List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
Appearance
The following list of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland is a list of major disasters (excluding acts of war but including acts of terrorism) which relate to the United Kingdom since 1801, or the states that preceded it (England and Wales and Scotland before 1707, Ireland and Great Britain from 1707 to 1800), or involved their citizens, in a definable incident or accident such as a shipwreck, where the loss of life was forty or more.
Over 200 fatalities
Deaths Italics indicate an estimated figure |
Event | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
3,500,000 | Black Death pandemic | 1347–1350 | See discussion of death toll estimates at Black_Death_in_England#Death_toll. |
1,000,000[1] to 1,500,000 | Great Irish Famine | 1845–1849 | See discussion of death toll estimates at Great Famine (Ireland)#Death toll. |
225,000 | Spanish flu pandemic | 1918 (Sep–Nov) | |
100,000 | Great Irish Famine (18th century) | 1740–1741 | |
65,000 | Year Without a Summer | 1816 | Famine and typhoid fever in Ireland[2] and food riots in England and France. |
60,000 | Great Plague of London | 1665 | |
20,000 [3] | Laki volcano fissure eruption | 1783–1784 (Jun–Feb) | |
8,000 | Great Storm of 1703 | 1703 (26 November) | |
5,000+ | Great Famine (14th century) | 1315–1317 | |
4,000 to 12,000 | "The Great Smog", London | 1952 | |
4,000+ | Blockade of Porto Bello | 1726–1727 | Deaths resulting from yellow fever. |
3,500+ | 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane | 1782 (16–17 Sep) | Loss of HMS Ramillies, HMS Centaur; storeships Dutton and British Queen; captured French prize ships Ville de Paris, Glorieux, Hector and Caton; plus other merchantmen. |
3,000 | Early fires of London | 1212 (July) | Source for fatalities is the Guinness Book of Records,[4] but historical evidence unclear. |
2,139 [5] | 2003 European heat wave | 2003 (4–13 August) | |
2,000 | Bristol Channel floods | 1607 (30 January)[6] | |
2,000 | Sweating sickness (sudor anglicus) | 1485 ff. | |
2,000 | Darien scheme | 1690s | An unsuccessful attempt to establish a Scottish colony in present-day Panama. |
1,900+ | Christmas Eve storm | 1811 (24 December) | Wrecks HMS St George, HMS Defence and HMS Fancy off Thorsminde, Jutland; and HMS Hero and HMS Archimedes off Texel, Netherlands. |
1,550+ | Scilly naval disaster | 1707 (22 October) | HMS Association, HMS Eagle, HMS Romney and HMS Firebrand. |
1,490 | RMS Titanic | 1912 (15 April) | US Senate inquiry gave 1,517 fatalities.[7] |
1,200 | Strait of Gibraltar storm | 1694 (1 March)[6] | Wrecks HMS Sussex and accompanying ships. |
1,012 | RMS Empress of Ireland | 1914 (29 May) | Ship registered in London, crew almost entirely from Merseyside. |
1,000 | 1867 Barbados hurricane | 1867 | RMS Rhone, RMS Wye and up to 50 other vessels driven ashore.[8] |
1,000 | Great Hurricane of 1780 | 1780 (10 October) | Royal Navy ships lost included HMS Cornwall, HMS Experiment and HMS Ontario |
900+ | Plymouth Sound storm | 1691 (3 September) | Wrecks HMS Coronation and HMS Harwich. |
900 | HMS Victory | 1744 (3 October) | Wrecked on the Casquets in the Channel Islands. |
890+ | Walker Expedition disaster | 1711 (22 August) | Seven transport ships and one storeship wrecked in thick fog on the Saint Lawrence River, Canada. |
843 | HMS Vanguard explosion | 1917 (9 July) | Magazine explosion. |
800 | HMS Royal George capsizes | 1782 (29 August) | |
748+ | Royal Charter Storm | 1859 (26 October) | The Royal Charter and other ships wrecked in Lligwy Bay, Anglesey. |
738 | HMS Bulwark explosion | 1914 (26 November) | Magazine explosion. |
699 | HMS Ramillies [9] | 1760 (15 February) | Runs aground off Bolt Head, Devon. |
690 | HMS Queen Charlotte fire | 1800 (17 March) | |
646 | SS Mendi | 1917 (21 February) | Rammed by SS Darro off the Isle of Wight. |
640 | Princess Alice disaster | 1878 (3 September) | Collision with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames near Woolwich. |
635 | SS Norge shipwreck | 1904 (28 June) | |
612 | Tramore Bay storm | 1816 (30 January) | Wrecks the Seahorse, Lord Melville and Boadicea.[10] |
600+ | an unidentified troop ship | 1796 (23 January) | shipwreck possibly one of Admiral Christian's West Indies convoy wrecked on Loe Bar, Cornwall.[11] |
600 | HMS Coronation (1685) | 1691 (3 September) | 2nd rate ship foundered off Rame Head, Cornwall.[12] |
