Swedish Merchant Navy World War I losses

SS: Steam or motorship
SV: Sailing vessel
T/M: Torpedo or mine [what is the difference between the first and second part of the table?]
Gun: Gun fire
Expl.: Explosives
Coll.: Collision with warship
Wreck: Wrecked due to removed navigation aids
Prize: Prize of war
Unkn.: Cause unknown

Swedish merchant navy war losses and causes

Excerpt from Table I

	1914		1915		1916		1917		1918		1919-20		Total
	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT
Mine SS	8	10066	10	13249	12	14889	2	2956	2	274	11	13443	45	54877
SV	-	-	1	440	2	1104	-	-	1	53	4	2648	8	4245
Total	8	10066	11	13689	14	15993	2	2956	3	327	15	16091	53	59122
Torp SS	-	-	4	8678	3	3733	13	22322	20	36954	-	-	40	71687
SV	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	-	-	4	8678	3	3733	13	22322	20	36954	-	-	40	71607
T/M SS	-	-	3	4390	-	-	2	3553	3	6171	-	-	8	14114
SV	-	-	1	309	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	309
Gun SS	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	14384	2	2897	-	-	14	17281
SV	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	1795	1	770	-	-	9	2565
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	16179	3	3667	-	-	23	19846
Expl. SS	-	-	3	2547	15	14672	12	14144	1	3031	-	-	31	34394
SV	-	-	-	-	9	3613	8	3905	-	-	-	-	17	7518
Total	-	-	3	2547	24	18285	20	18049	1	3031	-	-	48	41912
Fire SS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
SV	-	-	5	1530	12	5193	6	1947	2	2227	-	-	25	10897
Total	-	-	5	1530	12	5193	6	1947	2	2227	-	-	25	10897
Coll. SS	1	342	2	4472	-	-	-	-	4	5073	-	-	7	9887
SV	-	-	-	-	1	134	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	134
Total	1	342	2	4472	1	134	-	-	4	5073	-	-	8	10021
Wreck SS	3	5259	4	7957	2	1952	2	6379	-	-	-	-	11	21547
SV	2	288	1	52	1	507	1	76	-	-	-	-	5	923
Total	5	5547	5	8009	3	2459	3	6455	-	-	-	-	16	22470
Prize SS	-	-	4	3237	3	3410	9	7251	-	-	-	-	16	13898
SV	-	-	-	-	7	2862	2	476	-	-	-	-	9	3338
Total	-	-	4	3237	10	6272	11	7727	-	-	-	-	25	17236
Total SS	12	15667	30	44530	35	38656	52	70989	32	54400	11	13443	172	237685
SV	2	288	8	2331	32	13413	25	8199	4	3050	4	2648	75	29929
TOTAL	14	15955	38	46861	67	52069	77	79188	36	57450	15	16091	247	267614

Cause not determined:

	1914		1915		1916		1917		1918		1919-20		Total
	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT	No	GRT
T/M SS	2	2823	2	2947	-	-	2	1546	5	5162	3	2102	14	14580
SV	-	-	1	78	-	-	2	978	2	140	-	-	5	1196
Total	2	2823	3	3025	-	-	4	2524	7	5302	3	2102	19	15776
Unkn. SS	-	-	2	1600	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1600
SV	-	-	5	4347	5	1178	1	318	-	-	1	716	14	8159
Total SS	2	2823	4	4547	-	-	2	1546	5	5162	3	2102	16	16180
SV	-	-	6	4425	5	1178	3	1296	2	140	1	716	17	7755
Total	2	2823	10	8972	5	1178	5	2842	7	5302	4	2818	33	23935
Total SS	14	18490	34	49077	35	38656	54	72535	37	59562	14	15545	188	253865
SV	2	288	14	6756	37	14591	28	9495	6	3190	5	3364	92	37684
Total	16	18778	48	55833	72	53247	82	82030	43	62752	19	18909	280	291549

Other tables present the same material broken down by theater of war, tonnage, cargo, owner, etc.

A total of 787 Swedish seamen lost their lives in Swedish merchant ships during the WW I, to which should be added another 434 serving in the merchant navy of other nations.

It might be interesting to compare these figures with the merchant ship losses of other nations:

	No.	GRT
Great Britain	2197	7.638.000
France	238	697.000
Italy	230	742.000
USA	80	342.000
Japan	29	120.000
Denmark	378	270.000
Norway (1914-1918)	824	1.236.000
Mine	39	55.000
Mine/Torpedo	149	226.000
Other	636	955.000

Other = Torpedo, gunfire, bombing, or set on fire.

References:

Svenska Handelsflottans krigsförluster åren 1914-1920.
Kommerskollegium, Stockholm, 1921. .

Updated 1997-12-01 by Lars Bruzelius

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