Sea vessels have always been the subject of universal admiration, but often the world was shocked by their sudden death. The largest shipwrecks - how did they happen and how many human lives were lost?

It is worth noting that ships sank for various reasons. Mainly due to the following indicators:

• "human factor";
• malfunction of the ship's mechanisms;
• strong storms.

Great shipwrecks are, and therefore everyone should know about them.

The most famous shipwrecks: the sinking of the Titanic

The story associated with the Titanic became famous among a wide range of the public after the release of the film of the same name. It is noteworthy that the plot of the film was based on real events. It is not known whether the love story discussed in the film was true, but the fact that the ship sank, taking with it a huge number of human lives, is the pure truth.

The Titanic was launched in 1911, on May 31st. At that time, the ship was considered the largest liner in history, and therefore its first voyage took place in a festive atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the Titanic went on open voyage only once. The voyage he was on had been taken by other ships thousands of times before, but in 1912 the ship unexpectedly sank.

The bulky airliner did not survive the collision with the iceberg on April 14. No one could pinpoint the exact reason: either it was an oversight by the workers, or a lack of equipment. One way or another, it took very little time to be completely immersed in water - 160 minutes. This was a shock to the designers, since they had great hopes for the ship, and the size of the liner itself delighted everyone.

There were more than two thousand people on the ship, of whom only 711 survived. The lucky ones told many amazing stories about what they experienced at the moment when they were told about the shipwreck. Unfortunately, there was a catastrophic lack of rescue equipment, which caused mass deaths of passengers.

The story of the Titanic became a sensation, but the most famous shipwrecks do not end there, since many similar events happened in just 100 years.

The worst shipwrecks of the twentieth century

There are other cases in the history of navigation that are striking in their enormity. A grandiose movie was not made about their death, like about the Titanic, but their sinking was just as unexpected for the model developers and the families of the victims.

Remained forever at the bottom of the oceans and seas:

• "Yamato";
• "Salzburg";
• "Bismarck";
• "Cap Arcona";
• "Junio ​​Maaru."

Great Shipwrecks of History

And several more ships that are well known in world history. One of them is the Wilhelm Gustloff passenger liner, which had only fifty flights.

What is surprising is the cost of tickets. Allow yourself to travel on " Wilhelm Gustloff“even representatives of the poor working class could.

This liner belonged travel company Third Reich. Since the liner was first launched in 1937, it has survived a lot. He found the Second world war, during which time the Wilhelm Gustloff served as a hospital and later took part in naval battles. On January 30, 1945, this liner was sunk by a Soviet Union torpedo.

Historians believe that there were about 9,000 people on board the liner at the time of the crash, although the official death toll was 5,000.

But the worst shipwrecks did not end with the Wilhelm Gustloff. The Second World War also took another great ship - “ Armenia».

"Armenia" was a passenger and cargo ship that was created in 1928 in the Soviet Union. This ship had really large dimensions and potential. Historians find it difficult to answer how many voyages the ship made, but they know exactly when it sank.

This happened in 1941 near Crimea. "Armenia" was sunk by German aircraft.

Amazing and scary at the same time is the fact that the ship sank under water in just 4 minutes, taking with it 5,000 human lives.

Only eight passengers survived.

Finally

Historical experience has made us realize how important it is to comply with safety conditions when drawing up a plan for the construction and launching of a ship. Nowadays, sea vessels are equipped with a huge number of life-saving devices, which, even in cases of disaster, enable people to survive. Let's hope that necessary measures accepted, and not a single modern ship will be included in the historical record under the name “shipwreck”.

Over hundreds of years of sailing on various ships, sailboats and barges across the vast seas and oceans, many different accidents and shipwrecks have occurred. Films have even been made about some of them, the most popular of which, of course, is Titanic. But which shipwrecks were the largest in terms of ship size and number of victims? In this ranking, we answer this question by presenting the largest maritime disasters.

