It was struck by the 12,000-tonne Paracas (Peru) at 4:10 in thick fog. Paracas had ignored the shipping lanes so that it could take a quicker route down the channel. Texaco Caribbean exploded from the bunker oil fumes in its hold.[3] It split in two, the bow section sinking immediately, the stern section drifting for several hours before sinking too, resulting in 600 tonnes of bunker fuel being spilled.[4] The incident occurred in the English Channel 13 km (8.1 mi) off Folkestone with the loss of at least eight lives. The explosion was so great that property was damaged in Folkestone.[5][6] 20 survivors were rescued by Bravagos (Norway) and the fishing vessel Viking Warrior (United Kingdom). The survivors were taken to Dover. Paracas was towed to Hamburg.[7]
Despite the British coastal authorities placing three vertical green lights on site to warn other ships of the presence of the wreck, the 2,695-ton Brandenburg struck the wreck of Texaco Caribbean (Peru) at 07:30 and sank within minutes with the loss of 21 lives. Lifeboats did not have time to respond and only 11 survivors were picked out from the water by fishermen.[5][6][3][4]
The ship caught fire at Gibraltar, with its bridge deck and accommodation gutted. Repairs were deemed uneconomic and the ship was scrapped later in the year.[14]
The three-masted auxiliary barque was driven ashore in Parengarenga Harbour, a few miles south of North Cape. She was en route to New Zealand from Australia, and after being becalmed encountered a gale on rounding North Cape and failed to make Houhora Harbour. The crew of 13 men and one woman landed safely, there were no fatalities. She was the first square-rigged sailing vessel wrecked on the New Zealand coast for more than 50 years. Endeavour II had taken part in the 1970 bi-centenary re-enactment of James Cook's landing at Botany Bay, Sydney on 29 April 1970.[18]
A light ship and five light buoys were added above the site of the wreck of Texaco Caribbean (Peru) by Trinity House. However, the ship Niki, sailing out of Dunkirk, ignored these and additional warnings of the nearby tanker Hebris. As observed by Hebris, Niki hit the submerged wreck(s) at approximately 8.16 pm and sank with the loss of all 21 crew and 1 passenger (the chief engineer's wife) before Hebris could perform a rescue of the men that had been observed in the water. Ten bodies were subsequently recovered.[21][3][5]
The tanker broke in two on 27 March and foundered on 28 March, 100 miles (160 km) due east of Sandbridge off Virginia with the loss of 33 of her 44 crew.[28][29]
Carrying a cargo of heavy construction equipment, the motor vessel sank in Portage Bay on the coast of Alaska. Reports of the sinking do not indicate in which of several Alaskan bodies of water named "Portage Bay" the sinking took place.[19]
The cargo ship suffered an explosion and fire in Greek waters and was beached, a total loss. Palestinians claimed responsibility for the explosion. Later taken to Kartal, Turkey and scrapped. 1 crewman killed.[48][49]
The coaster was cut in two by Zagora (Morocco) and sunk at entrance to Casablanca harbour, Morocco. Ricardo Manuel was on a voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Casablanca.[58]
The bulk carrier had run aground and broken her back at Genoa in April 1970, but Smit Tak International had refloated the after portion on 12 October 1971 and was towing it to be scuttled on the Balearic Abyssal Plain. About 90 miles (78 nmi; 140 km) out from Genoa the hulk sank in the early hours of 14 October.[66]
The OBO carrier exploded and caught fire 150 nautical miles (280 km) East London, South Africa. All on board were rescued by Showa Venture (Liberia). The captain and five officers later reboarded the ship, which was towed by the tugs Arctic and Statesman to Port Elizabeth.[74] The ship was repaired and returned to service.[75]
The 68-foot (20.7 m) tug sank in 136 feet (41 m) of water during a storm in Long Island Sound north-northeast of Southold, Long Island, New York. Two of her four crew members lost their lives. Her sinking was attributed to improper modifications that had been made to her.[77]
The 310-foot (94.5 m) fish processing vessel – which had caught fire 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) west of Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands, been abandoned by her crew (which the United States Coast Guard rescued), and then been towed to Adak, where she was pumped full of water to extinguish the fire – was towed out of the harbor at Adak by a United States Navytug to a point 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) away in the Bering Sea, where she capsized and sank in deep water.[35]
^"13 are rescued as vessel founders in North Sea". The Times. No. 58067. London. 8 January 1971. col B-C, p. 3.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. pp. 68–69. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^ abcLane, Anthony (2009). Shipwrecks of Kent. Stroud: The History Press. pp. 82–84. ISBN978-0-7524-1720-2.
^ abHendry, Alex (13 January 1971). "International dispute on Channel Safety". The Times. No. 58071. London. col D, p. 1.
^ abBignell, Alan (2001). Kent Shipwrecks (Second ed.). Newbury: Countryside Books. pp. 106–13. ISBN1-85306-719-9.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 257. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 74. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"Acid ship in danger of exploding". The Times. No. 58096. London. 11 February 1971. col A, p. 1.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. pp. 27, 29. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 57. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^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, ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 348.
^Silverstone, Paul H., The Navy of the Nuclear Age 1947–2007, New York: Routledge, 2009, ISBN0-415-97899-8, p. 263.
^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, ISBN0-87021-919-7, p. 356.
^"Vandals believed to have sunk ship". The Times. No. 58214. London. 2 July 1971. col E-F, p. 2.
^ abcd"12 feared lost in series of collisions". The Times. No. 58216. London. 5 July 1971. col D, p. 6.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 260. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 75. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 231. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 455. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 23. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 259. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"26 are taken off grounded ferry". The Times. No. 58306. London. 23 October 1971. col C, p. 2.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 244. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^Roy, Mihir (1995). War in the Indian Ocean. Lancer Publishers. p. 170. ISBN978-1897829110.
^"Ship sinks, tree hits bus, as gales sweep Britain". The Times. No. 58355. London. 20 December 1971. col A-D, p. 1.
^Gardiner, Robert, ed., Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1982 Part I: The Western Powers, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983, ISBN0870219189, p. 70.
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