Iceberg Casualties – Ship Names starting with “V to Z”

Clicking on the vessel name if hyperlinked will open a pdf document giving all the information known about the vessel and the collision event. The format is slightly distorted in some places, unfortunately, but should not be a problem. Clicking on the hyperlinks in the Image column will open any relevant images of the ship and in some cases an ice chart showing the location of the collision; S = image or illustration of the ship, D = image taken of around the time of the accident or damage to the vessel, C = ice chart showing a the approximate conditions at the time, T = additional information.

Name of Vessel	Vessel Type	Date	Geographic. Area	Lat N (deg.min)	Long W (deg.min)	Scenario Description	Damage Severity	Fatalities (Y/N/U)	Injuries (Y/N/U)	Iceberg Size/Multi-Year	Image
Vaillant³	Brig	14-Apr-1897	Grand Banks	46.30	50.00	Unknown	Sinking	Yes	Unknown	Unknown	T1
Valborg	Bark	19-May-1896	Grand Banks	46.40	52.45	Unknown	Abandoned	No	Unknown	Unknown	S1
Valkyrie¹⁹	Schooner	~1-Aug-1899	Strait of Belle Isle and Approaches	52.00	55.30	Unknown	Cracks	No	No	Large
Valo 1	Wooden Vessel	29-Apr-1963	South Greenland Waters	60.06	40.20	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	C1
Vancouver¹⁷	SS Passenger	27-Aug-1890	Strait of Belle Isle and Approaches	51.30	56.30	Direct Impact	Denting	Unknown	Unknown	Large	S1 T1
Vanguard 2¹⁵	Sealing Vessel	13-Apr-1876	Grand Banks	47.41	52.40	Unknown	Unknown	No	No	Unknown	S1 T1
Vanguard 1	M/V Fishing Vessel	26-Jul-2001	Alaskan Waters	60.54	147.17	Direct Impact	Sinking	No	No	Bergy bit
Veslemari	Sealing Vessel	08-Apr-1988	Greenland Sea	72.00	8.00	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Vesta¹	Sailing Ship	20 May 1823	Grand Banks				Sinking
Vicksburg²	SS Passenger	1-Jun-1875	Grand Banks	46.34	47.58	Iceberg drifts upon vessel	Sinking	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
Victor Eugene³	Bark	28-Apr-1897	Grand Banks	46.06	49.42	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Victoria	SS Passenger	1-Aug-1895	Grand Banks	43.10	49.00	Glancing Blow	Denting	No	Unknown	Unknown	S1
Vimeira⁴	SS Tanker	20-Jul-1929	Grand Banks	42.40	49.44	Direct Impact	Crushed	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	S1 T1
~~Vizcano~~ = Vizcaino⁵	Steamship	12-Apr-1880	Grand Banks	44.06	49.00	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Volant⁶	Schooner	21-Mar-1882	Grand Banks	47.05	52.50	Unknown	Unknown	No	Unknown	Unknown	T1
Vulcan	Sealing Vessel	1-Jan-1869	Grand Banks	46.35	53.07	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Waaja	Bark	1-May-1885	Grand Banks	46.03	49.18	Unknown	Minor Deck Damage	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Wabeno	Sailing Ship	5-Nov-1868	Grand Banks	48.23	48.23	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	T1
Wanderer	Schooner	23-Jun-1831	Strait of Belle Isle and Approaches	53.03	53.02	Unknown	Abandoned	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Warspite, HMS⁷	Nuclear Submarine	19-Oct-1968	Greenland Sea	75.00	30.00	Glancing Blow	Denting	No	No	Unknown
Waziristan	SS Cargo	18-Jul-1928	Strait of Belle Isle and Approaches	51.41	55.56	Glancing Blow	Denting	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	S1
Wellington²⁰	SS Cargo	5 Apr-1919	Grand Banks	45.40	51.30	Unknown	Puncture	No	No	Growler
West Kebar²¹	SS Cargo	21-May-1922	Grand Banks	47.22	50.45	Direct Impact	Crushed	No	No	Very Large	S1 T1
