Immediately a CG C-27 Spartan aircraft was launched from Sacramento airbase; at the same time the Coast Guard notified the MV Nord Rubicon, which was in the vicinity of the boat in distress.  The master diverted to assist in any rescue.

The C-27 arrived at the scene at 3.21am, and immediately radioed back that the fishing vessel was on fire, and that the crew were in a nearby life-raft. A second C-27 was launched from Sacramento at 8.00am to assist.  The Reederei Nord bulk carrier Nord Rubicon arrived at 9.30am, and soon after rescued all seven crewmen. The bulk carrier then continued to San Francisco.

Caribou was a Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry that ran from 1928 to 1942 between Port aux Basques, in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, and North Sydney in Nova Scotia. On 14th October 1942 the ferry was attacked and sunk by the German submarine U-69. She had women and children on board, many of whom were among the 137 who died, as well as Canadian, British and American military personnel. The ferry was part of a regular convoy that usually ran three-times a week, at night. The minesweeper HMCS Grandmère was the naval escort vessel. German submarine U-69 was in the Gulf of St Lawrence, seeking victims. At 3:51a.m. Newfoundland Summer Time, Caribou was torpedoed approximately 37 km (20 nmi) south-west of Port aux Basques and sank within five minutes. Grandmère dropped six depth charges, but U-69 escaped. Grandmère went back for survivors, then sailed for Sydney which had better hospital facilities.

On board Caribou were 46 crew members and 191 civilian and military passengers. Captain Benjamin Taverner perished, along with his sons Stanley and Harold, who served as first and third officers. In total,  137 people died: 57 military personnel, 49 civilians and 31 crew  died. Two female personnel were killed in the disaster: Bridget Fitzpatrick of the Newfoundland Merchant Navy, and Canadian Nursing Sister Agnes Wilkie: the only women in their respective services to be killed during the Second World War.

The ferry had been built at the Adamson shipyard in Rotterdam for the Newfoundland Railway. She was launched on 9th June 1925 and made her maiden arrival at St John’s on 22nd October 1925. Caribou was able to reach a speed of 14.5 knot when fully loaded. She had steam-heat and electric lights in all cabins, considered to be a luxury at the time. With her ice-breaking design, Caribou also assisted during the seal hunt along the Newfoundland coast each spring.

SS Flandre was built for CGT (French Line) by Atel. & Chant. de St Nazaire at Penhoet. Launched on 31st October 1913, she was transferred to Sud-Atlantique before completion for their Bordeaux to South America service. Her maiden voyage was on 30th September 1914, to Buenos Aires. Requisitioned in March 1915 she was used as a troopship in the Dardanelles campaign. In 1917 she was converted into a hospital ship, and after the Armistice was used to repatriate troops.

In July 1919 Flandre was released and returned to CGT, for use on their Central American service to Mexico. During the Great Depression of the 1930s she was moved to the slower service operating from St Nazaire to Bordeaux, Spain and on to Central America and the West Indies.

At the outbreak of World War II Flandre was initially laid up, but early in 1940 was requisitioned again, to transport troops for the Norway campaign. Following the collapse of France, Flandre was seized by the Germans for use as a naval auxiliary, to be used as a troop transport for Operation Sealion, the planned invasion of the UK. Leaving Bordeaux in convoy on 13th September 1940 she struck a magnetic mine, ironically laid earlier by Germans, in the mouth of the Gironde river, and grounded. She broke in two on 14th September 1940 and was abandoned, fortunately with no casualties. After the war the remains were destroyed by a Royal Navy ordnance team.

Oceanic sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage on 6th September 1899, under Captain J.G. Cameron, with 1,456 passengers and 434 crew. However, because many of the replacement stokers were untrained, she made the crossing with the engines only generating about 75% of their potential and arrived at Sandy Hook on 15th September, docking just after noon. She had completed the crossing in 6 days 2 hours 27 minutes, at an average 19.57 knots.

The channel for the approach to New York harbour was just 30 feet deep at the time. This meant that for some time Oceanic had to restrict the cargo she carried until Congress later supplied sufficient funds to enable the authorities to dredge the channel deeper, to at least 35 feet, more in places.

