List of shipwrecks in 1975

The list of shipwrecks in 1975 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1975.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

table of contents

1975
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
May	Jun	Jul	Aug
Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Unknown date
References

January

5 January

List of shipwrecks: 5 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Lake Illawarra	Australia	The bulk carrier sank in the River Derwent in Tasmania, Australia, after a collision with the Tasman Bridge.

6 January

List of shipwrecks: 6 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Robert G. Seymour	United States	The motor vessel was destroyed by fire at Angoon, Alaska.[1]

11 January

List of shipwrecks: 11 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
David Foss	United States	While tending an oil platform in icy conditions, the tug sank near Cape Kasilof (60°22′N 151°22′W) in Cook Inlet on the south-central coast of Alaska. Her crew of six survived.[2]

14 January

List of shipwrecks: 14 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Suzanne	United States	The 275-gross register ton barge was wrecked at Cape Suckling (59°59′30″N 143°53′00″W) on the south-central coast of Alaska.[3]

20 January

List of shipwrecks: 20 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Danesh	Iran	The tug collided with the motor vessel Arya Tab and the barge Gulf 107 and sank in Khor Musa Channel off Khorramshahr, Iran.

29 January

List of shipwrecks: 20 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Jakob Maersk	Denmark	While entering the port of Leixões, Portugal, with the assistance of tugboats, the tanker ran aground on a sandbar, caught fire, and suffered a series of explosions that broke her apart. Seven of her 17 crew members died, and she burned for 58 hours.

25 January

List of shipwrecks: 25 January 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Lovat	United Kingdom	The coaster sank in a west-northwest gale gusting to hurricane force 25 nautical miles (46 km) south of Penzance, England. All crew lost.[4]

February

11 February

List of shipwrecks: 11 February 1975

Ship	Country	Description
K P No. 2	United States	The 62-gross register ton, 65-foot (19.8 m) barge was lost off Vanik Island (56°28′N 132°36′W) in Southeast Alaska, 14 nautical miles (26 km; 16 mi) west of Wrangell, Alaska.[5]

20 February

List of shipwrecks: 20 February 1975

Ship	Country	Description
George P. Garrison	United States	Sunk as an artificial reef 30 nautical miles (56 km) east of Cape Henry.[6]
Marten	United States	The 188-gross register ton, 82.2-foot (25.1 m) crab-fishing vessel struck a rock pinnacle, capsized, and sank with the loss of three lives off Spruce Cape (57°49′15″N 152°20′00″W) on Kodiak Island, 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) north of the harbor at Kodiak, Alaska. Her only survivor was her captain, who clung to a cliff in a snowstorm overnight before he was rescued.[7]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Rogue	Canada	Sank off Triple Island, British Columbia.[8]

March

14 March

List of shipwrecks: 14 March 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Rey Mar Houston	United States	The 157-gross register ton motor vessel sank off Popof Island in the Shumagin Islands off the south coast of Alaska.[1]

17 March

List of shipwrecks: 17 March 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Red Eagle	Thailand	The coastal trading vessel sank in Telok Ayer Basin, Singapore.

April

4 April

List of shipwrecks: 4 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Spartan Lady	Liberia	The oil tanker broke apart in heavy seas in the North Atlantic Ocean south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

6 April

List of shipwrecks: 26 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Santa Elia	Panama	The bulk carrier ran aground off Vlissingen, Zeeland, Netherlands. She was on a voyage from Antwerp, Belgium to Hull, Humberside, United Kingdom. Later refloated, but laid up. Scrapped in 1976.[9]

15 April

List of shipwrecks: 15 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
USS Killen	United States Navy	The decommissioned Fletcher-class destroyer was sunk as a target off Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.

