The Grimsby trawler that went to the rescue in Britain's worst maritime disaster

The bombing of the Lancastria, 80 years ago on Wednesday, was Britain's worst maritime disaster, far greater than Titanic, but largely forgotten, says historian Robb Robinson.

At least six servicemen from Bradford, eight from Leeds, three from Grimsby and five from Hull were among the more than 3,500 people - some say far more - who lost their lives.

The appalling scale of the tragedy was such that Churchill ordered a news blackout for fear of demoralising the British public.

The former Cunard liner, which had been converted to a troopship, took around 20 minutes to sink after being attacked by enemy planes when she was at anchor near the French port of Saint-Nazaire on June 17 1940.

Among the vessels who came to her rescue was the Grimsby trawler Cambridgeshire, which managed to save an incredible 800 lives.

Skipper Billy Euston recalled that as they approached they could hear men "defiantly singing Roll Out The Barrel".

The crew pulled out men covered in slimy oil, badly burned and wounded.

Chief engineer George Beasley noted that there was no panic at all. "Some men sitting on the keel of Lancastria were still singing just before she went down, they certainly had plenty of pluck."

Refugees escaping from Belgium were among the thousands struggling desperately to live as the planes returned to strafe the survivors.

The disaster happened during Operation Aerial which followed in the wake of the Dunkirk evacuation of May 26 to June 4.

Nearly 200,000 troops were evacuated from ports in Western France.

The 16,500-ton White Star liner was built to carry 2,180 passengers and crew but she had embarked between 6,000 and 9,000 troops and civilian refugees from St Nazaire before being attacked.

Dr Robinson, from the University of Hull’s Blaydes Maritime Centre, said it was remarkable how little had been made of Lancastria given the "oceans of print" written about Titanic.

Titanic sank 28 years earlier in the early hours of April 15, 1912 with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

He said: "In the papers very little was said because of the news blackout. They kept it very quiet because of the effect it was likely to have on the national morale.

"A lot of the people who were lost were Pioneer Corps, which had only been formed a few months before and a lot were reservists.

"The deaths we know of (in Yorkshire) were not all the deaths by any means.

"Billy Euston's immensely important role in saving so many people has tended to be forgotten.

"His trawler came under attack while rescuing survivors and it is said that one of the trawler's Lewis guns shot down one of the attacking planes.

"Somehow he managed to cram all 800 people on his ship - it was packed from stem to stern with survivors."

An 80th anniversary commemoration service had been planned at Liverpool Parish Church but was cancelled following the coronavirus outbreak. The Lancastria sailed from Liverpool on its fateful voyage.

Total losses are not known, but it could be up to 6,000.

Churchill later wrote that when news of the sinking reached him he forbade its publication "saying that the newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today at least".

He said he forgot to lift the ban " but events crowded in so black and so quickly... and it was some time before the knowledge of this horror became public.’

A commemoration service, due to be held today at Liverpool Parish Church, has been postponed until September because of the coronavirus pandemic.