On 24th July 1940 the French liner Meknes was repatriating French servicemen from Southampton to Marseilles when she was spotted off the English coast by a German E-boat, the S-27. Although the Vichy French government had been informed that Frenchmen were aboard, the German naval authorities had apparently not been informed. Meknes, brightly lit and with a large French flag painted on her sides, stopped and attempted to identify herself to the German vessel. However around 10.30pm the E-boat opened fire with machine-guns and then fired a torpedo into the liner. Meknes sank within ten minutes. There were over 1200 men aboard, and nearly 400 died – exact figures were never released.

The Vichy French government had insisted that all French servicemen in Britain should be repatriated, since France had surrendered and was no longer at war with Germany. Only those men that had already volunteered to serve with the Free French Forces were to be permitted to stay. A number of vessels were allotted to repatriate the returning Frenchmen.

Built by Chanters et Atlier de St Nazaire, Grand Quevilly, she was a 6,757grt twin-propeller vessel with a service speed of 14.5 knots, and accommodation for 112 in First Class, 32 in Second and 406 in Third. She was originally named Puerto Rico, but was renamed Meknes in 1929, although still operating for CGT. Her peacetime route was from Bordeaux to Casablanca.

Justicia, under Captain David, was at Liver­pool in a convoy of eight ships and six des­troyers waiting to sail on 18th July 1918, but the sailing was delayed while the route was swept for mines. They finally sailed, but around 2.00pm on 19th July 1918 Justicia was tor­pedoed by UB64 off Skerry­vore, Scotland. One torpedo struck her engine room, killing fifteen fire­men and the third engineer, and crippled the ship. Although badly damaged, the bulkheads held, so the stricken vessel was taken in tow. About two hours later another two torpedoes were fired but missed. By 8pm two tugs were handling the tow, heading for Lough Swilly, where they intended to beach her.

In the early hours of 20th July another torpedo missed, but finally around 9.30am UB124 fired a fatal salvo. Crew evacu­ated the doomed liner, and she eventually sank at 12.40pm.  Later in the day, UB124 was herself sunk by the destroyers “protecting” Justicia. The Royal Navy later conducted a formal inquiry into how the liner, escorted by at least three destroyers, was torpedoed five times within 18 hours, all in daylight; it concluded that the deter­mi­nation and bravery of the U-boat crews was “beyond belief”. Justicia had previously been attacked on 23rd January 1918 by German U-boats in the Irish Channel but on that occasion she escaped unscathed.

Built at Harland & Wolff as Statendam (yard number 436), she  was com­­­pleted on 7th April 1917, to carry 5,000 troops and 15,000 tons of cargo. She was renamed Justicia and placed under UK gov­ern­­ment ownership. Due to be man­aged by Cunard, she was allocated to White Star as Cunard could not muster a crew while White Star had the crew from the sunk Britannic available. Justicia was painted plain grey when delivered, but was later dazzle-painted. On 29th April Justicia made her first trooping run to Halifax.

Cunard’s Carpathia, best known for hr rôle in saving survivors from the Titanic disaster, was torpedoed on 17th July 1918 by the German submarine U55, off the Irish coast. Five crew were lost in the initial attack. She was part of a convoy heading from Liverpool to Boston, with 57 passengers and 166 crew. She was hit by two torpedoes, and quickly began to sink by the head. Captain Prothero gave the order to abandon ship, and survivors left on the lifeboats. U55 fired a third torpedo into Carpathia, causing a massive explosion. The submarine then surfaced and approached the lifeboats, but was driven away by gunfire from HMS Snowdrop. The sloop then stopped and picked up the survivors. Early in 2000 the wreck was found, some 125 miles off Fastnet, lying more or less upright on the seabed. It is currently owned by Premier Exhibitions, formerly RMS Titanic Inc., but that company has filed for bankruptcy so it is unclear what the future holds for any artefacts recovered.