11

The rating opens with a British passenger liner that was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 on May 7, 1915, in an area designated by the Kaiser's government as a submarine warfare zone. The ship, sailing with a blacked-out name and not raising any flag above itself, sank in 18 minutes, 13 kilometers from the coast of Ireland. 1,198 of the 1,959 people on board were killed. The destruction of this ship turned public opinion in many countries against Germany and contributed to the US entry into World War I two years later.

10

The single-screw steamer had a capacity of 7142 register tons, a length of 132 meters, a width of 17 meters, and a maximum speed of 11 knots. On April 12, 1944, a steamship with explosives with a total weight of more than 1,500 tons began unloading at the Bombay port pier. There were other cargoes on board - 8,700 tons of cotton, 128 gold bars, sulfur, wood, engine oil, etc. The ship was loaded in violation of safety regulations. At about 2 p.m., a fire started on board, and no action helped to extinguish it. At 16:06 an explosion occurred, which created a tidal wave of such force that the ship “Jalampada” with a displacement of almost 4000 tons ended up on the roof of a 17-meter warehouse. After 34 min. a second explosion occurred.

The burning cotton scattered within a radius of 900 meters from the epicenter and set everything on fire: ships, warehouses, houses. A strong wind from the sea drove a wall of fire towards the city. The fires were extinguished only after 2 weeks. It took about 7 months to restore the port. Official statistics announced 1,376 deaths, and 2,408 people were admitted to hospitals. The fire destroyed 55,000 tons of grain, thousands of tons of seeds, oil, oil; a huge amount of military equipment and almost one square mile of urban areas. 6 thousand companies went bankrupt, 50 thousand people lost their jobs. Many small and 4 large ships, dozens, were destroyed.

9

It was with this ship that the most famous disaster on the water occurred. The British White Star Line steamship was the second of the three Olympic-class twin steamships and the largest passenger airliner in the world at the time of construction. Gross tonnage 46,328 register tons, displacement 66,000 tons. The length of the ship is 269 meters, width is 28 meters, height is 52 meters. The engine room had 29 boilers and 159 coal fireboxes. Maximum speed 25 knots. During her maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, she collided with an iceberg and sank 2 hours and 40 minutes later. There were 2224 people on board. Of these, 711 people were saved, 1,513 died. The Titanic disaster became legendary; several feature films were made based on its plot.

8

In the harbor of the Canadian city of Halifax on December 6, 1917, the French military cargo ship Mont Blanc, which was fully loaded with one explosive - TNT, pyroxylin and picric acid, collided with the Norwegian ship Imo. As a result of a powerful explosion, the port and a significant part of the city were completely destroyed. About 2,000 people died as a result of the explosion under the rubble of buildings and due to the fires that broke out after the explosion. Approximately 9,000 people were injured and 400 lost their sight. The explosion in Halifax is one of the most powerful explosions caused by mankind; this explosion is considered the most powerful explosion of the pre-nuclear era.

7

This French auxiliary cruiser served as the flagship and took part in the neutralization of the Greek fleet. Displacement - 25,000 tons, length - 166 meters, width - 27 meters, power - 29,000 horsepower, speed - 20 knots, cruising range - 4,700 miles at 10 knots. It sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece on February 26, 1916 after a torpedo attack by the German submarine U-35. Of the 4,000 people on board, 3,130 died and 870 were saved.

6

After 1944, this German passenger ocean liner was converted into a floating hospital and participated in the evacuation of mostly wounded military personnel and refugees from East Prussia from the advancing Red Army. The liner left the port of Pillau on February 9, 1945 and headed to Kiel, with more than 4,000 people on board - wounded military personnel, soldiers, refugees, medical staff and crew members. On the night of February 10 at 00:55, the Soviet submarine S-13 torpedoed the liner with two torpedoes. The ship sank 15 minutes later, killing 3,608 and saving 659 people. When torpedoing the liner, the submarine commander was convinced that in front of him was not a passenger liner, but a military cruiser.

5

The Philippine-registered passenger ferry Dona Paz sank on December 20, 1987 at about 10 p.m. off the island of Marinduque after a collision with the tanker Vector. An estimated 4,375 people were killed, making it the worst peacetime maritime disaster.

