List of ships sunk by missiles

This is a list of ships sunk by missiles. Ships have been sunk by unguided projectiles for many centuries, but the introduction of guided missiles during World War II changed the dynamics of naval warfare. 1943 saw the first ships to be sunk by guided weapons, launched from aircraft, although it was not until 1967 that a ship was sunk by a missile launched from a ship outside a test environment. Both of these were warships, but missiles have also attacked merchant ships. More than fifty other vessels have been sunk, in war and in peace.

HMS Sheffield stricken after being hit by an Exocet missile, 26 May 1982

This list only contains vessels sunk by guided missiles, and does not include those destroyed by unguided weapons such as naval artillery, torpedoes or crewed weapons like the Kamikaze suicide rocket. It also does not include vessels that were crippled and subsequently broken up.

Background

USS Agerholm being struck by a Tomahawk missile

Ships have been equipped to fire projectiles for centuries, particularly the use of trebuchet and, ultimately, cannon developed by the Song dynasty, the latter epitomising naval weaponry in the Age of Sail.[1] However, the use of guided weapons did not emerge until the Second World War, when guided bombs, a form of precision-guided munition, started being developed by both the Allies and Axis.[2] The first to be used operationally was a German weapon, the Fritz X. Initial attacks were unsuccessful, but on 9 September 1943, Fritz X damaged the Italian battleship Italia and sank the battleship Roma, the first successful strike by a guided missile against a capital ship.[3] At the same time, the Henschel Hs 293 entered service, equipped with a rocket engine.[4] First used in combat in 1943, these were the first guided missiles to sink a warship.[5]

After the war, development of anti-ship missiles continued, particularly in the Soviet Union and Sweden, who saw mounting missiles on ships as a way to increase the strike capacity of small vessels.[6] It was a Soviet missile that made this public and sunk a ship in combat on 21 October 1967, launched from a vessel of the Egyptian Navy.[7] This demonstration led to a proliferation of other missiles being developed, including the Exocet.[8] The Exocet was used extensively during the Iran–Iraq War, particularly during the Tanker War, where it was the primary missile used by Iraqi Air Force.[9] In addition to nations, anti-ship missiles are also used by non-state actors who target merchant vessels, using missiles in a form of piracy.[10]

To counter anti-ship missiles, warships have used surface-to-air missiles, advanced electronic countermeasures and close-in weapons systems.[11]

List

The list includes all verified sinkings.[nb 1]

