Shipwreck. The worst shipwrecks in the world

Not all wrecked ships end their history in sea ​​depths, the fate of some of them is more prosaic - they run aground. We will tell you about the most impressive ships that have remained forever in shallow water.

Post sponsor: Stroller cam dinamico tris: Free delivery in Moscow. Orders are processed daily from 9:00 to 21:00

World Discoverer

1. The ship with the sonorous name World Discoverer was built in 1974. Its main task was to make cruises in the polar regions. The ship's hull was specially designed so that the ship could cope with the impact polar ice, however, this did not save him: on April 30, 2000, the World Discoverer ran into a reef that was not marked on the map, the starboard side received significant damage. In order to prevent the ship from sinking and to avoid human casualties, the captain decided to "throw" aground in Roderick Dhu Bay. Despite the fact that the ship was subsequently plundered by marauders, at the present moment it is popular place among lovers of sea romance.

Mediterranean Sky

2. Mediterranean Sky, or, as it was called during construction, the City of York, was built in 1952 in Newcastle (England). A cruise ship departed London in November 1953 and served in this port until 1971, until she was sold and renamed Mediterranean Sky. Last voyage vessel took place in August 1996 on the route Brindisi - Patras. Due to the financial situation of the ship-owning company, in 1997 the ship was seized. Two years later Mediterranean Sky was towed to the Gulf of Eleusis (Greece). In late 2002, the ship began to take on water and tilt. In order to prevent sinking, it was towed into shallow water, but this did not help: in January 2003, the ship nevertheless capsized to one side and remained lying in anticipation of its fate.

Captayannis

3. Captayannis was a Greek cargo ship whose main task was to transport sugar. In 1974, during a storm, the ship was seriously damaged by a collision with a tanker: the anchor chains of the latter damaged the Captayannis hull, and water began to flow inside. The captain tried to steer the ship into shallow water, where he successfully got stuck on sandbar. However, the next morning the ship capsized and is still lying there. Marauders took everything they could from the ship, and now it is slowly covered with vegetation and serves as a home for many birds. locals they simply call it the “sugar ship” and are happy to show it to all visitors.

4. The history of "America" ​​began at the shipyard of the city of Newport News (Virginia, USA). Launching took place on August 31, 1939 in the presence of Eleanor Roosevelt herself. They tried to make the interior of the ship as cozy as possible, and ceramics and stainless steel were used in its decoration. On August 22, 1940, America set off on her maiden voyage, but already in 1941 the ship was requisitioned by the US Navy and sent back to Newport News for conversion into a warship. After the end of the war, "America" ​​went along the route New York - Le Havre - Bremehaven, and in 1964 it was sold to a Greek company and renamed "Australis". After serving with the Greeks, the ship was resold five more times. The last resale took place in 1993 to be converted into a five-star floating hotel in Thailand, this time the ship was named America's Star. In 1993, the liner left Greece in tow, but during a storm the tow rope broke. Several attempts to restore it were unsuccessful, and on January 18, 1994, America's Star ran aground near the Canary Islands.

Dimitrios

5. Dimitrios (old name - Kintholm) is a small (67 meters) cargo Ship which was built in 1950. After three decades, on December 23, 1981, the ship ran aground off the coast of Greece. There are many rumors regarding the origin of the ship and its wreck. There is even a version that Dimitrios was used to transport smuggled cigarettes between Turkey and Italy, and the Greek authorities seized the ship and deliberately released it so that it had to go five kilometers in shallow water. According to another version, on December 4, 1980, the ship was forced to enter the Greek port due to the serious illness of the captain. After arriving at the port, due to various problems with both the crew and the ship itself, the entire crew was disbanded and the ship was left in port. There it was until June 1981, until its presence was recognized as unsafe. After that, the ship changed its location many times until it finally got stuck in the place where it is to this day. No attempt has been made to restore it.