564 | SS Utopia disaster | 1891 (17 March) | Collision with HMS Anson off Gibraltar.[13] |
546 | RMS Atlantic | 1873 (1 April) | |
531[14] | 1953 North Sea storm and flood | 1953 (31 Jan – 1 Feb) | Included the ferry MV Princess Victoria. |
520 | HMS Namur | 1749 (14 April) | Wrecked in a storm near Fort St David. |
500+ | 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak | 1854 (Aug–Sep) | Cholera epidemic in London. |
500 | HMS Minotaur | 1810 (22 December) | Wrecked on Haak Bank near Texel, Netherlands. |
500 | "Black Monday" | 1209 | Massacre of English settlers by Irish clans, near Ranelagh, Dublin, on Easter Monday. |
491 | HMS York | 1804 (Jan) | Struck the Bell Rock and sank with the loss of her entire crew. |
481 | HMS Captain | 1870 (6 September) | Sank off Cape Finisterre, Spain. |
480 | SS City of Glasgow | 1854 (March) | Disappeared after leaving Liverpool for Philadelphia. |
473 | Cospatrick | 1874 (18 November) | Caught fire in the South Atlantic. |
470 | HMS Courageux | 1796 (18 December) | Shipwrecked at Apes' Hill, Barbary Coast (now Monte Hacho, Ceuta, Africa)[15] |
454 | Vryheid | 1802 (23 November) | Formerly the Melville Castle, shipwrecked in a gale off the Kent coast between Hythe and Dymchurch. 18 of 472 on board survived. |
450 | HMS Birkenhead | 1852 (25 February) | Shipwrecked near Cape Town. |
439 | Senghenydd Colliery Disaster | 1913 (14 October) | Gas explosion at the Universal Colliery, Senghenydd, Caerphilly, Glamorganshire. Britain's worst mining accident. |
431 | HMS Otranto | 1918 (6 October) | Shipwrecked off Islay. 351 United States troops and 80 crew perished. |
421 | HMS Natal | 1915 (30 December) | Magazine explosion. Precise number of deaths disputed; 421 is highest estimate. |
421 | Dumfries cholera epidemic | 1832 (15 Sep – 27 Nov) | |
406 | Cataraqui | 1845 (4 August) | Shipwrecked off King Island, Tasmania. |
400+ | Rochdale and Prince of Wales | 1807 (19 November) | Carried troops leaving Dublin for the Napoleonic Wars. |
400+ | HMS Invincible | 1801 (16 March) | Sank off Norfolk while en route to the Battle of Copenhagen. |
400 | HMS Winchester | 1695 (1 September) | Shipwrecked on a reef off Key Largo, Florida. |
400 | Pomona | 1859 (30 April) | carrying, mainly Irish, emigrants from Liverpool to New York. Shipwrecked on a sandbank at Ballyconigar, off Wexford, Ireland. |
388 | The Oaks explosion | 1866 (12 December) | Colliery disaster, Barnsley, Yorkshire. |
384 | Annie Jane | 1853 (28 September) | Emigrant ship out of Liverpool, wrecked Vatersay. |
380 | Mary Rose | 1545 (18 July) | Sank off Portsmouth. |
379 | HMS Dasher (D37) | 1943 (27 March) | Accidental fuel explosion, Firth of Clyde. |
374 | Driver | 1856 (February) | Clipper ship out of Liverpool, disappeared while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. |
372 | Arniston | 1815 (30 May) | Wrecked at Waenhuiskrans, South Africa. |
369[16] | Queen | 1814 (14 Jan) | Wrecked in Carrick Roads, Cornwall. |
360+ | Elizabeth | 1810 (18 December) | Chartered East Indiaman wrecked off Dunkirk. |
358 | HMS Victoria | 1893 (22 June) | Rammed by HMS Camperdown in the Mediterranean Sea. |
352 | HMS Princess Irene | 1915 (27 May) | Explosion while on the River Medway, Sheerness. |
347 | HMS Athenienne | 1806 (20 October) | Wrecked off Tunisia. 100 survivors crammed into the ship's launch. |
344 | Pretoria Pit Disaster | 1910 (21 December) | Underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery, Westhoughton, Lancashire. |
340 | Aeneas | 1805 (23 October) | Troopship wrecked on the Îles aux Mortes along the Canadian coastline while carrying troops to Quebec. |
338 | HMS Curaçao | 1942 (2 October) | Light cruiser run down and split in two by RMS Queen Mary. |
335 | SS Schiller | 1875 (7 May) | Shipwrecked off the Isles of Scilly. |
317[17] | HMS Eurydice | 1878 (22 March) | Sank off the Isle of Wight. Commemorated by Gerard Manley Hopkins in the poem "The Loss of the Eurydice". |
300 | White Ship | 1120 (25 November) | Shipwrecked off Barfleur, Normandy, taking the only legitimate son of King Henry I of England. |
300 | Sibylle | 1834 (11 September) | Emigrant ship out of Cromarty wrecked off St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia. |
300+ | HMS Amphion | 1796 (22 September) | Magazine explosion while at Plymouth, Devon. |
300 | HMS London | 1665 | Accidental explosion while in the Thames Estuary. |
299 | Kapunda | 1887 (20 January) | Emigrant ship out of London, collided with the barque Ada Melmore off Brazil. |