Ship	Nationality	Date	Missile	Notes	Reference
HMS Egret	United Kingdom	27 August 1943	Henschel Hs 293	First ship sunk by guided missile[nb 2]	[15]
USS LST-79	United States	30 September 1943	Henschel Hs 293		[16]
Roma	Kingdom of Italy	9 September 1943	Fritz X	Sunk after being struck by two missiles	[17]
HMS Dulverton	United Kingdom	13 November 1943	Henschel Hs 293		[5]
MV Birchbank	United Kingdom	11 November 1943	Henschel Hs 293		[18]
SS Carlier	Belgium	11 November 1943	Henschel Hs 293		[18]
MV Marsa	United Kingdom	21 November 1943	Henschel Hs 293		[19]
HMT Rohna	United Kingdom	26 November 1943	Henschel Hs 293	1,138 killed, the highest number by an anti-ship missile	[20]
HMHS St David	United Kingdom	24 January 1944	Henschel Hs 293		[21]
SS Samuel Huntington	United States	29 January 1944	Henschel Hs 293		[5]
HMS Spartan	United Kingdom	29 January 1944	Henschel Hs 293		[22]
SS Elihu Yale	United States	15 February 1944	Henschel Hs 293		[5]
HMS Inglefield	United Kingdom	25 February 1944	Henschel Hs 293		[23]
HMS Lawford	United Kingdom	8 June 1944	Henschel Hs 293	Sunk during the Normandy landings	[24]
USS LST-282	United States	15 August 1944	Henschel Hs 293		[25]
Leningrad	Soviet Union	May 1963	P-35 Progress	Sunk in a missile test	[26]
INS Eilat	Israel	21 October 1967	P-15 Termit	First ship sunk by a ship-launched missile	[7]
SS Orith	Israel	13 May 1970	P-15 Termit		[27]
PNS Khaibar	Pakistan	4 December 1971	P-15 Termit		[28]
PNS Muhafiz	Pakistan	4 December 1971	P-15 Termit		[28]
MV Venus Challenger	United States	8 December 1971	P-15 Termit		[29]
SS Gulf Star	Panama	8 December 1971	P-15 Termit		[30]
Yarmouk	Syria	8 October 1973	Gabriel Mk 1		[31]
Project 205 Moskit[nb 3]	Syria	8 October 1973	Gabriel Mk 1		[32]
Three Project 205 Moskit	Egypt	9 October 1973	Gabriel Mk 1		[32]
Ilya Mechnikov	Soviet Union	10 October 1973	Gabriel Mk 1		[33]
HMAS Air Sprite	Australia	17 May 1979	RIM-24 Tartar	Sunk as a target	[34]
USS Robert L. Wilson	United States	1 March 1980	RGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk in a missile test	[35]
Dhofar	Oman	18 May 1980	MM39 Exocet		[36]
USS Ozark	United States	1 March 1980	AGM-65 Maverick	Sunk by accident	[37]
Two Project 205 Moskit	Iraq	29 November 1980	RGM-84 Harpoon		[38]
IRIS Paykan	Iran	29 November 1980	P-15 Termit		[38]
BAP Almirante Guise	Peru	1 October 1981	Otomat	Sunk in a missile test	[39]
SS Atlantic Conveyor	United Kingdom	25 May 1982	AM39 Exocet	Sunk during the Falklands War	[40]
HMS Sheffield	United Kingdom	28 May 1982	AM39 Exocet	Sunk two days after being hit	[41]
USS Agerholm	United States	18 July 1982	UGM-109 Tomahawk	Sunk in a missile test	[42]
MV Sambow Banner	South Korea	9 August 1982	AM39 Exocet		[43]
MV Eastern Hunter	Singapore	2 January 1983	AM39 Exocet		[44]
MV Panoceanic Fame	Greece	15 May 1983	AM39 Exocet		[45]
MV Iran Reshadat	Iran	24 August 1983	AM39 Exocet		[46]
MV Iran Rezvan	Iran	25 October 1983	AM39 Exocet		[47]
MV Skaros	Cyprus	1 February 1984	AM39 Exocet		[48]
MV Charming	United Kingdom	1 March 1984	AM39 Exocet		[49]
MV Rana	Saudi Arabia	23 August 1984	AM39 Exocet		[50]
MV Song Bong	North Korea	13 September 1985	AM39 Exocet		[51]
MV Castor	Liberia	27 February 1986	AM39 Exocet		[51]
Waheed	Libya	25 March 1986	AGM-84 Harpoon		[52]
Ain Zaquit	Libya	25 March 1986	AGM-84 Harpoon		[53]
MV Harmony I	Malta	6 May 1986	AM39 Exocet		[54]
K-219	Soviet Union	6 October 1986	R-27 Zyb	Sunk by accident	[55]
MV Bigerange XIV	Panama	1 September 1987	AM39 Exocet		[56]
MV Iran Sedaghat	Iran	31 December 1987	AM39 Exocet		[57]
IRIS Joshan	Iran	19 April 1988	RIM-66 Standard		[58]
IRIS Sahand	Iran	19 April 1988	RGM-84 Harpoon		[58]
TČ-219 Streljko	Croatia	8 October 1994	RBS-15	Sunk as a target	[59]
ARA Chiriguano	Argentina	October 1996	MM39 Exocet	Sunk as a target	[60]
USS White Plains	United States	8 July 2002	RGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk as a target	[61]
USS Harold E. Holt	United States	10 July 2002	AGM-114 Hellfire and RGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk as a target	[62]
USS Spruance	United States	8 December 2006	AGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk as a target	[63]
USS Horne	United States	14 July 2008	AGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk as a target	[64]
Georgy Toreli	Georgia	10 August 2008	P-120 Malakhit		[65]
USS Fresno	United States	15 September 2014	RGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk as a target	[66]
USS Reuben James	United States	18 January 2016	RIM-174 Standard ERAM	Sunk in a missile test	[67]
PNS Tippu Sultan	Pakistan	27 April 2020	Babur, AM39 Exocet and YJ-83	Sunk as a target	[68][69]
USS Durham	United States	30 August 2020	RGM-84 Harpoon	Sunk as a target	[70]