17 April

List of shipwrecks: 17 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Manzanita	United States	The 78-gross register ton, 76.5-foot (23.3 m) motor vessel sank in the Gulf of Alaska near Cordova, Alaska.[7]

19 April

List of shipwrecks: 19 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Ida K	United States	The 18-gross register ton, 39.4-foot (12.0 m) fishing vessel sank in Stephens Passage near Juneau, Alaska.[10]

22 April

List of shipwrecks: 22 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified skiff	United States	The skiff sank with the loss of two lives in Valdez Narrows (61.0678°N 146.6697°W / 61.0678; -146.6697 (Valdez Narrows)) on the south-central coast of Alaska after a 3-inch (76-mm) hole opened in her hull.[11]

27 April

List of shipwrecks: 27 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
USS Carbonero	United States Navy	The decommissioned Balao-class submarine was sunk as a torpedo target in the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii by the submarine USS Pogy ( United States Navy).

30 April

List of shipwrecks: 30 April 1975

Ship	Country	Description
RVNS Keo Ngua	Republic of Vietnam Navy	Vietnam War: The Phu Du-class motor gunboat was scuttled at the conclusion of the war to prevent capture .[12]
Suntory	United States	The motor vessel was destroyed by fire in Day Harbor on the coast of the Kenai Peninsul in Alaska.[3]

May

2 May

List of shipwrecks: 2 May 1975

Ship	Country	Description
HDMS Delfinen	Royal Danish Navy	The Delfinen-class submarine was severely damaged by fire off the coast of Norway. The fire was extinguished and she was towed into Haakonsvern, Norway.[13]
RVNS Lam Giang	Republic of Vietnam Navy	Vietnam War: End of War: The Hat Giang-class landing ship was scuttled to prevent capture.[14]

11 May

List of shipwrecks: 11 May 1975

Ship	Country	Description
USS Bell	United States Navy	The decommissioned Fletcher-class destroyer was sunk as a target.

13 May

List of shipwrecks: 13 May 1975

Ship	Country	Description
VR 1	Khmer Rouge	Vietnam War: Mayaguez Incident: The Type 108 fast attack craft was sunk by U.S. aircraft.[15]
VR 2	Khmer Rouge	Vietnam War: Mayaguez Incident: The Type 108 fast attack craft was sunk by U.S. aircraft.[15]
Three unidentified patrol boats	Khmer Rouge	Vietnam War: Mayaguez Incident: U.S. aircraft sank the Patrol Craft Fast.[16]
Two unidentified motor torpedo boats	Khmer Rouge	Vietnam War: Mayaguez Incident: U.S. aircraft sank the Higgins-type patrol torpedo boats at Kampong Som, Cambodia.[16]

25 May

List of shipwrecks: 25 May 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Kevalaksa	United States	While under tow by the tug Daphne ( United States) carrying logs, cement, and general cargo, the 3,384-gross register ton, 326-foot (99.4 m) barge capsized and sank off the south-central coast of Alaska near Kachemak Bay and Seldovia.[5]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: May 1975

Ship	Country	Description
RVNS Hau Giang	Republic of Vietnam Navy	Vietnam War: The Hat Giang-class Landing Craft Mechanized was scuttled to prevent capture at the conlusion of the war. She was raised, repaired, and put in Vietnam People's Navy service.[17]

June

13 June

List of shipwrecks: 13 June 1975

Ship	Country	Description
USS Moore	United States Navy	The decommissioned Edsall-class destroyer escort was sunk as a target in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia.

16 June

List of shipwrecks: 16 June 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Cynthia Rea	United States	The gillnet fishing vessel ran aground on Zarembo Island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) south of Petersburg, Alaska, and sank with the loss of three lives.[18]

21 June

List of shipwrecks: 21 June 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Forrester	United States	The 32-foot (9.8 m) fishing vessel sank with the loss of one life after colliding with the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Malaspina ( United States) in Olga Strait (57°11′N 135°27′W) in Southeast Alaska.[19][11]
Nicholas C	Panama	The bulk carrier sprang a leak and was abandoned 200 nautical miles (370 km) off Beira, Mozambique. Presumed subsequently foundered.[20]