4

This passenger and cargo ship of the Adzharia type was built at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad in 1928, and on November 7, 1941, it was sunk by the Germans near the coast of Crimea. The death toll was, according to various estimates, from 3,000 to 4,500 people. On the ship there were several thousand wounded soldiers and evacuated citizens, including personnel from 23 military and civilian hospitals, the leadership of the pioneer camp and part of the party leadership of Crimea. The loading of evacuees was in a hurry, and their exact number is not known. There is a version that the cause of this naval disaster was the criminal mistakes of the command of the Black Sea Fleet. The overcrowded ship, instead of making the transition to the Caucasus, was sent by the command to Yalta.

3

The cargo ship, built in Oslo, Norway, was launched on April 4, 1940. It was confiscated by the Germans after the occupation of Norway by Germany. At first it was used as a conditional target for training the crews of German submarines. Later, the ship took part in the evacuation of people by sea from the advancing Red Army. It was armed with military cannons. This ship managed to make four trips, during which 19,785 people were evacuated. On the night of April 16, 1945, the ship, making its fifth voyage, was torpedoed by the Soviet submarine L-3, after which the Goya sank in the Baltic Sea. More than 6,900 people died in the disaster.

2

On May 3, 1945, a tragedy occurred in the Baltic Sea, killing approximately 8,000 people. The German liner Cap Arcona and the cargo ship Tilbeck, transporting prisoners from evacuating concentration camps, came under fire from British aircraft. As a result, more than 5,000 people died on the Cap Arcona, and about 2,800 on the Tilbek. According to one version, this raid was a mistake on the part of the British Air Force, which believed that there were German troops on the ships; according to another, the pilots were ordered to destroy everything enemy ships in the area.

1

The worst thing on the water happened to this German passenger liner, which since 1940 was converted into a floating hospital. During World War II it was used as an infirmary and dormitory for the 2nd submarine training brigade. The death of the ship, torpedoed on January 30, 1945 by the Soviet submarine S-13 under the command of A.I. Marinesko, is considered the largest disaster in maritime history - according to some historians, the real losses could have been more than 9,000 people.

At 21:16 the first torpedo hit the bow of the ship, later the second blew up the empty swimming pool where the women of the naval auxiliary battalion were located, and the last hit the engine room. Through the joint efforts of the crew and passengers, some lifeboats managed to be launched, and yet many people found themselves in the icy water. Due to the strong roll of the ship, an anti-aircraft gun came off the deck and crushed one of the boats full of people. About an hour after the attack, the Wilhelm Gustloff completely sank.

We all know about the ill-fated story of the Titanic, but few people know that this tragedy was only the third largest in the history of shipping. Today we invite you to familiarize yourself with the list of the 10 most terrible disasters that occurred on the water.

1. MV Wilhelm Gustloff.
In January 1945, this German ship was hit by three torpedoes in the Baltic Sea while participating in the evacuation of civilians, military personnel and Nazi officials who were surrounded by the Red Army in East Prussia. The ship sank in less than 45 minutes. More than 9,400 people are estimated to have died.

2. MV Doña Paz.
This Philippine ferry sank after colliding with oil tanker MT Vector December 20, 1987. More than 4,300 people died. The collision occurred in the dead of night and resulted in a fire and life jackets were locked, forcing passengers to jump into the burning water, which was also infested with sharks.

3. RMS Lusitania.
This British liner sailed on the Liverpool-New York route. During World War I, the ship was hit by German torpedoes on May 7, 1915, and sank within just 18 minutes of impact. The disaster killed 1,198 people out of 1,959 on board.

4. RMS Lancastria.
This British ocean liner was requisitioned by the government during World War II. She sank on June 17, 1940, taking 4,000 lives. This disaster caused more deaths than the sinking of the Titanic and Lusitania combined.

5. RMS Empress of Ireland.
This Canadian liner sank in the St. Lawrence River after colliding with a Norwegian freighter on May 29, 1914, due to heavy fog. 1012 people died (840 passengers and 172 crew members).

