World War II: The Belgian Troopship Leopoldville was torpedoed and sank with the loss of 763 soldiers and 56 crew.

SS Léopoldville was a 11,509 GRT passenger liner of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo. She was converted for use as a troopship in the Second World War, and on 24 December 1944, while sailing between Southampton and Cherbourg, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-486. As a result, about 763 US soldiers and 15 officers of the ship's crew died. The crew had abandoned ship and left U.S. troops without proper evacuation orders.