297 | RMS Tayleur | 1854 (21 January) | Shipwrecked off Lambay Island, Dublin Bay during its maiden voyage after its iron hull deflected its compass. |
293 | Northfleet | 1873 (22 January) | Rammed at night by a Spanish steamboat while anchored off Dungeness. |
290 | HMS Sceptre | 1799 (5 December) | Wrecked during a storm in Table Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope. |
290 | Albion Colliery explosion | 1894 (23 June) | Firedamp explosion.[18][19] |
285 | Gordon Riots | 1780 (2–13 June) | Rioters shot by troops. |
281 | HMS Atalanta | 1880 (31 January) | HMS Eurydice's sister ship, disappeared after leaving Bermuda bound for Falmouth, Cornwall. |
276 | VOC Hollandia | 1743 (13 June) | Shipwrecked off Annet, Isles of Scilly. |
270 | Great Sheffield Flood | 1864 | Caused by collapse of Dale Dike Reservoir during its first filling. |
270[20] | Pan Am Flight 103 | 1988 (21 December) | Blown apart at 31,000 ft over Lockerbie, Scotland, by terrorist bomb in forward hold. |
268 | Abercarn mining disaster | 1878 (11 September) | Mining disaster at Abercarn, Monmouthshire.[citation needed] |
266 | Gresford Disaster | 1934 (22 September) | Mining accident near Wrexham, North Wales. |
260 | Earl of Abergavenny | 1805 (5 February) | Shipwrecked off Portland Bill. |
253 | HMS Saldanha | 1811 (4 December) | Shipwrecked during gale off Lough Swilly, Donegal, Ireland. |
250+ | Night of the Big Wind | 1839 (6–7 January) | |
250 | RMS Royal Adelaide | 1849 | Shipwrecked on a sandbank off Margate, Kent. |
247 | Doddington | 1755 | Shipwrecked in Algoa Bay, South Africa. |
246 | HMS Avenger | 1847 (20 December) | Wrecked off the Galite Islands, Tunisia. |
241 | Exmouth of Newcastle | 1847 (28 April) | Shipwrecked off Islay.[21] |
240 | HMS Lutine | 1799 (9 October) | Shipwrecked off Vlieland. |
238[22] | MV Dara | 1961 (8 April) | British-India Steam Navigation Company passenger liner evacuated in the Persian Gulf off Dubai following explosion and fire. |
238 | HMS Tribune | 1797 (16 November) | Wrecked during a storm off Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. |
237 | SS Anglo Saxon | 1863 (27 April) | Wrecked in dense fog off Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada. |
226 | Quintinshill rail crash | 1915 (22 May) | Three-train collision in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. |
224 | Neva | 1835 (13 May) | Convict ship out of Cork wrecked on reefs off King Island, Tasmania. |
220 | SS London | 1866 (11 January) | Sank during gale in the Bay of Biscay.[23] |
220 | Great Blizzard of 1891 | 1891 (9–13 March) | [24] |
220 | Hartley Colliery Disaster | 1862 (16 January) | Caused by steam engine metal fatigue. |
215 | Lady of the Lake | 1833 (11 May) | Struck iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank. |
212 | Sovereign | 1814 (18 OCtober) | Wrecked off St. Paul Island (Nova Scotia). |
210 | Rinaldo | 1878 (18 December) | Collision with French steamship Byzantin in the Dardanelles.[8] |
208 | Harpooner | 1818 (November) | Military transport ship shipwrecked off Newfoundland. |
207 | Blantyre mining disaster | 1877 (22 October) | Gas explosion. |
205 | HMS Iolaire | 1919 (1 January) | Admiralty yacht returning soldiers to Scotland after World War I. Sank off Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. |
205 | SS Hungarian | 1860 (20 February) | An Allan Line Royal Mail Steamer out of Liverpool and Queenstown (Cobh) wrecked off Cape Sable Island (Nova Scotia).[25] |
100–199 fatalities
- 193 – MS Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, Zeebrugge, (6 March 1987) unlawful killing verdict after RORO bow doors are left open causing a capsize in under one minute
- 192 – transport ship Dispatch and Brig-of-War HMS Primrose (
Royal Navy) both sank after hitting The Manacles (22 January 1809).[26]
- 191 – SS City of Boston (Inman Line) disappeared Atlantic Ocean out of New York City and Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, possibly struck an iceberg (after 28 January 1870)
- 189 – Lundhill Colliery explosion, Wombwell, Yorkshire (19 February 1857)
- 189 – Wood Pit Colliery underground explosion, Haydock, Lancashire (7 June 1878) (total fatalities, which included one man and all of his five sons, may have been 204 or more)[27]
- 189 – HMS Orpheus, RN corvette, sank due to outdated nautical charts and shortcuts off Auckland, 7 February 1863