Westchester	Packet Ship	24-Mar-1839	Grand Banks	43.00	53.00	Direct Impact	Cracks	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	T1
Western Belle	Bark	1-May-1882	Grand Banks	45.00	47.00	Direct Impact	Sinking	Yes	Yes	Unknown
Westlea²²	SS Cargo	26-May-1926	Grand Banks	45.40	49.20	Direct Impact	Crushed	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	T1 T2
West-moreland	Sailing Ship	29-Apr-1854	Grand Banks	43.10	48.00	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	S1
Westwind, USCG	Cutter	01-Jul-1970	Baffin Bay Area	72.00	65.00	Unknown	Unknown	No	No	Unknown	S1
Wilderness Adventurer	Sightseeing Vessel	11-May-2004	Alaskan Waters	57.53	133.12	Direct Impact	Puncture	Unknown	Unknown	Bergy bit	S1
Wilhelm⁸	Unknown	27-Feb-1884	Grand Banks	44.30	48.40	Iceberg drifts upon vessel	Crushed	Unknown	Unknown	Large
William⁹	Brig	27-Jun-1832	Grand Banks	46.33	47.16	Direct Impact	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
William A. Morse	Auxiliary Schooner	27-Mar-1923	Gulf of St. Lawrence and South	44.00	60.00	Glancing Blow	Hole	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	C1
William Brown¹⁰	Sailing Ship	18-Apr-1841	Grand Banks	43.30	49.39	Glancing Blow	Sinking	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
William Carson¹¹	M/V RoRo Passenger	02-Jun-1977	Strait of Belle Isle and Approaches	52.45	55.20	Striking concealed growler/bergy bit in field ice	Sinking	No	No	Unknown	S1 S2 S3 C1 C2
William Ripon	Bark	29-Apr-1843	Gulf of St. Lawrence and South	47.10	60.15	Glancing Blow	Sinking	No	No	Unknown
Willing Mind	Brig	21-Jul-1823	Grand Banks	46.55	52.00	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Wisteria¹⁸	Schooner	28-May-1903	Grand Banks	46.06	49.09	Glancing Blow	Hole	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Wolf¹²	SS Sealing Vessel	3-May-1871	Grand Banks	50.00	55.10	Iceberg drifts upon vessel	Sinking	No	Unknown	Unknown
Young Prince¹⁶	SS Sealing Vessel	14-Apr-1885	Grand Banks	49.30	52.45	Unknown	Sinking	Unknown	Unknown	Ice pan
Yucatan	SS Cargo/ Passenger	16-Feb-1910	Alaskan Waters	58.15	135.30	Grounding on	Sinking	No	No	Unknown	S1
Zapora¹³	SS Fishing Vessel	12-Feb-1916	Alaskan Waters	58.10	136.45	Direct Impact	Small puncture	Unknown	Unknown	Growler	S1 T1
Zip Coon¹⁴	Fishing Schooner	12-May-1848	Grand Banks	49.00	53.00	Unknown	Sinking	Yes=7	No	Unknown	T1

1. New addition. See https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1823
2. See also accounts in South Wales Daily News 22 June 1875 at https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3501912/3501915 . Perhaps not an iceberg related accident but still a real tragedy.
3. See “Shipwreck and Death” page 7 col. 3 of The Glengarrian, Alexandria, Ontario, Friday 7 May 1897 at http://www.glengarrycountyarchives.ca/Glengarry_pdf/The-Glengarrian/1896-1898/1897/May/05-07-1897.pdf . From this account it is unlikely that the Victor Eugene was ever damaged.
4. The Vimeira survived the subsequent fire in Rotterdam only later to be sunk by U-boat in August 1942.
5. Steam screw brig of Bilboa built in 1875 at Liverpool.
6. Owners uncertain.
7. The official story at the time was that the sub hit an iceberg but it is now known to have struck a Russian submarine. See for instance: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/warspite-how-british-nuclear-submarine-smashed-russian-missile-sub-150561
8. A wooden bark of this name is listed in Lloyd’s register of 1884 as lost. Two other ‘Wilhelm’s are screw driven iron ships. The damage here mentions timbers smashed.
