The passenger ship caught fire at Baltimore, Maryland. She was consequently scrapped.
17 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 17 January 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Tapti
United Kingdom
The cargo ship ran aground off the Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides.[2] Later declared a total loss.[3]
22 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 22 January 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Bie
Sweden
The cargo ship caught fire in the North Sea and was abandoned 100 nautical miles (190 km) north of Terschelling, Netherlands. All bar one of the twenty crew were rescued by the ocean liner Washington (United States).[4]
23 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 23 January 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Barnes
United Kingdom
The tug sank in the River Thames near Blackfriars Bridge, London.[5]
28 January[]
List of shipwrecks: 28 January 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Castledore
United Kingdom
The Liberty ship sank off the coast of Spain. All 38 crew rescued by a French trawler.[6]
Janko
Panama
The tanker broke in two off Cape Finisterre, Spain. Stern half taken in tow by the tug Bustler (United Kingdom).[7] Bow section also remained afloat and was taken under tow. Ship declared a constructive total loss and scrapped.[8]
The Amphion-class submarine foundered in the Hurds Deep, off Alderney, Channel Islands.
20 April[]
List of shipwrecks: 20 April 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Esso Greensboro
United States
The T2 tanker collided with Esso Suez (United States) in the Gulf of Mexico. She caught fire and was abandoned. Subsequently rebuilt and returned to service.[17]
The Barnegat-classseaplane tender collided with the collier SS Thomas Tracy off Cape Henry, Virginia, and caught fire, with the loss of 36 of her crew killed and 16 injured. She was repaired and returned to service.
24 May[]
List of shipwrecks: 24 May 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Nicolaou Georgios
Greece
The Liberty ship caught fire in the Red Sea and was abandoned. Although declared a constructive total loss, she was subsequently repaired and returned to service.[19]
At 05:40 a.m. the 4,436 grt Union Steamship Company passenger ferry Wahine (meaning 'wife') ran hard aground on the Masela Island Reef off Cape Palsu in the Arafura Sea, being held as far aft as the engine room. In response to a distress call, all aboard were rescued by the Standard Vacuum Oil's tanker Stanvac Karachi and returned to Darwin. From there the men were flown in relays to their destination but it was a sad end for a vessel that had given 38 years of magnificent service. Salvage attempts were unsuccessful and the vessel was abandoned as a total loss.[29]
the oil tanker suffered two explosions and a fire in the small hours of the morning while loading at Pulau Bukom, Singapore. Three officers,[30] 19 crew and five shore-based staff were killed.[31] On 14 September she was drydocked for refitting[32] and in due course she returned to service.
The cargo ship collided with Tharros (Greece) and sank off Gothenburg, Sweden with the loss of six of her eight crew.[36]
14 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 14 October 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Kyono Maru
Japan
The troopship was driven aground off Nagasaki in a typhoon.[37]
15 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 15 October 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Paul M
United Kingdom
The coaster collided with the trawler Rose of England (United Kingdom) and sank off the mouth of the River Humber.[38]
21 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 21 October 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Pandora
United Kingdom
The coaster foundered off Whitby with the loss of all six crew.[39] Collided with SS Gripfast (United Kingdom) during rescue operation.
25 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 25 October 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Bluebird
United Kingdom
The hydroplane sank in Coniston Water, Cumberland.[40]
29 October[]
List of shipwrecks: 29 October 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Morania #130
The freight barge caught fire on the Buffalo River in New York after the tug Dauntless #12 pushed it into the path of the steamer Penobscot and Penobscot collided with Morania #130. The fire killed eleven people and burned for several days.
The tanker exploded and sank in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada.
November[]
4 November[]
List of shipwrecks: 4 November 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Mina Cantiquin
Spain
The coaster struck a rock 50 nautical miles (93 km) off Black Head, Devon damaging her steering gear. She was driven ashore at Lowland Point. All seventeen crew rescued by the Coverack lifeboat.[41]
The Liberty ship caught fire and was abandoned 350 nautical miles (650 km) west of Cape Flattery, Washington. Although taken in tow, she sank on 18 November 40 nautical miles (74 km) north west of Cape Flattery.[44]
The decommissioned battleship sank in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores on her way to a scrapyard with the loss of her entire caretaker crew of eight men.
December[]
6 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 6 December 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Sandeid
Norway
The passenger ship sank off Rennesøy with the loss of ten of her seventeen crew.[45]
The cargo ship ran aground at Nacqueville, France and was severely damaged.[46]
20 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 20 December 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Erria
Denmark
The cargo liner caught fire in the Columbia River at East Astoria, Oregon, United States with the loss of eleven of the 114 people on board. The severely damaged ship was later repaired and converted to a cargo ship.[47][48]
The Liberty ship collided with Kittiwake (United Kingdom) in the Scheldt and ran aground.[49]
Noreg
Sweden
The cargo ship ran aground on the Goodwin Sands, Kent, United Kingdom.[50] Refloated the next day.[51]
Porlock Hill
United Kingdom
The Liberty ship ran aground at Famagusta, Cyprus.[52] with the loss of five of her 31 crew. The ship broke in two and was declared a total loss.[53][54]
The Liberty ship was driven ashore near Civitavecchia, Italy. She was later refloated but declared a constructive total loss. Subsequently repaired and returned to service as Elisa Campanella for Italian owners.[55]
30 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 30 December 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Angelina
Hong Kong
The coaster ran aground at Chilikai, off Haipong, French Indo-China.[56]
31 December[]
List of shipwrecks: 31 December 1951
Ship
Country
Description
Østhav
Norway
The tanker broke in two in the Bay of Biscay. Both halves were driven ashore.[57]
Gemma
Netherlands
The tanker ran aground at Guéthary, France, with the loss of all seven crew.[58]
↑ 9.09.1Mitchell, W H, and Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. not cited. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
↑"Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". 3 February 1951.
↑"Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". 17 February 1951.