6. MV Goya.
The German transport ship MV Goya was carrying 6,100 passengers when it was sunk by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea on April 16, 1945. The ship sank just 7 minutes after impact. Almost all the people on board died. Only 183 people survived.

7. USS Indianapolis (CA-35).
On July 30, 1945, Indianapolis was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58 and sank 12 minutes later. Of the 1,196 people, only 300 survived.

8. MV Le Joola.
A Senegalese ferry capsized off the coast of Gambia on September 26, 2002, killing at least 1,863 people. As it became known, the ferry was overloaded, which is why it capsized after 5 minutes when it encountered a storm. Only 64 people survived.

9. SS Mont-Blanc.
This French cargo ship carrying ammunition exploded in Halifax Harbor on December 6, 1917. The explosion caused the death of 2,000 people, including city residents. The explosion was caused by a collision with the Norwegian ship SS Imo. The fire resulting from the collision caused an explosion of ammunition that destroyed the harbor and the city.

10. RMS Titanic.
This is perhaps the most famous maritime tragedy of all time. The Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the northern part of Atlantic Ocean April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The sinking of the Titanic claimed 1,514 lives.

Experts estimate that there are about four million sunken ships in the world scattered across the oceans, some of which date back thousands of years. Even the numbers of famous shipwrecks are impressive.
A large number of shipwrecks are historically significant and are protected by UNESCO as underwater cultural heritage. Some ships have run aground near the beaches, and are gradually rotting under the influence of nature. Some of them have become tourist attractions.
The last time a shipwreck received significant media attention occurred in January 2012, when a cruise ship The Costa Concordia capsized in the waters off the island of Isola del Giglio on the west coast of Italy. The capsized ship attracted thousands of curious tourists. Here we've rounded up some impressive shipwrecks that are worth seeing before time destroys them.

"SS America"


"SS America" ​​was ocean liner, built in 1940. After a long career, the ship was sold in 1993 with the goal of being renovated and becoming a five-star hotel in Phuket (Thailand). It was at this time that the ship was renamed American Star, although she never sailed under this new name. The ship was towed from Greece to the Atlantic by a Ukrainian tug. However, the ships were caught in a thunderstorm, the tow rope broke, the crew on board the SS America was rescued by helicopter, and the ship was abandoned to its fate. On January 18, the ship ran aground near west coast Fuerteventura Islands (Canary Islands).
Within the first 48 hours after the ship ran aground, the impacts of the Atlantic Ocean surf broke the ship. The stern section collapsed and sank in 1996, while the bow section remained intact. In November 2005, the bow collapsed and the hull began to disintegrate. In 2007, the entire ship collapsed and fell into the sea. As of March 2013, this ship is only visible at low tide.




The wreckage of the American Star (SS America) in July 2004.


"Discoverer of the World"


The World Discoverer was a large cruise ship built in 1974 that made periodic voyages to Antarctica and the polar regions to allow its passengers to admire ice hummocks and icebergs. The vessel had a double hull, which provided protection from minor impacts. But nevertheless, on April 30, 2000, the ship hit a reef and pierced the hull near Solomon Islands. The captain steered the ship into Roderick Bay and grounded it to avoid sinking. The crew and passengers were evacuated and the ship was later looted by local residents.






"Mediterranean sky"


The cruise ship Mediterranean Sky was originally named New York and was built in 1952 in Newcastle, England. The ship made its last voyage in August 1996.
Due to financial problems of the owning company, Mediterranean Sky was arrested in 1997 in Patras. Two years later it was towed to the Gulf of Eleusus in Greece, where it was abandoned. At the end of 2002, the ship began to fill with water and began to tilt. In order to stop it from sinking, it was towed to shallow water. In January 2003, the Mediterranean Sky capsized on its side, where it remains awaiting its fate.








"MV Captayannis"


Captayannis was a Greek barge for transporting raw sugar. She sank on the River Clyde (Scotland) in 1974 after a collision with an oil tanker. The tanker did not suffer any damage, but its anchor chains made holes in the Captayannis, causing the vessel to fill with water. Captain Captayannis tried to steer the ship into shallow waters and it ran aground. The ship capsized the next morning and remains there to this day.
Although this ship is in relatively shallow waters, no attempt has ever been made to salvage the remains of the vessel. After some time, Captayannis became a habitat for marine fauna and birds.




