A Hurricane fighter plane flew over the Three Graces to mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Cunard’s Lancastria with the loss of thousands of lives.
The Lancastria, a cruise ship before World War II, left Liverpool on June 14, 1940, bound for the Loire.
She was sunk three days later by a lone German bomber as she evacuated line-of-communication troops, RAF ground crew, embassy staff and civilian refugees.
Today ( Sunday) families of those lost gathered at the Pier Head Memorial for a short service led by Rector Crispin Pailing.
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An RAF Hurricane fighter made a number of passes over the waterfront to mark the occasion.
While there were 2,447 survivors, the death toll has never been officially established. But the loss of life is estimated to have been between 2,.500 and 6,000 people – the highest death toll for British forces in any single engagement of the war.
The disaster was kept secret by Winston Churchill’s wartime government and an official report on it will remain sealed until 2040 under the Official Secrets Act.
The memory of HMT Lancastria has been kept alive in Liverpool by Jack Stamper, who began his life at sea working with the carpenter from the ill-fated liner.
His initiative was behind the unveiling of a plaque to the Lancastria on the Pier Head in 2013.