6. Olympia was a commercial ship that was captured by pirates in 1979 en route from Cyprus to Greece. After an unsuccessful attempt to pull the ship out of the bay near the island of Amorgos, where it was driven by sea robbers, the ship has remained there until now, becoming the most remarkable object on the island.

8. The French barge BOS 400 was the largest floating crane in Africa with a length of 100 meters, and on June 26, 1994 ran aground in the bay South Africa while being towed by the Russian Tiger. The ships had to make their way from the Congo to Cape Town, but during a storm the towline was damaged and the barge ran aground at a place called Duiker Point. Despite several towing attempts, the floating crane was completely lost.

La Famille Express

9. La Famille Express was built in 1952 in Poland and served in the Soviet Navy under the name "Fort Shevchenko" until 1999, after which it was sold and received its second (and last) name. The circumstances of the shipwreck are not known for certain, except that the ship ran aground during Hurricane Francis in 2004 off southern waters Provo, near the Turks and Caicos Islands (Caribbean). No attempt was made to tow the ship, and it was quickly plundered by marauders. But now the abandoned ship serves as an excellent attraction for all tourists who find themselves in these parts.

HMAS Protector

10. HMAS Protector was purchased by the government South Australia back in 1884 for the defense coastline from possible attacks. The ship passed the first world war and almost passed the second. Ironically, the ship was lost in a collision with a tugboat in July 1943 en route to New Guinea. The rusting remains of the ship can still be seen in the same place.

Evangelia

11. Evangelia is a merchant ship that was built in the same shipyard as the Titanic. On May 28, 1942, the ship was launched under the name Empire Strength. Later it was also known as Saxon Star, Redbrook and finally Evangelia. In 1968, during a thick night fog, the ship sailed too close to the shore and ran aground near Costinesti (Romania). Some say it was done on purpose to get insurance payouts. The hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by the fact that at the time of the crash, despite dense fog, there was no storm at sea, and all equipment was working properly.

Santa Maria

12. "Santa Maria" was a Spanish cargo ship whose main task was to transport a huge number of various kinds of gifts from the Spanish government to those who supported the country during economic crisis. The ship was carrying sports cars, food, medicines, clothing and more. On September 1, 1968, the ship ran aground while passing through Cape Verde on its way to Brazil and Argentina. The local tug tried to save the ship, but the attempt was unsuccessful, but the valuable cargo somehow miraculously disappeared. Since then, "Santa Maria" has been one of the main attractions of Cape Verde.

13. The wreck of Maheho can rightfully be called one of the most famous shipwrecks of the 20th century. The ship was built in 1905 and was one of the first turbine steamers. Maheho walked by scheduled flight Sydney - Auckland until called into service during the First World War. In 1935 the ship was sold to Japan. While towing it, the ships were caught in a severe storm and the towline broke. Futile attempts to secure the cable during the storm did not lead to anything, and Maheho set off for "free sailing" with eight crew members on board. Three days later, the ship was found on the coast of Fraser Island - fortunately, no one from the team was injured. After this incident, Maheho was put up for sale, but no buyers were found, and he is still in the same place. Beaten by time, rusted and not needed by anyone except tourists.

The largest peacetime shipwreck in history April 20th, 2018

Continuing to replenish our rubric, I came across such a sad topic. We all hear about the tragedy of the Titanic, but in fact this is far from the largest shipwreck.

As a rule, shipwrecks are not classified as man-made disasters, but it is this record-breaking case in terms of the number of victims that deserves a place among the most terrible man-made tragedies of mankind. The largest disasters at sea, accompanied by many thousands of victims, occurred during the Second World War (we will talk about the largest shipwreck in general in terms of the number of victims), and in peacetime there was only one shipwreck comparable in consequences, which became the largest in history - a collision Philippine ferry "Dona Paz" with a tanker. This tragedy took more lives than much more famous crash"Titanic".

Let's take a closer look at this...