July

14 July

List of shipwrecks: 14 July 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Dalmatia	United States	The 12-gross register ton motor vessel sank 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) south of Naknek, Alaska.[2]

15 July

List of shipwrecks: 15 July 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Point Law	United Kingdom	Point Law on the rocks in Alderney, Channel Islands in 1975. The coastal tanker ran aground on the south west coast of Alderney, Channel Islands. Her crew were rescued by the St Peter Port Lifeboat, Alderney Fire Brigade, a cliff rescue team and a French helicopter.[21]

19 July

List of shipwrecks: 19 July 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Herma A	Trinidad and Tobago	Foundered at Port of Spain, Trinidad, during a storm.

23 July

List of shipwrecks: 23 July 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Shelly Ann	United States	The 34-foot (10 m) vessel sank without loss of life at Narrow Cape (57°25′30″N 152°20′00″W) on the coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska.[3]

24 July

List of shipwrecks: 24 July 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Savoydean	Panama	Caught fire in Calcutta[22]

August

10 August

List of shipwrecks: 10 August 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Citation	United States	The motor vessel sank in Sitka Sound in Southeast Alaska.[18]
Mojo	United States	The 26-foot (7.9 m) vessel sank in Ugak Bay (57°25′N 152°35′W) on the coast of Kodiak Island, Alaska, without loss of life. The fishing vessel Mariner ( United States) rescued her crew.[7]

15 August

List of shipwrecks: 15 August 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Pursuit	United States	The 11-gross register ton, 29.2-foot (8.9 m) fishing vessel was destroyed by fire at Dry Pass (56°28′00″N 132°22′40″W) in Wrangell, Alaska.[23]

20 August

List of shipwrecks: 20 August 1975

Ship	Country	Description
USS Mona Island	United States Navy	The decommissioned Luzon-class internal combustion engine repair ship was sunk as an artificial reef off Wachapreague, Virginia, at 37°32′36″N 075°26′18″W.

21 August

List of shipwrecks: 21 August 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified fishing vessel	United States	The fishing vessel capsized near Cordova, Alaska, killing her captain′s two daughters.[11]

September

1 September

List of shipwrecks: 1 September 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Commander	United States	The motor vessel was wrecked at Chignik Lagoon, Alaska.[18]

16 September

List of shipwrecks: 16 September 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified fishing vessel	United States	The fishing vessel capsized in Vallenar Bay (55.3856°N 131.8472°W / 55.3856; -131.8472 (Vallenar Bay)) in Southeast Alaska near Ketchikan, Alaska, killing one person.[11]

26 September

List of shipwrecks: 26 September 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Foss 209	United States	While under tow by the vessel Leslie Foss ( United States) off the south-central coast of Alaska, the barge capsized. She was towed 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) out into the Gulf of Alaska near Cape Saint Elias and scuttled with explosive charges.[19]

October

4 October

List of shipwrecks: 4 October 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Hongkong Delegate	Liberia	The vessel suffered extensive damage in a collision with the cruise ship Columbus ( Canada) off Monterey, California. She was sold for scrap.[24]

12 October

List of shipwrecks: 12 October 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Hustler	United States	The 24-gross register ton, 43.2-foot (13.2 m) fishing vessel sank off Kodiak Island in Alaska's Kodiak Archipelago.[25]

November

10 November

List of shipwrecks: 10 November 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Edmund Fitzgerald	United States	The lake freighter sank in Lake Superior near Whitefish Bay with the loss of all 29 aboard. The wreck was found in two pieces on the bottom the next year by a remotely operated underwater vehicle. The cause of the wreck is still unknown but suspected hatch failure or possible grounding are the two most likely.

