On June 6, the UK will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings in 1944.
Also known as D-Day, the historic operation saw the Allied Forces of the second World War mount the largest amphibious invasion in military history.
Landing at Nazi-occupied France, they ultimately tipped the course of the World War ll in the favour of the allies.
READ MORE: Barrow's worst disasters of the last century captured by the Sankeys
Barrow was heavily targeted during World War II because of the strategic importance of its Vickers shipyard and steelworks.
During the war, the shipyard built big ships such as Pioneer and Majestic, small destroyers and a number of submarines.
A wide range of engines and guns were produced along with the arming of merchant ships.
As well as the shipyard taking direct hits during World War II, some of its Barrow-built vessels were lost - however many survived.
Amazingly, in 2018, the U-class submarine HMS Urge built in Barrow was located on the Mediterranean seabed off the coast of Malta by a marine archaeology survey team.
The vessel had disappeared 80 years before in 1942 after reportedly running into an enemy minefield.
Local family the Sankeys, who documented life in and around Barrow in the early 20th century, captured the launch of many vessels not knowing what their fate was to be.
They managed to photograph the only Japanese battleship sunk by submarine in the Second World War.
Japanese Kongo, aka, the Indestructible Diamond was laid down in 1911 by Vickers Shipbuilding Company and commissioned in 1913.
She was among the most heavily armed ships in any navy when built at the time however was sunk by the submarine USS Sealion while transiting the Formosa Strait on 21 November 1944.
On the very day Germany invaded Poland on 1st September, 1939, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty during World War Two and used extensively as a troopship.
She survived both theatres of war and was scrapped in 1969.
P&O, like many other British and Commonwealth shipping companies, subsequently embarked on rebuilding their fleets due to their losses.
Take a look at our gallery to see just some of the iconic Barrow-built ship that were lost and survived the battles of World War ll.
Anyone wanting to use the Sankey photos in a book, online or in an exhibition need to ask permission to use the photos from Cumbria Archives and there may be a charge.
Downloading images for personal use is fine however. The full details on copyright are here: https://www.sankeyphotoarchive.uk/contact/.
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