An object: passenger ferry "Dona Paz" (MV Doña Paz). Displacement - 2062 tons, length - 93.1 m, maximum width- 13.6 m, designed to carry 1518 passengers. Built in Japan, launched on April 25, 1963, from 1975 (until 1981 - under the name MV Don Sulpicio, from 1981 - under the name MV Doña Paz) was operated by the Philippine operator Sulpicio Lines.

Crash Location: Tablas Strait, near Marinduque Island, Philippines.

Victims: in disaster 4386 people died, of which 4,317 were passengers of the Doña Paz ferry and 58 crew members, as well as 11 crew members of the Vector tanker. Only 24 ferry passengers and 2 tanker crew members were saved. This number of casualties makes this the largest peacetime crash in history.

Chronicle of events

Due to the lack of communication, the chronology of events is built from the words of rare eyewitnesses and the time of the onset key events determined approximately.

It is authentically known that the Dona Paz left the port of Tacloban at 6.30 in the morning and headed for Manila, and at about 22.00 — 22.30 the ship was passing through the Tablas Strait near the island of Marinduque. At this time, the weather was clear, there was little roughness at sea, so there were no threats to navigation in the area. But the ferry never arrived in Manila, having crashed somewhere in the strait.

At about 10:30 p.m., the ferry collided with the Vector tanker, which was transporting about a thousand cubic meters of gasoline and other oil products. During the collision, one or two explosions thundered, the tanker immediately began to leak, a large number of gasoline, which immediately flared up. Soon the Doña Paz was also on fire.

Panic broke out on board the ferry, the crew did not take any action to save the passengers. Many people jumped overboard, but most of them soon died from the flames. Some of the passengers did not dare to leave the burning ship, but help never came.

Approximately at midnight The Doña Paz sank, taking with her passengers and any hope of salvation. Near 2.00 the wreck of the tanker sank.

The crash became known only by six o'clock in the morning, the authorities sent rescuers to the crash site, but search and rescue operations lasted no more than one day - a total of 26 people were saved.

Within a few days after the disaster, the remains of 108 people washed ashore. All of them had burn marks, and almost all of them were eaten by sharks, which are very numerous in these seas. Thousands more people were never found, which subsequently made it difficult to accurately calculate the number of victims and find out the causes of the disaster.

The question of the number of victims and the investigation of the crash

Immediately after the shipwreck, confusion arose over the determination of the number of dead. Initially, the investigation relied on the number of officially registered passengers on the Doña Paz ferry - based on this, there were 1,525 passengers and 58 crew members on board the ship.

However, as it turned out later, the ferry was always overloaded, many tickets were sold without registration at a reduced price, and almost no one ever registered children. Therefore, experts soon began to call ever larger numbers - 2000, 3000 and even 4000 passengers. According to the stories of survivors and eyewitnesses, the last figure is most true - many passengers lived in overcrowded cabins, someone took a seat in the corridors, and many were completely located on the deck.

Only later - in 1999 - it was found that the ferry on that tragic day took on board 4341 passengers, and most of them died in the crash.

It should be noted that the relatives of the victims are still continuing litigation against the operator of Sulpicio Lines and the owner of the tanker "Vector" Cal-Tex Philippines, Inc., accusing them of criminal negligence. However, even almost thirty years after the catastrophe, no success was achieved in this matter, and no one was held responsible for the tragedy.

Causes of the disaster

Here we should talk about two groups of reasons: about the reasons for the shipwreck, and about the reasons that led to so many victims. After all, even with the crash of the more famous Titanic, there were three times fewer victims!

For a long time, the causes of the collision of ships in the Tablas Strait remained unknown and numerous discussions were held on this issue. And to this day, it is not entirely clear how the ferry and the tanker could collide in a wide strait in clear weather. But if the exact causes of the disaster are unknown, then indirect causes installed a long time ago.

In October 1988, the board assembled to investigate the disaster issued an official statement blaming the collision on the crew of the Vector tanker. During the investigation, it was found that the ship did not have a license and was actually unseaworthy. Also, the tanker did not have experienced forward looking and special navigation equipment, so the appearance of the Doña Paz ferry was a complete surprise, and the crew of the Vector could not prevent a collision.

