RMS Lancastria

RMS Lancastria was a British ocean liner that the Government of the United Kingdom requisitioned during the Second World War. She was sunk on 17 June 1940 during Operation Aerial, after receiving an emergency order to help evacuate British nationals and troops from France. The ship was loaded far beyond her capacity of 1,300 passengers. Modern estimates suggest that between 4,000 and 7,000 people died in the sinking, which makes it the largest single-ship loss of life in British maritime history. Her story links the passenger liner trade to wartime requisition and mass evacuation.