BOS-400


BOS-400 is a French floating platform that ran aground in Maori Bay in South Africa during a storm, towed by a Russian tug on June 26, 1994. The BOS-400 was the largest floating crane in Africa. The tug was chartered to tow the BOS-400 from the Republic of the Congo to Cape Town ( South Africa). However, during a storm, the towing rope broke and the platform was thrown aground, where it remains to this day.






"La Famille Express"


The ship "La Famille Express" was shipwrecked in the southern waters of the Turks and Caicos Sea in the Caribbean Sea. The ship was built in 1952 in Poland and spent most of its life serving in the Soviet Navy as Fort Shevchenko. In 1999, the ship was sold and renamed La Famille Express. The circumstances of the wreck are not clearly known, except that it ran aground during Hurricane Frances in 2004. Now the ship is a big local attraction and attracts a large number of tourists.




"HMAS Defender"


HMAS Defender was a large gunboat purchased by the South Australian Government in 1884 to defend the coast against the possible "Russian threat" of the 1870s. HMAS Defender served during the Boxer Rebellion, World War I and World War II. In July 1943, HMAS Defender was requisitioned for military service by the US Navy. On the way to New Guinea, the ship was damaged in a collision with a tug. The hull subsequently ran aground off the coast of Queensland. Its rusting remains are still visible to this day.




"Gospel"


"Evangelia" is a merchant ship built by the same shipyard, which is the same as the Titanic and was launched on May 28, 1942 with the name “Empire of Power”. Later it had several names and was eventually called “Evangelia”.
In 1968, during a night of thick fog, the ship sailed incredibly close to coastline and ran aground near Costinesti. Some claim that the Gospel was deliberately destroyed by the owner to collect insurance compensation. The hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that during this disaster, although the fog was very thick, the sea was incredibly calm and almost all of the ship’s equipment worked perfectly.




"SS Maheno"


The SS Maheno shipwreck is the most famous shipwreck off Fraser Island in Australia... Built in 1905, the SS Maheno was one of the first turbine steamships. She made regular voyages between Sydney and Auckland until she was converted into a hospital ship during the First World War.
In 1935 it was sold to Japan for scrap. While being towed to Japan, the ship was caught in a severe storm and lost with eight people on board. The ship was found 3 days later, washed ashore off the coast of Fraser Island; its crew had to set up camp on the shore of the island. Attempts to refloat it were unsuccessful and it was eventually put up for sale, but no buyers were found.






"Santa Maria"

The Santa Maria was a Spanish merchant ship. During its last voyage, it carried sports cars, food, medicine, cars, clothing, etc. On September 1, 1968, the ship was passing near the Cape Verde Islands on its way to Brazil and Argentina when it ran aground. After a local tug unsuccessfully attempted to salvage the ship, it was abandoned. All valuable cargo was reloaded and taken away. The wreck of the Santa Maria has since become a symbol of Boa Vista and Cape Verde.




"Dimitrios"


"Dimitrios" (formerly "Klintholm") is small, 67 meters long cargo Ship, built in 1950. It washed up on Valtaki Beach in Laconia Prefecture in Greece on December 23, 1981.
There are rumors that the ship was used to smuggle cigarettes between Turkey and Italy. It was deliberately stranded by its crew on Valtaki Beach, about 5 kilometers from the port of Gythio, and then set on fire to hide evidence of cigarette smuggling.


"Olympia"


It was a merchant ship that was washed ashore near the city of Katapola, on the island of Amorgos in Greece. In 1979, on his way from Cyprus to Greece, he was captured by pirates. After an unsuccessful attempt to pull the ship out of the bay, it was abandoned there and became one of the most popular tourist destinations.

For thousands of years, ships have sunk during war, natural disasters, and in some cases even due to human error. The ten largest and most famous shipwrecks that have ever occurred have been revealed.

