
| 8 Dec 40 | Triaster | 6,032 | Nauru | Orion, Komet | |
| 7 Dec 40 | Komuta | 3,900 | Nauru | Orion, Komet | |
| 26 June 41 | Velebit | 4,153 | Indian Ocean | Kormoran | |
| 26 June 41 | Mareeba | 3,472 | Indian Ocean | Kormoran | |
| 26 Sept 41 | Stamatios G Embirikos | 3,941 | Indian Ocean | Kormoran | |
| 19 Nov 41 | HMAS Sydney | n/a | Carnarvon, W Aust | Kormoran | both sunk in naval engagement |
| 15 June 43 | Hoegh Silverdawn | 7,715 | W Australia | Michel | |
| 17 June 43 | Ferncastle | 9,940 | W Australia | Michel | |
| 9 Mar 44 | Behar | 6,100 | Indian Ocean | Tone | survivors massacred |

## 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 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.
The 28 Japanese and German submarines that operated in Australian waters between 1942 and 1945 sank a total of 30 ships with a combined tonnage of 151,000 long tons (153,000 t); 654 people, including 200 Australian merchant seamen, were killed on board the ships attacked by submarines.
| Date | Submarine | Ship | Tonnage | Location | Remarks |
| 20/1/42 | I 159 | Eidsvold | 4184 | Christmas Island | |
| 1/3/42 | I 154 | Modjokerto | 8806 | South of Christmas Island | |
| 1/3/42 | I 2 | Parigi | 1172 | Off Fremantle | |
| 3/3/42 | I 1 | Siantar | 8867 | 200 nm NW of Shark Bay | |
| 4/3/42 | I 7 | Le Maire | 3271 | NW of Cocos Islands | |
| 5/5/42 | I 21 | John Adams | 7180 | 120 nm SW of Noumea | |
| 7/5/42 | I 21 | Chloe | 4641 | 35 nm from Nouméa | |
| 31/5/42 | M 24 | HMAS Kuttabul | 448 | Sydney Harbour | Midget launched from I 24 |
| 3/6/42 | I 24 | Iron Chieftain | 481 | 27 nm E of Sydney | |
| 4/6/42 | I 27 | Iron Crown | 3353 | 40 nm SW of Gabo Island | |
| 12/6/42 | I 21 | Guatemala | 5527 | 40 nm NE of Sydney | Straggling from a convoy |
| 20/7/42 | I 11 | George S. Livanos | 4883 | 15 nm E of Jervis Bay | |
| 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 | |
| 24/7/42 | I 175 | Murada | 3345 | 85 nm NE of Newcastle | Torpedoed/undamaged (Wrongly claimed as sunk by I-175's captain, it was Allara badly damaged, but not sunk, that day. ),. |
| 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 | Trawler |
| 18/1/43 | I 21 | Kalingo | 2047 | 110 nm E of Sydney | |
| 18/1/43 | I 21 | Mobilube | 10222 | 60 nm E of Sydney | Tanker |
| 22/1/43 | I 21 | Peter H. Burnett | 7176 | 420 nm E of Sydney | |
| 29/1/43 | I 10 | Samuel Gompers | 7176 | 500 nm NE of Brisbane | |
| 30/1/43 | I 21 | Giang Ann | ? | 30 nm E of Newcastle | |
| 8/2/43 | I 21 | SS Iron Knight | 4812 | 21 nm off Montague Island | Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy, 36 of complement of 50 lost |
| 10/2/43 | I 21 | 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 | |
| 27/4/43 | I 178 | Lydia M. Childs | 7176 | 90 nm E of Newcastle | |
| 29/4/43 | I 180 | Wollongbar II | 2239 | Off Crescent Head | |
| 5/5/43 | I 180 | Fingal | 2137 | Off Nambucca Heads | |
| 14/5/43 | I 177 | Australian Hospital Ship Centaur | 3222 | 24 nm ENE of Point Lookout | Hospital ship |
| 16/6/43 | I 174 | Portmar | 5551 | 250 nm NE of Sydney | Sunk while sailing in an escorted convoy |
| 22/6/43 | I 17 | Stanvac Manila | 10245 | Off Nouméa | Two PT boats also destroyed |
| 24/12/44 | U 862 | SS Robert J. Walker | 7180 | Off Moruya, two 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) |
| 6/2/45 | U 862 | SS Peter Silvester | 7176 | 820 nm SW of Fremantle | In the Indian Ocean, 32 of crew lost (Liberty ship) |