Built by Swan Hunter at Newcastle, Carpathia was laid down on 10th September 1901, and was ready for her trials by 22nd April 1903. She was 558 feet long, 13,603grt. She was fitted with four masts, well-equipped with derricks to handle large quantities of cargo, especially frozen meat. Carpathia could also carry 200 passengers in Second Class and 1,600 in Steerage. She was designed to attract the thousands of East European and Hungarian emigrants heading for the USA on the Fiume to New York route. Her maiden voyage was on 5th May 1903, from Liverpool to Boston. She was rebuilt in 1905 to provide better accommodation, and was often used as a cruise ship.

Carpathia was most famous for her part in the Titanic disaster, when she was first to arrive on the scene, and rescued over 700 survivors. Requisitioned during the Great War, Carpathia was used to transport American and Canadian troops to the battlefields of Europe. She generally sailed from New York to Halifax, then across the Atlantic to either Liverpool or Glasgow.

On 7th July 1941 Georgic arrived at Port Tewfik. Troops and matériel were offloaded and by 13th July evacuees and returning troops were boarding. In the early hours of 14th July air raid sirens sounded. Initially the Ger­man bombers concentrated on shore instal­lations then the ships in Suez Roads, especially Georgic. One bomb exploded along­side after bouncing off the hull, the shock wave damaged hull plating and caused flooding in No. 4 hold. The next bomb hit the sports deck, plunged through a lift shaft and exploded five decks down in No. 5 hold.

Fire broke out on all five decks, fed by fuel oil escaping from a rup­tured tank in the double bottom. Within 20 minutes the fire reached ammu­nition in Holds No. 7 and 8, which exploded. Georgic was now listing to port with extensive flooding. About a dozen of the gun crew were killed or injured. The steering was jammed, and Georgic crashed into HMS Glenearn, anchored nearby. With great diffi­culty Captain Greig managed to ground on North Reef, clearing the channel. Georgic lay abandoned and was left to burn. The ship was gutted, her mid­ships destroyed by the fuel fire, and her stern wrecked by the explosion.

On 17th July Captain Greig and a group of engineers returned to see what was left. Superstructure was distorted: the engines were undamaged, but under water. Commander J.G. Wheeler, Mediterranean Fleet Salvage Officer, arrived from Haifa on 17th July. He had to wait for a pro­fessional diver to assess the under­water damage. On 14th September it was decided that Georgic could be raised and saved, and on 15th September the salvage ship Confederate arrived at Suez, along with a professional salvage team and divers. Pumps were acquired and patches were made for the doors and portholes that were underwater. Cmdr Wheeler gave the order on 10th October to start pumping water out. Initially they worked on the engine room and stern holds so that the weight of the water in the forward end kept the wreck securely on the reef. By 27th October Georgic was afloat, and Confederate towed the wreck to an anchorage. Make-shift repairs were com­pleted, and temporary pumps installed to keep the water levels down.

On 29th December Georgic left for Port Sudan, under tow from Clan Campbell, with Ellerman’s City of Sydney steering from astern, as no tugs were available. The rudder was still jammed hard over, making her veer wildly while under tow. On 3rd January 1942 the tow rope from Georgic to City of Sydney snapped as gales swept the area. On 7th January a tug arrived from Port Sudan, and a new tow line was passed to City of Sydney. The small convoy eventually arrived at Port Sudan on 10th January. Georgic spent the next seven weeks at Port Sudan, for repairs to reduce the list, and the rudder was freed from the jammed position.

It was decided to take Georgic to Karachi. On 5th March Harrison Line’s Recorder was requi­sitioned for the tow, with the tug Sampson steering from astern, for the 2,775 mile journey. On 6th March severe weather forced Sampson to break off the tow, and soon after the tug sank. On 8th March British India’s Haresfield took over the aft steering position and later the tug Pauline Moller assisted. On 1st April Georgic arrived at Karachi, for further repairs. The interiors were cleaned of all remain­ing debris, the dis­torted stem straightened and the engines cleaned and coaxed back to life. Georgic left Karachi under her own steam on 11th Decem­ber, for Bombay, arriving two days later. Further repairs were completed, and the hull was cleaned. After a brief stop at Cape Town from 5th to 8th February to refuel and reprovision, Georgic arrived at Liver­pool on 1st March.