It was assumed that part of the blame lay with the crew of the ferry, since at the time of the disaster only one of the crew members was on the captain's bridge (and, probably, it was not the ship's captain), and the rest of the team went about their business. But later this version did not find proper confirmation, therefore, all charges were dropped from the team and the operator (Sulpicio Lines).

If we consider the reasons that led to a huge number of victims, then the same fault lies with the crews of both ships and their owners.

Firstly, the ferry was almost three times more passengers than allowed (4341 against the maximum allowable 1518) - in the event of a collision and subsequent fire, panic and stampede began on the ship. The fire on the ship and the burning water closed all the ways to escape, so many passengers found their last refuge in the cabins and corridors of the ferry.

Secondly, a large number of people died in the fire both on the ferry and at sea - due to the oil spill from the Vector tanker, the water literally burned and did not give salvation. In addition, the waters in the strait are teeming with sharks, which also gave rise to fear in people and only despair forced them to leave the ship.

Thirdly, there were life jackets on the ferry, but they were all hidden under lock and key, and even if one of the crew members opened a warehouse with vests, there would hardly be enough for everyone. But the vests, like the people who need them, went to the bottom.

Fourthly, the team of the Doña Paz ferry did not make any attempts to organize the rescue of people, these people were not ready for an emergency. The professionalism of the ferry team still raises questions.

Finally, fifthly, the ferry and the tanker were not equipped with basic means of communication - even the simplest radio station! Therefore, at the time of the crash, no one could call for help, and the Philippine authorities learned about the terrible disaster only in the morning. It is clear that after such a time it was simply impossible to save someone, and this delay became fatal for many passengers of the Doña Paz.

Absolute disregard for the safety of ships and the unprofessionalism of the crews, the opportunity to get additional benefits and savings on everything - all this underlies the terrible shipwreck, which became the largest in peacetime.

In terms of the scale of maritime disasters, the Philippines has firmly taken a leading position. In 1987, as a result of a collision with a tanker, the Dona Pas passenger ferry of the Sulpicio Lines company sank. The company's administration then announced that there were 1,583 passengers and 60 crew members on the ship. Subsequently, it turns out that there were actually 4341 passengers there, of which only 24 survived. Less than a year later, the Dona Marilyn ferry dies, and with it more than three hundred passengers and sailors. Seven weeks after this tragedy, the world will learn about the death of the ferry "Rosalia" with 400 passengers, and a short time later - another ferry with its 50 victims. But no one knows how many smaller ships and boats and the people who were on them actually disappeared in the depths of the sea around the Philippines.

And more about crashes, for example, and. And here is also

The world is familiar with many shipwrecks that shocked with their scale and horror of what happened. A lot of terrible shipwrecks that caused significant human casualties are also known in Russian history.

Top worst shipwrecks of the 20th century

Some water disasters have occurred far out to sea, and some have occurred offshore due to reef collisions. The consequences can be frightening. Next, consider some of the most terrible shipwrecks in the history of mankind.

Steamboat "Sultana" (SS Sultana)

Soldiers released from captivity were transported on the ship. 1653 people became victims of the disaster, 741 people were saved. This shipwreck in terms of the number of victims is the largest catastrophe of the 19th century.

Ferry "Donja Pas"

Colliding with the tanker, the ferry literally broke in half. A fire broke out and the passengers died in the fire. The number of victims of this terrible shipwreck is 4375 people.

Liner "Wilhelm Gustloff"

During the Second World War, the liner served as a hospital, and later became a barracks for submariners. In early 1945, the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. According to official figures, 5348 people died in that shipwreck. Historians also call a different number of victims - at least 9 thousand people.

The wreck of the Titanic

The victims of the shipwreck were 1513 people. Only 711 passengers survived. The Titanic sank under water in 160 minutes. This terrible disaster was reflected in the cinema: in 1997, the film of the same name was directed by James Cameron. The main roles in the film were played by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Cruise ship Costa Concordia

6 people found guilty in Costa Concordia crash

The main culprit was the captain of the liner Francesco Schettino, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison. After this incident, the rules of maritime navigation and the passage of pre-trip briefings by passengers were tightened.

