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Shipwrecks
have a significant amount of intrigue, mystery, and curiosity
surrounding them. There are some shipwrecks that allow diving
expeditions to explore them but many shipwrecks are in waters much too
deep for divers to reach. Scientists must rely on sonar and the latest
technology to help locate shipwrecks.
The Titanic sunk in 1912 and was undiscovered until a team of scientists
discovered the majestic liner on the ocean’s floor in 1985. Christopher
Columbus’ ship The Santa Maria, is one of the most sought after
shipwrecks in history. It sunk off the coast of Haiti after Columbus and
his crew turned in for the night leaving only a cabin boy to steer the
three-mast flagship. The ship ran aground, Columbus and his crew safely
disembarked but the ship disappeared into the seas never to be seen
again.
What happened to these great ships for them to sink—a rouge wave, an
attack of piracy or a collision with another ship? We have combed
through some of the biggest ships that have ended up on the bottom of
the seas and have brought you 15 of the biggest shipwrecks. We have some
idea how these ships met their unfortunate fate. Let’s take a closer
look at 15 of the biggest ships that ever sank and find out how they
came to meet their fate resting in their watery graves.
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The MV Wilhelm Gustloff
In January 1945, when the German military transport ship, MV Wilhelm
Gustloff was hit by a Soviet submarine, 9400 lives were lost. This is
the largest loss of life from a single ship in recorded maritime
history.
The most devastating statistic in regards to the sinking of the MV
Wilhelm Gustloff is that 5,000 of those that perished were children.
Only 1,252 survived the sinking and were rescued from the icy Baltic Sea
by several torpedo-recovery and patrol boats.
The Soviet submarine that sunk the Gustloff was under the impression
that the ship was filled only with German Nazis. |
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The MV Goya
On April 16th, 1945, the MV Goya was transporting 6,700 German soldiers
and civilians from areas around the Baltic Sea when a Soviet submarine
attacked and sunk the ship. It took four torpedoes to break the massive
ship into two pieces. The ship was on the ocean floor within 4 minutes
of the torpedo strikes. There were only 183 survivors.
The majority of those that lost their lives on the MV Goya went straight
down with the ship. The ship is now considered a war grave and it is
illegal to dive within 500 meters of the wreck. |
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The SS Kiangya
In 1948 the passenger ship, Kiangya, exploded while carrying between
3,500-4,000 people that were fleeing the People’s Liberation Army. It
isn’t 100% known what caused the ship to explode but speculation is that
they hit a mine that was forgotten during World War II.
The ship exploded and sunk within of couple minutes. Many passengers
remain trapped and drowned within the ship. Of the 3,500-4,000
passengers, less than 1000 survivors were rescued by passing ships. |
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The RMS Lancastria
The largest British maritime disaster in history occurred on June 17th,
1940. Over 4,000 lives were lost when RMS Lancastria was taking part in
Operation Ariel. Operation Ariel was a massive rescue effort of British
citizens and soldiers from France during World War II. The RMS
Lancastria’s sinking by the Germans was kept out of the news on orders
of Winston Churchill. Churchill imposed a “D-Notice” on the horrific
event, meaning nothing of it was to appear in the news. Churchill didn’t
want the British morale to be effected by such a massive loss of life.
It wasn’t only until after the war that people learned of this
catastrophe.
In 2015, with pressure from the families of the victims, the British
government finally acknowledged the event. Due to the news blackout
imposed by Churchill there is not a lot of information available about
the RMS Lancastria or the victims. It is thought that there were over
4,000 victims but some studies have put that number closer to 6,000. In
either case, the death toll was staggering. |
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The MV Joola
The Sengalese government owned ship, the MV Joola was equipped to hold a
maximum of 586 passengers, including crew. On September 26th, 2002, the
MV Joola had loaded over 2,000 passengers on. The ship was extremely
overcrowded and top-heavy as passengers had taken to sleeping on the top
deck as there was no room below deck.
The ship was sailing near Gambia when she encountered a storm. The wind
combined with the ship being top-heavy flipped the ship over. Over 2,000
people were tossed into the sea like rag dolls. The ship was upside down
for a few hours with people still alive and trapped within the ship.
Finally she succumbed and slid into the waters taking with her the
people trapped within the interior of the ship.
Only a little over 100 passengers were rescued. The MV Joola went to the
bottom along with approximately 1,863 men, women, and children. The
aftermath resulted in blame being placed on the Sengalese government for
allowing a ship that was known to get by with overloading to continue
carrying passengers.
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The HMT Royal Edward
August 13th, 1915, the passengers, who were mostly soldiers at the time,
aboard the HMT Royal Edward had just finished a boat drill and were
enjoying some leisure time below deck when two torpedoes were fired from
a German submarine hitting the magnificent ship in her side.
The HMT Royal Edward started going down stern first and many of the men
were trapped below deck. A few survivors managed to escape certain death
by squeezing themselves through portholes. 935 souls were lost when the
HMT Royal Edward went down. It only took a little under six minutes for
the ship to sink to the bottom of the sea.
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The SS Sultana
The SS Sultana was a steam-powered paddlewheeler that perished in the
Mississippi River during the spring of 1865. The SS Sultana was just on
the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee when three of her four boilers
exploded. It created a massive inferno and the ship disintegrated into
the Mississippi. 1,547 people died either from injuries sustained in the
fire or drowning.
Why haven’t you heard of the SS Sultana? Well it occurred only a few
days after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes
Booth. The nation was in mourning and the limited news coverage that was
available during this time period was covering the President’s
assassination.
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The RMS Titanic
By far the most famous shipwreck in the world is the RMS Titanic. “The
unsinkable ship!” as she was called departed from Southhampton, England
to New York. After iceberg warnings were ignored, on April 15th, 1912,
the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg. The iceberg acted like a can opener, it
opened up five of her 16 compartments.
Attempts at contacting other ships for immediate assistance were futile.
There were also not enough lifeboats for the number of passengers and
crew. The decision was made to allow women and children to go into the
lifeboats first. Unfortunately not all the lifeboats were loaded to full
capacity thus preventing more lives from being saved.
The night was very cold and the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean were
frigid. It is thought the temperature was only 28 degrees Fahrenheit
when Titanic foundered. The ship went down with mostly men and second
and third class passengers. 1514 lives were lost. |
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