Notes

1. For example, the United States Navy claimed to have destroyed a Japanese destroyer with a ASM-N-2 Bat on 27 May 1945.[12] However, this has not been confirmed and so it is excluded from the list.[13]
2. The German Air Force claim to have sunk the freighter Uskide on 1 August 1943 but this is disputed.[14]
3. A Project 183R missile boat was also destroyed.[31]

References

Citations

1. Grant 2010, p. 53.
2. Smith 1998, p. 49.
3. Smith 1998, p. 104.
4. Smith 1998, p. 100.
5. Smith 1998, p. 103.
6. Gunston 1979, p. 79.
7. Grant 2010, p. 342.
8. Gunston 1979, p. 72.
9. Navias & Hooton 1996, p. 128.
10. Samaan 2017, p. 5.
11. Gunston 1979, p. 4.
12. Dorr 1999, p. 81.
13. Everett 2015, p. 385.
14. Bollinger 2010, pp. 26–27.
15. Bollinger 2010, p. 5.
16. Bollinger 2010, p. 61.
17. Bagnasco 2012, p. 342.
18. Bollinger 2010, p. 68.
19. Bollinger 2010, p. 78.
20. Goss 2016, p. 92.
21. Bollinger 2010, p. 109.
22. Gardiner 1995, pp. 34–35.
23. Evans 2010, p. 182.
24. Buckley 2011, p. 206.
25. Bollinger 2010, p. 153.
26. Kachur 2008, p. 132.
27. Tzalel 2000, p. 44.
28. Hiranandani 2000, p. 193.
29. Hiranandani 2000, p. 219.
30. Hiranandani 2000, p. 199.
31. O'Ballance 1978, p. 315.
32. Tzalel 2000, p. 118.
33. Hooke 1989, p. 216.
34. Gillett 1988, p. 40.
35. "Robert L. Wilson (DD-847)". Naval History and Heritage Command. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
36. Chipchase, Nick (9 March 2013). "Dhofar (SNV) (+1980)". wrecksite. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
37. Priolo, Gary P. (13 September 2019). "USS Ozark". Navsource Naval History. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
38. Cooper & Bishop 2000, p. 108.
39. Moore 1985, p. 716.
40. Mercau 2019, p. 77.
41. Evans 2010, p. 76.
42. Yenne 2018, p. 154.
43. Hooke 1997, p. 535.
44. Hooke 1989, p. 140.
45. Navias & Hooton 1996, p. 57.
46. Hooke 1997, p. 293.
47. Navias & Hooton 1996, p. 48.
48. Hooke 1997, p. 581.
49. Hooke 1997, p. 130.
50. Navias & Hooton 1996, p. 77.
51. Navias & Hooton 1996, p. 108.
52. Ricketts, Norton & Turcotte 1994, p. 129.
53. Morgan 2017, p. 32.
54. Hooke 1997, p. 266.
55. Offley 2008, p. 112.
56. Hooke 1989, p. 71.
57. Navias & Hooton 1996, p. 88.
58. Palmer 2003, p. 144.
59. Gardiner 1995, p. 649.
60. Rodríguez 1997, p. 66.
61. Asia-Pacific Defense Forum Staff 2002, p. 14.
62. Asia-Pacific Defense Forum Staff 2002, pp. 15–16.
63. Evans, Mark L.; Cohn-Postar, Gideon (4 December 2019). "Spruance I (DD-963)". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
64. Doehring, Thoralf (4 December 2019). "USS Horne (CG 30)". Navy Site. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
65. Shactman, Noah (15 August 2008). "Inside the Battle for the Black Sea". wired.com. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
66. Joint Information Bureau (14 September 2014). "U.S. joint forces sink former USS Fresno". navy.mil. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
67. LaGrone, Sam (7 March 2016). "Navy Sinks Former Frigate USS Reuben James in Test of New Supersonic Anti-Surface Missile". USNI. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
68. Defense Brief Editorial (28 April 2020). "Pakistan sinks former Royal Navy frigate in missile firing drill". Defence Brief. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
69. "Marinha do Paquistão testa mísseis antinavio contra casco de fragata Type 21" [Pakistani Navy tests anti-ship missiles against Type 21 frigate]. Poder Naval (in Portuguese). 25 April 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
70. RIMPAC 2020 Public Affairs (31 August 2020). "RIMPAC 2020 Participants Conduct Sinking Exercise". navy.mil. Retrieved 5 December 2020.

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