- 189 – Eyemouth fishing fleet storm disaster, Scotland, (14 October 1881) [1]
- 186 – Theatre Royal, Exeter, fire caused by gas lights, (5 September 1887)
- 183 – Victoria Hall disaster, Sunderland, (16 June 1883) stampede after a children's Variety show to get prizes and gifts results in compressive asphyxia and trampling
- 179 – SS Cambria shipwreck, Inishtrahull, (19 October 1870)
- 178 – Ferndale Colliery mining disaster, Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire, (8 November 1867)
- 178 – Ocean Monarch fire and shipwreck, off Great Orme, Llandudno (24 August 1848) caused by steerage passengers' smoking materials
- 178 – Clifton Hall Colliery firedamp gas explosion, Salford on (18 June 1885)
- 176 – Llannerch, Cwmnantddu Colliery gas explosion in a mine refused safety lamps by its MD two months earlier, near Pontypool, Monmouthshire, (6 February 1890)
- 173 – Bethnal Green tube station panic, crowd stampede caused by British anti-aircraft battery salvo, (3 March 1943)
- 172 – HMS Serpent Royal Navy torpedo cruiser launched in 1887 shipwrecked off Camariñas, Galicia, (9 November 1890)
- 168 – Burns Pit Disaster, Stanley, County Durham, (16 February 1909)
- 167 – Piper Alpha oil platform gas leak, explosion and fire 30m above cold seas North Sea, (6 July 1988)
- 166 – Direct hit on the large underground shelter at Durning Road, Edge Hill, Liverpool during the Liverpool Blitz of World War 2, (29 November 1940)
- 164 – Seaham Colliery mining accident, Seaham, Durham (8 September 1880)
- 159 – Ferndale Colliery, Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire, explosions caused by gas and miners tampering with safety lamps (8 November 1867)
- 157 – Deutschland shipwrecked during a blizzard on Kentish Knock sandbank, Thames Estuary, (6 December 1875), tugboat rescue delayed until the next day, most died of hypothermia
- 155 – Minnie Pit mining disaster, Podmore Hall, Halmer End, Staffordshire (12 January 1918)
- 150 – Clifford's Tower fire massacre of medieval Jews by a mob, York, 1190 (estimated fatalities)
- 146 – Risca Blackvein Disaster Coal mining disaster, Risca, Monmouthshire, (1 December 1860) caused by a gas explosion
- 146 – Dan-Air Flight 1008 a Boeing 727 G-BDAN, from Manchester Airport to Tenerife North Airport, Canary Islands. Whilst in a holding pattern the plane flew into a mountain after turning the wrong way (25 April 1980)
- 144 – Aberfan coal-waste spoil tip collapsed onto a Junior school, Glamorganshire (21 October 1966)
- 143 – Swaithe Main Colliery disaster, Worsbrough, Yorkshire (6 December 1875)
- 141 – SS Berlin shipwreck, Hook of Holland (Great Eastern Railway steamship out of Harwich) (21 February 1907)
- 140 – RMS Amazon steam engine fire on a wooden mail paddle steamer, 60 miles west of Isles of Scilly, (4 January 1852)
- 140 – HMS Condor, lost with all hands in a gale off Vancouver Island (3 December 1901)
- 140 – 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (26 December 2004) [UK victims only] see Countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
- 139 – George III, convict ship shipwrecked in D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania (12 April 1835)
- 139 – Combs Pit disaster, Thornhill, Yorkshire (4 July 1893)
- 137 – National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, munitions explosion, Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, (1 July 1918) Eight tons of TNT exploded
- 136 – Wellington Colliery coal mining disaster, Whitehaven, Cumberland (11 May 1910)
- 135 – Alexander shipwrecked near Portland within sight of shore from Bombay, the ship was caught in a gale and ran aground at night (27 March 1815)
- 133 – Amphitrite, convict ship from Woolwich to Australia shipwrecked Boulogne (31 August 1833)
- 133 – MV Princess Victoria early roll-on/roll-off ferry disaster, North Channel during a storm (31 January 1953)
- 131 – typhoid fever epidemic, Lincoln, November 1904 to April 1905
- 130 – Rothsay Castle paddle steamer from Liverpool shipwrecked in the Menai Strait under the command of a drunken captain (18 August 1831)
- 129 – John Franklin's Northwest Passage expedition, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror caught in pack ice; the crews endured botulism, lead poisoning and cannibalism before starvation, 1845–1848
- 128 – Fire and subsequent evacuation of the Greek Line cruise ship TSMS Lakonia during a Christmas cruise from Southampton to the Canary Islands results in 98 (mainly British) passenger deaths, plus 33 crew fatalities (22 December 1963)