At Liverpool, surveyors from the Admiralty and the Ministry of War Transport surveyed Georgic to determine her fate. On 16th March it was decided to rebuild her as a permanent troop­ship, and for Cunard-White Star to manage her. She arrived at Harland & Wolff in Belfast on 19th March. On 5th July the No. 3 berth at Musgrave Yard was freed: Georgic was transferred and the work of restoring her began. Internally she was completely rebuilt. Externally the dummy forward funnel was removed, the foremast reduced and the mainmast cut off, with just a small signal mast added. Georgic left Belfast on 16th December 1944 for Liver­pool, to resume her trooping duties.

Around 4·00pm on Saturday, 30th June 1900 fire broke out at Hoboken, in New York. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and Main were at Pier 2, Bremen and Saale were at Pier 3. They were surrounded by coal barges, lighters and canal boats, laden with bales of cotton and drums of oil and petroleum products, including turpentine. An explosion amongst cargo on Pier 3 set stacked bales of cotton on fire: the flames spread rapidly. The fire spread fast on the dry, wooden piers; forty dockers died before they could run to safety. The flames jumped across adjacent piers before spreading ashore, destroying many build­ings. Local fire crews responded but had little effect.

None of the vessels had steam up, and were in danger of being  destroyed. Harbour tugs moved in to help Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse but were unable to move her. Admiral Dewey, one of the most power­­ful tugs in harbour, then arrived and started towing her clear. Another tug collected a second hawser and together they towed Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse to the middle of the Hudson. Later Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was towed across the river. Damage was slight, mainly singed paint and wood­work.

Two city fireboats, Van Wyck and New Yorker, arrived and played their firehoses on the burning liners, in a hopeless attempt to quell the fires and save some of those aboard. Saale was towed clear, blazing furiously. She was abandoned and left to drift, ending up near the Statue of Liberty and later sank: 109 crew died. Bremen and Main drifted clear and later both went aground at the Wee­hawken Flats: 12 died on one and 44 on the other. In total several hundred people died – exact figures were never accurately established.

Damage to the three liners was severe. Around 27 barges and other river craft were destroyed and the three NDL piers and the Scandinavian-American (Thingvalla) Pier were gutted: sev­eral ware­­houses were burnt out. Insur­ance esti­mates totalled $4,627,000. One hundred victims were buried in a mass grave at the Flower Hill Cemetery in North Bergen, New Jersey. Bremen underwent temporary repairs before returning to Ger­many for a complete overhaul and was extended by 25 feet. Main was refloated and towed to Newport News, where she was repaired and returned to service with NDL. Saale was sold to Luckenbach Shipping and rebuilt as a freighter, J.L. Luck­en­bach, with a single funnel and new engines.

Toyama Maru was a Japanese troop transport in World War II. On 18th June 1944 she left Moji, Japan in Convoy KATA-412, heading for Okinawa. There were troops of the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade aboard, plus a large cargo of petrol, stored in the lower holds in cans.

At 7.30am on 29th June 1944 she was spotted off Taira Jima, Japan, by the US submarine USS Sturgeon, under Lt Cmdr Murphy. Four torpedoes were launched; three hit, one of which exploded the petrol. In the subsequent intense fire and explosions the hull broke in two, and she sank in a minute. Survivors were rescued by the escorts. Some reports say there were over 6,000 troops aboard, with 5,400 lost. Other reports say around 4,000 aboard with 3,674 lost. The latter is more credible, given the size of the ship. Original documents were destroyed by the Japanese at the end of the war, so the true figures will never be known. However, it is accepted as one of the ten worst maritime disasters in history.

Toyama Maru was laid down on 4th August 1913 at the Mitsubishi Dockyard, for NYK Line. Completed on 3rd June 1915, she was 445 feet long, 7,089grt. In 1935 she was sold to Nanyo Kaiun, and some 18 months later sold to Ono Shoji Gomel. On 29th January 1941 she was requisitioned by the Japanese Imperial Army and assigned Army number 782. After being involved in several Pacific actions including the Philippines and Singapore, she was used to transport prisoners of war in the most appalling conditions. She was then transferred to transport Japanese troops to various theatres of war, until her final convoy.