The Titanic sailed from Southampton to New York, where it hit an iceberg and sank after 2 hours and 40 minutes. Its hull, divided into two parts, lies on the seabed at a depth of more than 3,700 meters.

Sultana

Almost forgotten, but one of the deadliest disasters. More than 1,800 people died during the sinking of this ship. It was the greatest maritime disaster in all of American history. The explosion of four boilers turned the ship into a huge fireball, consuming everyone and everything. The explosion killed 80% of everyone on board. The disaster took a back seat in the press due to the fact that President Lincoln was assassinated just the day before. . The ship was designed for only 85 passengers, but there were approximately 2,400 people on board. Its wreckage lies near Memphis, Tennessee.

L.R. Doty

This ship was launched in 1894 in Michigan, in western Bay City. It was caught in a terrible storm, which caused its sinking, killing all 17 crew members on board. The wreck site was found 111 years after the sinking of the ship. It is located at a depth of 92 meters in Lake Michigan; the cargo of corn is still intact. Due to the murky water, this place is considered one of the most dangerous dive sites.

Oriskany

Nicknamed the Mighty O, the ship was one of 24 huge Essex-class ships ordered by the US Navy. The ship has seen many battles in many places, ranging from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to the Vietnam War. . The ship was converted into an artificial reef in 2004 and has become a very successful home for millions of fish. Today it is considered one of best places for diving in the world.

Jula

The sinking of this ship is considered the second worst maritime disaster not related to the war. The disaster claimed at least 1,863 lives. The ship was designed to carry 500 passengers, but at the time of the accident it was carrying more than 2,000 passengers. The ship capsized after being caught in a storm. It sank in just five minutes. Rescue teams arrived only the morning after the incident; a huge number of victims died in the water awaiting rescue. The ship is still considered missing.

Vida Galli

This ship has a very interesting story. It was primarily used for the slave trade, but then in late February 1717, a pirate named "Black Sam" Bellamy seized the ship and claimed it as his own. During the year he owned the ship, he used the Vida Galli to capture and plunder more than 50 ships. The ship was caught in a strong storm, as a result of which its main mast collapsed and it capsized, dragging all the pirates under the water. The ship was discovered more than 250 years after it disappeared along with its loot. It was at a depth of only 5 meters. It was the first real pirate ship ever discovered.

Rona

This is quite possibly the most beautiful shipwreck in the world. British packet boat wrecked off the coast of Salt Island, British Virgin Islands, October 26, 1867. The ship went straight into a hurricane, which damaged it and caused the death of 123 people. Now this is a place for diving, and, I must say, absolutely stunning in beauty. Wildlife has taken the ship into its possession, and now it is covered with corals, eels live in it, different types fish and even sharks.

Costa Concordia

The most last crash cruise ship. Although the ship only partially sank, the disaster cost the lives of 34 passengers. The crash was widely reported in the press. Captain Schettino tried to make a spectacular maneuver into the port. To do this he turned off navigation system ship, which reported how close the ship was to the rock shoal. The ship hit a large rock and water began to fill the ship, causing it to capsize. The "Costa Concordia" is still located in the area of ​​Giglia Island, Tuscany, and has become a popular tourist attraction; Plans are now being developed to lift and tow it.

Mont Blanc

The Mont Blanc became known as the ship that caused the Halifax explosion. The ship was heading to France from New York and was carrying a huge amount of ammunition and explosives. The ship was not too old, but was very slow due to the weight of the cargo it was carrying. It called at Halifax, Nova Scotia, to rendezvous with a convoy bound for France. While entering the port, the ship crashed into another ship, the Imo. The collision caused a fire and the explosives on board ignited. The force of the explosion was 2.9 kilotons, the largest non-nuclear explosion in history. More than 2,000 people were killed and 9,000 wounded.

Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes is very popular among divers because wildlife and landscapes that emerged from the shipwreck. The ship lies in a large harbor and can be seen at water level. The ship was damaged near Cove Island in August 1885. Luckily, he was brought back to port by the small tug Jessie. The schooner was seriously damaged and could not be repaired, so it sank in the port itself. Fortunately, a huge load of coal was lifted from the side of the sunken ship.