- 128 – HMS Gladiator shipwreck in a snowstorm collision with an American steamship, Isle of Wight (25 April 1908)
- 127 – Maxwelltown Cholera Epidemic, Maxwelltown, Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland (September to November 1832)
- 125 – HMS Primrose shipwrecked on The Manacles, Cornwall (22 January 1809)
- 125 – SS Hilda shipwreck in snow squalls off Saint-Malo, London and South Western Railway steamship (18 November 1905)
- 124 – BOAC Flight 911, a British Overseas Airways Corporation Boeing 707 flying from Tokyo to Hong Kong (having flown from San Francisco the previous day) crashes onto Mount Fuji, Japan (5 March 1966) [a significant percentage of the fatalities were American and Japanese citizens]
- 124 – SS Daphne capsized during her Ship naming and launching, River Clyde, Glasgow (3 July 1883)
- 123 – Ocean Queen clipper, disappeared Atlantic Ocean out of London, February 1856
- 121 – Dunbar, clipper out of Plymouth, wrecked Sydney Cove, Australia (20 August 1857)
- 120 – New Risca pit explosion, Coal mining disaster, Risca, Monmouthshire (5 July 1880)
- 120 – Dover Straits earthquake of 1580, an earthquake causing freak waves, possible tsunami and flooding in France, Flanders and England (6 April 1580) [estimate]
- 120–200 – Bibighar Massacre of European women and children at Cawnpore (Kanpur), India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (15 July 1857) [estimate]
- 119 – National Colliery coal mine explosion, Wattstown, Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire (11 July 1905)
- 118 – Staines air disaster, BEA Flight 548, possible heart attack in the Pilot after takeoff (18 July 1972)
- 114 – Cymmer, Porth, Rhondda Colliery gas explosion, Rhondda Valley, South Wales (13 July 1856)
- 112 – SS Stella shipwreck on a granite reef in fog at full speed, sinking in 8 minutes London and South Western Railway steamship, the Casquets, Channel Islands, (30 March 1899)
- 112 – Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, three trains collided in patchy fog in morning rush hour (12 October 1952)
- 112 – Dan-Air aircrash of a De Havilland Comet G-APDN from Manchester Airport to Barcelona crashing into a mountain in Catalonia, Spain (3 July 1970)
- 111 – Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 en route from Douala, Cameroon, to London (via Lisbon) crashes after take-off from Douala (4 March 1962)
- 110 – Parc Slip Colliery gas explosion due to a damaged Davy lamp, Tondu, Glamorganshire (26 August 1892)
- 109 – Gunpowder mill explosion, Faversham, Kent (2 April 1916)
- 108 – Invicta International Airlines aircrash of Vickers Vanguard flight 435 G-AXOP, from BRS to Basle Switzerland, crashed into a forested, snowy hillside (10 April 1973)
- 106 – SS Avalanche of the Shaw Savill Line collided with Forest Queen, both sank off Isle of Portland, English Channel, out of London for Wellington, New Zealand (11 September 1877)
- 106 – SS Mohegan shipwreck, The Manacles, Cornwall (14 October 1898)
- 104 – Coal mining disaster, William Pit, Whitehaven, Cumberland (15 August 1947)[28]
- 104 – HMS Brazen wrecked off Newhaven, Sussex (26 January 1800)
- 102 – Sinking of the Pelican in the River Mersey (20 March 1793)
- 102 – HMS Feversham shipwreck, Scatterie Island, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia (7 October 1711)
- 101 – Naval Steam Colliery, Tonypandy, Rhondda Valley colliery explosion, South Wales (10 December 1880) (4 bodies unidentified)[29]
- 100+ – HMS Lizard wrecked on the Seven Stones reef on 27 February 1748.[30]
- 100 – "Battle" of May Island, Royal Navy disaster (31 January–1 February 1918)
- 100 – Moray Firth fishing disaster, open hulled fishing fleet storm disaster, Scotland (19 August 1848)
- 100 – HMS Confiance, a 36-gun, 393 ton brig sloop was wrecked between Mizen Head and Three Castles Head, at the south-westernmost point of Ireland (21 September 1822)
Fewer than 100 fatalities
- 99 – Meikle Ferry disaster, Dornoch Firth, Scotland; over-laden ferryboat sank with the loss of 99 lives (16 August 1809).
- 99 – HMS Thetis submarine disaster; flooded through torpedo tube during pre war sea trials, Liverpool Bay, (1 June 1939), salvaged but sunk by depth charges with all hands in 1943
- 98 - Edmond (1833), A chartered passenger sailing vessel sunk at Edmond Point in Kilkee, Co. Clare on the 19th of November 1850. Of the 216 on board, 98 drowned in the disaster.
