The HMT Lancastria was built in the Lieutenancy of Dunbartonshire in the town of Clydebank. During World War ll on the afternoon of Monday 17 June 1940 it was sunk by enemy bombing whilst evacuating troops of the British Expeditionary Force from St. Nazaire in France.
The actual number of those on board will never be known but some estimates range up to 9,000 persons. To this day it remains the biggest loss of life in a maritime disaster.
On 1st October 2011, the Lancastria Association of Scotland invited The First Minister of Scotland to unveil a memorial to the victims on the site where the ship was built at the former Beardmore shipyard at Clydebank, now the grounds of the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.
The full story of the HMT Lancastria can be read by clicking on the link below
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