9. See http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/1832d.shtml for an account from the Sligo Journal.
10. The sinking of the William Brown and the subsequent tragedy has as much implication for maritime law as the sinking of the Titanic. “In 1841 the American sailing ship William Brown struck an iceberg. About half of the passengers and all of the crew were saved in two small, open boats. The next night, half of the passengers in the larger long-boat were thrown overboard because the boat was over full. This was the first case of “lifeboat ethics,” of hard choices in the face of scarcity. Since then the question has been “who should die so that others, equally needy, might live?” , is part of Tom Koch’s description of his book “The Wreck of the William Brown. A True Tale of Overcrowded Lifeboats and Murder at Sea”, https://www.kochworks.com/william-brown.html . The dilemma of the survivors in the lifeboat has been thrillingly depicted in the 1957 movie, Seven Waves Away, also known as Abandon Ship, although an iceberg is not the cause of the disaster. Souls at Sea (1937) also uses the tragedy of the William Brown as a background setting but is not really the main theme. Both movies are readily available online.
11. For one account and ship photograph see: https://nfldherald.com/the-sinking-of-the-m-v-william-carson/
12. (The Ice Hunters: A History of Newfoundland Sealing to 1914 by Shannon Ryan). From “Chafe’s sealing book : a history of the Newfoundland sealfishery from the earliest available records down to and including the voyage of 1923”, by Levi George Chafe, page 42 “1871 – The S.S. Wolf, Capt. Levi Diamond, was lost on her second trip [of this season?], having a load of seals, off Gull Island, Cape [St.] John; crew brought home by the S.S. Lion, Capt. A. Graham.” Book available online at https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/cns/id/160835. The above table shows the corrected coordinates.
13. Photo and vessel specs at https://ketchikan.pastperfectonline.com/photo/876A8F9B-682F-447F-97C0-609819754994 . Hydrographic Bulletin No, 1382 Washington, D.C, Feb 23, 1916: “Collision with Iceberg — Feb, — — Approximately lat. 58 15 N., lon. 137 00 W., struck an iceberg, —Zapora (ss.), [Capt] Selness.
14. New addition. Fishing schooner Zip Coon from Herring Neck to St. John’s likely lost in collision with a berg while crossing Bonavista Bay in squally conditions with 7 persons aboard. Position approximate.
15. New addition. Steamship of 559 tons. For ship summary see: https://mha.mun.ca/mha/pviewphoto/Record_ID/896
16. Sunk by a pan of ice and not an iceberg on the 14 April somewhere to the ESE of the Funk Islands. The entry in the above table has been amended to show this. There is very interesting daily account published in the 18 May 1885 issue of the Evening Mercury too lengthy to be reproduced here but available at https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/eveherald/id/70383 for those interested.
17. According to the Harbor Grace Standard (T1) the date should be the 29th August, Friday. The estimated position should be close.
18. The schooner Wisteria is noted in the Evening Telegram 26 May 1903 as having passed C. Race that day. No mention is made of accident. The Telegram of 2 June notes the damages have been repaired and the boat is almost ready to set sail again. This might suggest that the collision took place en route between C. Race and St. John’s. There is also an unconfirmed report the the ship struck an iceberg in the previous year on the 8 Aug 1899 in the “Davis Strait stream”, presumably somewhere near the eastern entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle, but with no further details.
19. The Evening Telegram 4 Aug 1899 p.3 col.8 reports that the Valkyrie struck a large iceberg near Bell Isle losing jib-boom.
20. (New event as of 22 Dec.’23). Already known to have hit ice now believed to be a small berg or growler. Evening Telegram 5 Apr. 1919, p.4 col. 4 reports, “Wellington 70 miles south Cape Race, putting back to St. John’s. Bows stove in; forepeak full of water. – Williams [master]”, while the Daily News 14 April p.3 col. 3 states that the repairs to the Wellington after colliding with an iceberg are being rushed and is expected to sail again in a few days. Other newspaper reports that the ship arrived St. John’s 18 March with general cargo in 6 days from New York and that it had been badly damaged in a recent fire. It then loaded 19,101 quintals of dried cod for Lisbon or Gibraltar or Spain, or all three, and waiting till the ice had moved off, was cleared on Mar 28. It was back in St. John’s on Apr. 9 needing 6 plates for repairs to the bows. Lloyd’s Register has it as registered in St. John’s, built in Newcastle in 1901 of 1964 tons and 270 feet long.
21. (Updated 11 Jan 2024). Position matches a report of a huge grounded iceberg 100 miles off C. Race that implies it was this was the berg struck by the West Kebar though does not give the name of the ship.
22. Image of SS Westlea as SS Newton Elms available at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-162460539/view