- 98 – Britannia Airways Bristol Britannia G-ANBB from London Luton Airport, aircrash at Ljubljana, (1 September 1966)
- 96 – Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, Sheffield, (15 April 1989)
- 95 – Haswell Colliery Blackdamp explosion, County Durham, (28 September 1844)
- 94 – Carlingford Lough disaster, SS Connemara and a coalship SS Retriever collided and sank, Carlingford Lough, County Down, (3 November 1916)
- 93 – St Scholastica riot, Oxford, 1355, a Town and gown dispute over beer escalates over three days
- 92 – Felling mine disaster, County Durham, firedamp explosion ushered in safety lamps by George Stephenson and Humphry Davy (25 May 1812)
- 90 – Lewisham rail crash, December 1957 railway signals missed in the rush hour fog
- 88 – Armagh rail disaster, 10 runaway railway passenger cars on a Sunday School day trip (12 June 1889)
- 88 – Cadeby Coal mine disaster, Cadeby Main, Cadeby, South Yorkshire (9 July 1912)
- 88 – Air Ferry aircrash, Douglas C-54 G-APYK, from Kent International Airport, Mont Canigou, France, (3 June 1967)
- 87 – Morfa Mine, Port Talbot, Glamorganshire, Colliery gas explosion, (10 March 1890)
- 86 – SS Egypt shipwreck, off Ushant, Brittany (20 May 1922)
- 85 – Rohilla, ran aground off Whitby, with a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic two years earlier rescued again (30 October 1914)
- 84 – British Eagle International Airlines aircrash Bristol Britannia G-AOVO from London Heathrow Airport, Innsbruck, Austria, (29 February 1964)
- 84 – Paisley canal disaster, canal pleasure boat capsized, Paisley, Scotland, (10 November 1810)
- 83 – East Side pit, Senghenydd, Glamorganshire, Colliery gas explosion, (24 May 1901), precursor to the 1913 disaster
- 81 – Mardy Colliery, Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire, mining disaster, (23 December 1885)
- 81 – Easington Colliery, County Durham, coal mine explosion, (29 May 1951)
- 81 – Holmfirth Flood – Bilberry Reservoir collapsed, Holme Valley, West Yorkshire, (5 February 1852)
- 80 – PS Pacific, lost at sea out of Liverpool, (after 23 January 1856) [sister ship of SS Arctic]
- 80+ – PS Queen Victoria wrecked below a lighthouse in a night-time snowstorm, off Howth Head, Dublin (15 February 1853)
- 80 – Llandow air disaster, Fairflight Avro Tudor G-AKBY, Sigginstone, Glamorganshire, (12 March 1950) with returning Welsh Rugby Union supporters on board (highest confirmed death toll of any civil aviation disaster up to that date)
- 80 – Creswell Colliery mining accident caused by smoke inhalation, Creswell, Derbyshire, (26 September 1950)
- 79 – Great Yarmouth Suspension bridge collapse above a river, killing children watching a clown, (2 May 1846)
- 79 – British Admiral wrecked Tasmania out of Liverpool, (23 May 1874)
- 79 – HMS Glatton, wrecked by accidental explosion, Dover harbour (16 September 1918)
- 79 – Markham Colliery disaster, underground explosion Derbyshire (10 May 1938)
- 78 – Barn fire during a puppet show with the doors nailed shut, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, (8 September 1727)
- 77 – the Cherubim and Ocean Home collided off Lizard Point (5 September 1856)
- 75 – Maypole Colliery Disaster, Abram, Lancashire, (18 August 1908)
- 75 – Tay Bridge disaster, cast iron bridge collapse with a steam train on it during an evening storm, Dundee, (28 December 1879)
- 75 – HMS Affray mysterious submarine disaster, English Channel, (17 April 1951)
- 75 – STV Royston Grange, a Houlder Line cargo liner, destroyed by fire after a collision with Liberian-registered tanker Tien Chee in the Rio de la Plata on 11 May 1972.
- 74 – SS Naronic, lost at sea, possibly due to iceberg strike off Nova Scotia, out of Liverpool, with no Wireless Telegraph to make a distress call (19 February 1893)
- 74 – Trimdon Grange Colliery mining disaster (16 February 1882)
- 73 – Udston mining disaster, Hamilton, Scotland, (28 May 1887) firedamp explosion
- 73 – Silvertown explosion, (19 January 1917) explosion in a TNT factory in West Ham [2]
- 72 – Stockport Air Disaster, British Midland Airways Argonaut G-ALHG, (4 June 1967) an unrecognised flaw in the fuel system made the plane returning from Majorca uncontrollable
- 71 – Glen Cinema Disaster, Paisley, Scotland, (31 December 1929). Glen Cinema Website
- 70 – Great Gale of 1871, Bridlington 100 shipwrecks (10 February 1871), incl. Royal National Lifeboat Harbinger, plus other losses at sea, estimated total of 70 marine fatalities.