The worst shipwrecks in national history

"Armenia" sank in the fall of 1941 near the Crimea in just four minutes. The ship was transporting evacuated residents and wounded Red Army soldiers. Five thousand people died, and only 8 passengers could survive.

One of the largest water disasters in the USSR was the crash of the Admiral Nakhimov. He went from Novorossiysk to Sochi, carrying 1243 people. Due to the fact that the steamer rammed a grain carrier, it had a hole, and it sank in 7 minutes. This shipwreck occurred at the end of August 1986, and 423 people died then.

The name "Novorossiysk" in the USSR was given to a ship that previously belonged to the Italian Navy. At the end of October 1955, an explosion occurred in the bow of the ship, due to which a hole of 150 square meters was formed. meters. Novorossiysk sank with 604 people on board.

The ferry "Estonia" in September 1994, leaving the port of Tallinn, got into a storm, lost its bow, which caused it to fall on its side and drown. rescue operation compounded by a natural disaster that left 852 people missing and dead.

Our contemporaries know about the tragedy that happened to the Kursk nuclear submarine. The crash occurred in August 2000 due to explosions on board. The crew consisted of 118 people, there were no survivors.

In July 2011, there was another terrible shipwreck in Russian history - the sinking of the ship "Bulgaria", which was cruising along the Volga. With a capacity of 140 people, there were 208 passengers on board. About 120 people were killed, many of them children. The disaster with the ship "Goya" is recognized as the worst shipwreck

The crash of the Goya is called the bloodiest disaster. It happened during the Second World War. The ship was used as an evacuation ship. At night, a Soviet submarine caught up with the Goya and attacked the ship. After 10 minutes, the Goya ship, along with all the passengers, went under water. On land, it happened at least major incidents with human casualties. We invite you to learn more about the worst disasters in history.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen

For thousands of years ships have sunk in war natural Disasters and in some cases even due to human error. Ten of the largest and most famous shipwrecks that have ever occurred have been revealed.

The Titanic sailed from Southampton to New York, where it collided with an iceberg and sank 2 hours and 40 minutes later. Its body, divided into two parts, rests on seabed, at a depth of more than 3700 meters.

Sultana

Almost forgotten, but one of the deadliest disasters. During the crash of this ship, more than 1,800 people died. It was the greatest maritime disaster in all American history. The explosion of four boilers turned the ship into a huge fireball that swallowed everyone and everything. The explosion killed 80% of everyone on board. The disaster was in the press in the background, due to the fact that just a day before it was assassinated by President Lincoln . 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. He got into a terrible storm, which caused him to flood, killing all 17 crew members on board. The wreck 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. This place is considered one of the most dangerous dive sites because of the muddy water.

Oriskani

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

Jula

The sinking of this ship is considered the second worst maritime disaster unrelated to the war. The disaster claimed at least 1863 lives. The ship was designed for 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 in the morning after the incident, a huge number of victims died in the water while waiting to be rescued. The ship is still considered missing.

Vida Galli

This ship has very interesting story. First of all, she served for the slave trade, but then at the end of February 1717, a pirate named "Black Sam" Bellamy seized the ship and claimed it as his property. During the year of ownership of the ship, he used the Vida Galli to capture and plunder more than 50 ships. The ship hit strong storm, causing its main mast to collapse and capsize, dragging all the pirates underwater. The ship was discovered more than 250 years after it disappeared along with the booty. He was at a depth of only 5 meters. It was the first real pirate ship ever discovered.

Rhone

Quite possibly the most beautiful shipwreck in the world. British packet boat crashed off the coast of Salt Island, British Virgin Islands, October 26, 1867. The ship went straight into the 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 took over the ship, and now it is covered with corals, eels live in it, different types fish and even sharks.

