Book tells story of World War II ship sinking

"The Sinking of the Lancastria: The Twentieth Century's Deadliest Naval Disaster and Churchill's Plot To Make It Disappear." By Jonathan Fenby. Carroll & Graf. 269 Pages. $26.

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On the afternoon of June 17, 1940, the 17,000-ton British liner Lancastria was attacked by German bombers. The ship caught fire, capsized and sank rapidly off the French port of St-Nazaire, where it had called to take on members of the British Expeditionary Force routed by the Nazi Blitzkrieg in northern France.

About 4,000 of Lancastria's 6.000 passengers were lost, including soldiers, fliers, army support troops and medical personnel, and civilians.

Some died within the liner, from burns, suffocation or drowning. Others abandoned ship only to be overcome by the heavy oil escaping from the ruptured fuel tanks, which were also ignited by tracer bullets from aircraft as they made repeated strafing passes.

In "The Sinking of the Lancastria," Jonathan Fenby has done a superb job of research, in England and France, to document the sinking. He interviewed many of the survivors (whose numbers are rapidly dwindling) and their families, and witnesses from ashore.

He also tells the story of that segment of the BEF that had remained in northwestern France, after a large contingent had been evacuated from Dunkirk only days earlier. It is a story of disorganized retreat by any possible means ahead of the advancing Panzer forces.

Fenby discusses the political situation arising from the collapse of France's army and its government's increasing defeatism, and describes the attitudes and positions of the British government as it suffered dire reverses.

When Prime Minister Winston Churchill was informed about the sinking and its death toll, he ordered the news to be suppressed temporarily. News of the sinking didn't reach England until several weeks later, through a story originating in the U.S. It was reported only once by the British news media before being lost among the events of the ongoing war.

Fenby has written an exciting book, full of color and detail often provided through the words of its participants.

However, the book's subtitle, which describes the loss of the Lancastria as the 20th century's "deadliest" naval disaster, is inaccurate. During World War II, many ships were sunk and sustained heavy losses, among them the German liner Wilhelm Gustloff, which lost about 6,000 of its passengers after being torpedoed by a Russian submarine in the Baltic Sea.

Another point of contention is the use of the word "plot." True, Churchill did order the news of the sinking suppressed, and never rescinded the order; but he later said he had simply forgotten to do so, which is understandable considering the many wartime details vying for his attention.

The book offers no evidence that the Lancastria episode was so important that the British government felt it had to be buried. If such a misleading subtitle were intended to enhance the drama of this story, the effort was hardly necessary.