This is a list of Allied ships sunk by Axis warships operating in Australian waters during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. 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 The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.Dennis et al. 2008, p.53. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, 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

prior to the outbreak of war. This vast area consisted of the waters around Australia and eastern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

, and stretching south to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. From east to west, it stretched from 170° east in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

to 80° east in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

, and from north to south it stretched from the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

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.

Ships sunk by submarines

The following table has been adapted fro
Appendix V
o
''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 ; 654 people, including 200 Australian merchant seamen, were killed on board the ships attacked by submarines.Jenkins (1992). Pages 286–287.

Notes

*''Battle Surface: Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942-44'' by David Jenkins (1992, Random House, NSW Australia) {{ISBN, 0-09-182638-1 Ships sunk by Axis warships in Australian waters Sunk by Axis warships in Australian waters

Ships sunk by surface raiders

Ships sunk by submarines

See also

Notes