RN:
Anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Curacoa, late 1942. She was a First World War-era ship re-armed with 4-inch guns, a Pom Pom mount and two HACS systems explicitly to enhance fleet air defence. In late 1942, during escort duty, she was accidentally sliced in half and sunk by the
ocean liner RMS Queen Mary, with the loss of 337 men.
On the morning of 2 October 1942,
Curacoa rendezvoused north of Ireland with the ocean liner
Queen Mary, which was carrying approximately 10,000 American troops of the
29th Infantry Division The liner was steaming an evasive "
Zig-Zag Pattern No. 8" course at a speed of 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph), an overall rate of advance of 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph), to evade submarine attacks. The elderly cruiser remained on a straight course at a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) and would eventually be overtaken by the liner.
Each captain had different interpretations of
The Rule of the Road believing his ship had the
right of way. Captain John Wilfred Boutwood of
Curacoa kept to the liner's mean course to maximize his ability to defend the liner from enemy aircraft, while Commodore Sir Cyril Gordon Illingworth of
Queen Mary continued their zig-zag pattern expecting the escort cruiser to give way.
We could see our escort zig-zagging in front of us - it was common for the ships and cruisers to zig-zag to confuse the U-boats. In this particular case however the escort was very, very close to us.
I said to my mate "You know she's zig-zigging all over the place in front of us, I'm sure we're going to hit her."
And sure enough, the Queen Mary sliced the cruiser in two like a piece of butter, straight through the six-inch [
sic] armoured plating.
— Alfred Johnson, eye witness,
BBC: "HMS
Curacao Tragedy"
At 13:32, during the zig-zag, it became apparent that
Queen Mary would come too close to the cruiser and the liner's
officer of the watch interrupted the turn to avoid
Curacoa. Upon hearing this command, Illingworth told his officer to: "Carry on with the zig-zag. These chaps are used to escorting; they will keep out of your way and won't interfere with you." At 14:04,
Queen Mary started the starboard turn from a position slightly behind the cruiser and at a distance of two
cables (about 400 yards (366 m)). Boutwood perceived the danger, but the distance was too close for either of the hard turns ordered for each ship to make any difference at the speeds that they were travelling.
Queen Mary struck
Curacoa amidships at full speed, cutting the cruiser in half. The aft end sank almost immediately, but the rest of the ship stayed on the surface a few minutes longer.
Acting under orders not to stop due to the risk of
U-boat attacks,
Queen Mary steamed onwards with a damaged
bow. She radioed the other
destroyers of her escort, about 7
nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) away, and reported the collision.
[37] Hours later, the convoy's lead escort, consisting of
Bramham and one other ship,
[38] returned to rescue approximately 101 survivors, including Boutwood.
[Note 3] Lost with
Curacoa were 337 officers and men of her crew, according to the naval casualty file released by
The National Archives in June 2013.
[40][Note 4] Most of the lost men are commemorated on the
Chatham Naval Memorial and the rest on the
Portsmouth Naval Memorial. Those who died after rescue, or whose bodies were recovered, were buried in Chatham and in
Arisaig Cemetery in
Invernesshire.
[39] Under the
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986,
Curacoa's wrecksite is designated a "protected place".
[42]
Those who witnessed the collision were sworn to secrecy due to national security concerns.
[43] The loss was not publicly reported until after the war ended, although the
Admiralty filed a writ against
Queen Mary's owners,
Cunard White Star Line, on 22 September 1943 in the
Admiralty Court of the
High Court of Justice. Little happened until 1945, when the case went to trial in June; it was adjourned to November and then to December 1946.
Mr. Justice Pilcher exonerated
Queen Mary's crew and her owners from blame on 21 January 1947 and laid all fault on
Curacoa's officers. The Admiralty appealed his ruling and the
Court of Appeal modified the ruling, assigning two-thirds of the blame to the Admiralty and one third to Cunard White Star. The latter appealed to the
House of Lords, but the decision was upheld.
[44]