December

3 December

List of shipwrecks: 3 december 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Sealee	United States	The fishing vessel was lost during severe weather in Culross Passage between Culross Island and the northeastern end of the Kenai Peninsula near "Night Island" (probably a reference to Knight Island) at the western end of Prince William Sound off the south-central coast of Alaska.[3]
Sharkay	United States	The fishing vessel was lost during severe weather in Culross Passage between Culross Island and the northeastern end of the Kenai Peninsula near "Night Island" (probably a reference to Knight Island) at the western end of Prince William Sound off the south-central coast of Alaska.[3]

7 December

List of shipwrecks: 7 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Western	United States	The 89-foot (27.1 m) shrimper and her crew of three men disappeared in the Gulf of Alaska somewhere between Pelican and Kodiak, Alaska.[26][11]

13 December

List of shipwrecks: 13 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Hornet	United States	The 48-gross register ton motor vessel sank in Clarence Strait in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska near Lincoln Rock (56°03′25″N 132°41′50″W).[25]

18 December

List of shipwrecks: 18 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Imbros	Cyprus	foundered in the Atlantic Ocean (31°40′N 77°47′W) with the loss of all 22 crew.[27]

20 December

List of shipwrecks: 20 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified fishing vessel	United States	The fishing vessel capsized off Peratrovich Island (55.5788889°N 133.11°W / 55.5788889; -133.11 (Peratrovich Island)) in Southeast Alaska near Klawock, Alaska, killing one person.[11]

26 December

List of shipwrecks: 26 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
William Wheelwright	United Kingdom	The tanker ran aground off Sinoe, Liberia. She was refloated on 29 December and towed to Lisbon, Portugal. Deemed beyond repair, she was subsequently scrapped in 1976.[28]

28 December

List of shipwrecks: 28 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Kim Hua Li	Panama	The coastal tanker sank in the South China Sea.

30 December

List of shipwrecks: 30 December 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Berge Istra	Norway	The supertanker exploded and sank south west of Mindanao Island, the Philippines. Two of the 32 crew survived and were rescued after 22 days adrift in a lifeboat.[29]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1975

Ship	Country	Description
Aviere	Italian Navy	The decommissioned Gleaves-class destroyer was sunk as a target.[30]
Antonio Maceo	Cuban Revolutionary Navy	The decommissioned Tacoma-class frigate was sunk as a target.

References

1. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (R)
2. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (D)
3. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (S)
4. Corin, John; Farr, Grahame (1983). Penlee Lifeboat. Penzance: Penlee & Penzance Branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. pp. 120. ISBN 0-9508611-0-3.
5. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (K)
6. "George P. Garrison (5128962)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
7. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (M)
8. Heaton, K E (8 July 2004). "Shipwrecks in British Columbia's Waters". Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
9. "T2 TANKERS - W - Y". Mariners. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
10. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (I)
11. alaskashipwreck.com ALASKA COMMERCIAL FISHING AND OTHER MARITIME LOSSES OF 1975
12. "USS LSSL-4". Navsource. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
13. "Sea Accidents and Losses". Danish Naval History. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
14. "Hat Giang medium landing ship". Navipedia. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
15. Gray, Randal, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN 0-87021-919-7, p. 326.
16. "Kampuchean (Cambodian) Naval Battles". Sovietempire.com. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
17. "Hat Giang medium landing ship". Navipedia. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
18. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (C)
19. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (F)
20. "T2 TANKERS - B". Mariners. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
21. Howarth, Patrick (1981). Lifeboat In Danger's Hour. London, New York, Sydney, Toronto: Hamlyn. p. 100. ISBN 0 600 34959 4.
22. "MV Africa Palm (1953)". The Sunderland Site.
23. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (P)
24. "Hongkong Delegate (5356404)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
25. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (H)
26. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (W)
27. "MV Imbros (+1975)". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
28. "William Wheelwright". The Yard. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
29. "Survivors from ore carrier vow never to go to sea again". The Times (D). London. 22 January 1976. col D-F, p. 59608.
30. Gardiner, Robert, ed., Conway′s All the World′s Fighting Ships 1947–1982 Part I: The Western Powers, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN 0870219189, p. 68.

See also

Ship events in 1975
Ship launches:	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
Ship commissionings:	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
Ship decommissionings:	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
Shipwrecks:	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980