--- title: "Meet the sailor who served with the Axis and the Allies and survived three sinking ships" date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/meet-sailor-served-axis-allies-survived-three-sinking-ships/" categories: - "History" - "War History" - "World War II" --- # Meet the sailor who served with the Axis and the Allies and survived three sinking ships ![]() Nicknamed "Unsinkable Sam," this German sailor served with the Nazi Kriegsmarine and the British Royal Navy during world War II. Three of the ships on which he served were sunk and he miraculously survived all three. --- ![]() *Seen here, with another sailor.* His first cruise was on the legendary German dreadnaught battleship *Bismarck.* He boarded with his best friend in 1941 as it departed Germany to wreak havoc on British shipping in the Northern Atlantic. *Bismarck* was sunk after a fight against an aircraft carrier, three battleships, three cruisers, and six destroyers. Only 118 of the ship's 2,200 survived. Oscar (the real name of "Unsinkable Sam") was found floating on a board by the *HMS Cossack*, and was put to work immediately by the British crew. ![]() *The Bismarck* After serving on the *Cossack* for months, Oscar was accepted by the ship's crew. One day on escort duty near Gibraltar, *Cossack* was torpedoed by a German U-boat and was heavily damaged. Oscar survived. Although attempts were made to tow the ship back to port, the weather made it impossible and the ship was abandoned and sank near Gibraltar. Now having earned his "Unsinkable" moniker, he was transferred to the aircraft carrier *HMS Ark Royal*, which was itself torpedoed off of the island of Malta in the Mediterranean, and sank thirty miles offshore. Only one member of the crew was lost because the ship sank at such a slow pace. ![]() *The Ark Royal, slowly sinking.* Sam survived, but his days at sea were over. He spent the rest of the war serving the governor of Gibraltar and would live for another decade after the war's end. He died in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1955. ![]() *Thanks for your service, Sam* ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()