SS Prinses Astrid was a Belgian cross-Channel ferry struck a naval mine 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) off the coast of Dunkirk, France and sank with the loss of five of her 65 crew.

[1] SS Prinses Astrid was built in Hoboken, Antwerp, Belgium at the Cockerill shipyard in 1929 as a cross-Channel ferry for the Belgian Government.

On 18 May 1940, Prinses Astrid left Ostend harbor with Belgian refugees en route to Southampton, United Kingdom.

In June 1941, HMS Prinses Astrid sailed to Inveraray to join the fleet which remained stand-by for the landing in the Azores (Operation Truster).

On 20 September 1941, Prinses Astrid arrived in Inveraray to serve as an accommodation ship for Combined Operations Training Classes.

On 10 June 1943, Prinses Astrid left Falmouth for Gibraltar and the North African ports of Oran, Algiers, Bizerta, and Philippeville, where she arrived on 7 July 1943.

Afterwards, the ship made multiple crossings with new troops for the Eastern and Western Task Force with Newhaven and Southampton as main ports.

Because of this accident, Prinses Astrid was taken out of service again to be repaired, because of that decision the ship could not participate in Operation Nestegg which was the liberation of the Channel Islands.

From 15 February 1946 to 12 July 1946, Prinses Astrid sailed as a troop transport ship between Dover and Ostend under the Belgian flag.

After a number of renovation works, the ship was returned to service on 7 October 1946 as a cross-Channel ferry sailing the Ostend-Dover line.

Prinses Astrid left Ostend, Belgium at 14:30 pm on 21 June 1949 with 65 crew members and 218 passengers for Dover, United Kingdom.

There was however loss of life, 5 crew members died in the engine room when the mine exploded and 15 people suffered major burns, 4 others including the captain were slightly injured.

In total: 60 crew members and all 218 passengers survived the sinking, most of the survivors were rescued by Cap Hatid and brought ashore at Dunkirk.

Today a buoy marks the site of the wreck as the ship's bow has disappeared completely beneath the sandy sea-bed.