- 70 – RAF Fauld munitions explosion during World War II, Staffordshire, (27 November 1944) [3]
- 69 – HMS M1 submarine wreck— collision with Swedish surface vessel—off Plymouth, (12 November 1925)
- 67 – September 11, 2001 attacks, [UK victims only]
- 66 – British European Airways Comet G-ARCO bomb disaster, off Rhodes, (12 October 1967) [all nationalities] [4]
- 66 – Ibrox disaster – compressive asphyxia spectator crush on stairway at Ibrox Park football stadium, Glasgow (2 January 1971)
- 65 – Theatre Royal, Glasgow panic, Dunlop Street, Glasgow, (17 February 1849)
- 65 – Peckfield Colliery explosion, Micklefield, Yorkshire (30 April 1896)
- 65 – Cherokee class brig-sloop HMS Jasper (1808) was wrecked in hurricane-force winds on either Rame Head, Cornwall or Bear's Head, Mount Batten, Devon.[31]
- 64 – Middle Duffryn Mine, Aberdare, Glamorganshire, Colliery explosion (10 May 1852)
- 64 – Masbrough boat disaster, Rotherham, (5 July 1841) [5]
- 64 – HMS Truculent submarine collision on the surface, Thames Estuary, (12 January 1950) survivors died of hypothermia on mid-winter mudbanks
- 63 – Victoria coal pit, Nitshill, near Glasgow, explosion (15 March 1851)[32]
- 63 – Great Western Mine, Rhondda Valley Colliery mining disaster, South Wales, (11 April 1893)
- 63 – British European Airways aircrash, Vickers Vanguard G-APEC flight 706, Aarsele, Belgium, (2 October 1971)
- 62 – Dinas Rhondda, Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire, Colliery gas explosion. (13 January 1879)
- 62 – PS Comet II, sank in collision off Gourock, Scotland, (21 October 1825)
- 61 – SS Thames, steamship shipwrecked in a night-time storm, Isles of Scilly, (4 January 1841)
- 61 – Freckleton Air Disaster, a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber crashed into a village school in a storm, Freckleton, Lancashire, (23 August 1944) (3 aircrew, 58 ground fatalities)
- 60 – Garland of Topsham carrying Charles I wrecked on Godrevy Island on 30 January 1649.[33]
- 60+ – Harwich ferry disaster, a 'grossly overladen' coastal vessel capsized whilst transporting soldiers and their families, (18 April 1807)
- 60 – Dalhousie, "Blackwall Frigate" sank off Beachy Head in October 1853
- 60 – HMS M2 British M class submarine flooded through her Parnall Peto seaplane hangar doors, Lyme Bay, (26 January 1932)
- 58 – Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery pit disaster, underground explosion caused by an electrical fault (6 August 1936)
- 57 – Tylorstown, Rhondda Valley Colliery mining disaster, South Wales, (27 January 1896)
- 57 – Sneyd Coal mine explosion, Sneyd Colliery, Staffordshire (1 January 1942)
- 57 – HMS K5 submarine sank in deep water, 120 miles south-west of the Isles of Scilly during sea trials (24 January 1921)
- 56 – Bradford City stadium fire, football stadium fire (11 May 1985)
- 56 – 7 July 2005 London bombings by suicide bombers
- 55 – Manchester air disaster Flight 28M, a Boeing 737-236 engine fire before takeoff on a holiday flight to Corfu (22 August 1985)
- 53 – Ferndale Colliery, Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire, Colliery explosion, 1869
- 53 – Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead, a Victorian era firestorm (6 October 1854)
- 52 – Lletty Shenklin Mine, Aberdare Colliery mining disaster, South Wales (14 August 1849)
- 52 – Yellow fever outbreak, HMS Firebrand, West Indies, July 1861 [6]
- 52 – Loch Ard, clipper out of Gravesend, Kent, wrecked off Loch Ard Gorge, just off the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia in thick fog (1 June 1878)
- 52 – HMS Wasp wrecked Tory Island, County Donegal (22 September 1884)
- 52 – Marine Colliery, Gwm near Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, coal mine disaster (1 March 1927)
- 51 – Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum fire, London, (27 January 1903) in an early psychiatric hospital holding up to 3,500 patients
- 51 – Marchioness disaster, River Thames, a pleasure boat rammed by a dredger under a bridge (20 August 1989)
- 51 - St Hilda Colliery, South Shields, coal pit explosion, (28 June 1839) http://www.dmm.org.uk/names/n1839-01.htm
- 50 – Ariana Afghan Airlines aircrash into a house, Boeing 727 YA-FAR, Gatwick (5 January 1969)
- 50 – Summerland fire disaster, Douglas, Isle of Man, a fire in a leisure centre (2 August 1973)
- 49 – all the crew and passengers of the SS Nile died when she hit the Stones Reef in St Ives Bay. The loss of life led to the building of the lighthouse.[34]
- 49 – Booth's clothing factory fire, Huddersfield (31 October 1941)
- 49 – HMS Punjabi collision with the battleship HMS King George V, sinking 469 miles North West of Shetland (1 May 1942)
- 49 – Hither Green rail crash, London, a broken rail caused derailment of an express train (5 November 1967)
- 48 – A British Eagle International Airlines Vickers Viscount en route from London to Innsbruck, Austria, breaks up in mid-air over Bavaria (9 August 1968)
- 47 – The Emma, capsized after launching, Mersey and Irwell Navigation, Manchester (28 February 1828)
- 47 – Gethin Mine, Merthyr Tydfil, Colliery mining disaster, South Wales (19 February 1862)
- 47 – R101 airship crash, Beauvais, France (5 October 1930)
- 47 – SS Samtampa wrecked off Sker Point in the Bristol Channel (death toll includes 8 crew of Mumbles lifeboat) ( 23 April 1947)
- 47 – Auchengeich coal mining disaster, Auchinloch, Lanarkshire, Scotland (18 September 1959)
- 47 – Kegworth Air Disaster, British Midland Flight 92, Leicestershire, the pilot shut down the wrong engine and just missed the M1 Motorway (8 January 1989)
- 46 – Wreck of Confederate States of America blockade runner PS Lelia (39 fatalities) and lifeboat crew (7 fatalities) in Liverpool Bay (14 January 1865)
- 45 – Bentley Coal mine disaster, Bentley, South Yorkshire (20 November 1931)
- 45 – Six Bells Colliery Disaster, Aberbeeg, Monmouthshire (28 June 1960)
- 45 – Aquila Airways Short Solent flying boat crash, Isle of Wight (15 November 1957)
- 45 – Sumburgh disaster, a Brent oilfield CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed at sea (6 November 1986)
- 44 – R38 (ZR-2) airship crash, River Humber, near Hull (24 August 1921)
- 44 – MV Derbyshire, Bibby Line bulk carrier sank during Typhoon Orchid, south of Japan (9 September 1980) (by tonnage the largest UK-flagged ship loss)
- 43 – Bourne End rail crash, near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, driver had worked for 26 consecutive days (30 September 1945)
- 43 – Moorgate tube crash, London Underground, in the morning rush hour (28 February 1975)
- 41 – Little Baldon Hastings accident at Little Baldon, Oxfordshire, aircraft crash during parachute training flight from RAF Abingdon, caused by metal fatigue (6 July 1965)
- 40 – Regent's Park ice-skating disaster. Ice covering the boating lake collapsed and 200 people plunged into the lake (15 January 1867)[35]
See also
- European windstorm
- List of wars and disasters by death toll (worldwide)
- List of accidents and disasters by death toll (worldwide)
- List of natural disasters in the United Kingdom
- List of British rail accidents (Chronologically sorted)
- List of United Kingdom rail accidents by death toll
- List of rail accidents (worldwide)
- List of train accidents by death toll
- List of historic fires
- List of riots
- List of terrorist incidents
- List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
- List of shipwrecks
- List of disasters in Australia by death toll
- List of Canadian disasters by death toll
- List of New Zealand disasters by death toll
- United Kingdom casualties of war
- List of Lifeboat Disasters in the British Isles
References
- ^ "The Irish Famine". BBC. 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Bill Bryson; A Short History...;p 372; ISBN 0-385-40818-8
- ^ Estimate of mortality in England.
- ^ "In July 1212, 3,000 were killed in the crush, burned or drowned when London Bridge caught fire at both ends". (p.184) Norris McWhirter and Ross McWhirter (1971). Guinness Book of Records. Guinness Superlatives Limited. ISBN 900424052.
- ^ Difference between the number of deaths in that period and the average number in other years.
- ^ a b New style dating.
- ^ "Passenger List and Survivors of Steamship Titanic". United States Senate Inquiry. 30 July 1912. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
- ^ a b Marshall, Logan, Sinking of the Titanic and Great Disasters of the Sea, 1912.
- ^ Formerly HMS Royal Katherine.
- ^ Grocott, Terence (1999). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. Journal of Navigation: Cambridge University Press 52 p.149–162.
- ^ Treglown, Tony (2011). Porthleven in years gone by Local Shipwrecks. Ashton: Tony Treglown. ISBN 978-0-9539019-7-5.
- ^ Eekelers, Dirk; Lettens, Jan. "HMS Coronation (north part) [+1691]". wrecksite. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ 562 passengers and crewmembers of Utopia and two rescuers from HMS Immortalité. "The Dead of the Utopia", The New York Times, 20 March 1891.
- ^ British victims only.
- ^ Grocott, p41.
- ^ Allen, Tony. "Queen [+1814]". wrecksite. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ 317 named fatalities (Memorials & Monuments in St Ann's Church – HMS Eurydice).
- ^ "Albion Colliery". BBC Wales. 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ "Albion Colliery Cilfynydd". Welsh Coal Mines. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ All victims, regardless of nationality.
- ^ Islay Info
- ^ Mostly non-British nationals.
- ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/london.htm
- ^ Woodward, Antony and Penn, Robert (2007). The Wrong Kind of Snow. ISBN 978-0-340-93787-7
- ^ http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/wrecks/wrecks/shipwrecks.asp?ID=2197
- ^ "The Manacles". Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ^ Ian Winstanley, Those Who Died
- ^ – Photograph of William Pit
- ^ "Naval Colliery disasters". Welsh Coal Mines. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ Larn, Richard (1992). The Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly. Nairn: Thomas & Lochar. ISBN 0 946537 84 4.
- ^ Lettens, Jan. "HMS Jasper (+1817)". wrecksite. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
- ^ Nitshill 15th March 1851 scottishmining.co.uk, accessed 5 April 2009
- ^ Noall, Cyril (1968). Cornish Lights and Ship-Wrecks. Truro: D Bradford Barton.
- ^ Larn, Richard; Larn, Bridget (1997). Shipwreck Index of the British Isles. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
- ^ "The Catastrophe in the Regent's Park", The Times, 22 January 1867, p.12
External links
Categories:
- Use dmy dates from December 2012
- Disasters in the United Kingdom
- Lists of disasters by country
- Lists by death toll
- History of the United Kingdom
- United Kingdom-related lists
- Death-related lists
- Death in the United Kingdom
- Lists of transport accidents and incidents
- United Kingdom transport-related lists
- Ireland history-related lists