Costa Concordia

Most last crash cruise ship. Although the ship only partially sank, the disaster cost the lives of 34 passengers. This crash was widely reported in the press. Captain Schettino was trying to make a spectacular maneuver into port. To do this, he turned off the ship's navigation system, which reported how close the ship approached the stone 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, Tuscany and has become a popular tourist attraction; plans are underway to raise and tow it.

Mont Blanc

The Mont Blanc became famous as the ship that caused the explosion in Halifax. The ship was heading to France from New York and 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 being carried. It went to 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, the explosives on board ignited. The force of the explosion was 2.9 kilotons, it was the largest non-nuclear explosion in history. Over 2,000 people were killed and 9,000 wounded.

Sweepstakes

"Sweepstakes" is very popular with divers due to wildlife and landscapes that arose at the site of 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. Fortunately, he was brought back to the port by a small tug "Jessie". The schooner was seriously damaged beyond repair, so it sank in the port itself. Fortunately, a huge cargo of coal was lifted from the sunken ship.

The history of shipbuilding and sailing on various watercraft dates back several millennia. People sailed on boats, sailboats, nuclear icebreakers. During this time, there have been many shipwrecks, most often due to the human factor. Some shipwrecks were large, with thousands dead and injured.

The largest disasters by the number of victims

Conventionally, the largest shipwrecks can be divided into two groups and the ratings can be derived by the number of dead and the size of the ships.

Many of the top ten biggest crashes occurred during wartime as a result of hostilities. The ranking by death toll is as follows:

11th place - "Louisitania"

One of the largest English passenger liners, which died at the beginning of the First World War. The ship, which at that time had no identification marks, was torpedoed German submarine and sank within 18 minutes. Nearly 1200 people died. It is believed that the destruction of the liner provoked a change in public opinion against Kaiser Germany and was one of the reasons for the US entry into the war.

10th place - "Fort Stykin"

The steamer has an official capacity of 7142 tons. At the time of the crash, there were about 1,500 tons of explosives in the holds and about 10,000 tons of other cargo, including 8,700 tons of cotton. Safety precautions when loading the ship were violated. At 2 pm on April 12, 1944, a fire started, but it was not possible to stop it. As a result, the fire reached the hold with explosives and several powerful explosions. The main consequences were from the burning cotton scattered over a distance of a kilometer, which set fire to many houses, ships, warehouses. According to official statistics alone, there were 1376 dead. The strength of the explosion can be judged by the fact that the resulting tidal wave carried the ship, which was not far from the steamer and had a displacement of about 4000 tons, to a height of 17 meters.

9th place - "Titanic"

The wreck of this ship went down in history and became a symbol of the largest shipwrecks; one of the best films about the Titanic disasters, beloved by many, was shot about it. A total of three ships of this class were produced. At the time of construction, it was the largest passenger liner peace. Length - almost 270 meters, width - 28. The ship died as a result of a collision with a large iceberg in the first big cruise. At the time of the crash, there were 2,224 people on board, including passengers and crew members. It is reliably known that only 711 people were saved, the bodies of many of the dead were not found.

8th place - "Imo" and "Mont Blanc"

The crash happened in 1917. Mont Blanc is a large French cargo ship loaded with several types of explosives. In the Canadian harbor adjacent to the city of Halifax, this ship collided with the Norwegian ship Imo. The explosion that followed the collision is considered the most powerful in the entire pre-nuclear era. The port and part of the city were completely destroyed, total number The death toll from the explosion itself and its consequences reached 2,000. About 9,000 more were injured of varying severity.

7th place - Provence

Flagship French ship that neutralized the Greek fleet. One of the largest auxiliary cruisers of its time. Sunk after being hit by a German torpedo in February 1916. About 4 thousand people were on board, 3130 of them died.

6th place - "General Steuben"

A large German passenger liner, converted into a floating hospital during the war. In 1945 he carried out the evacuation from East Prussia from the Soviet troops. Torpedoed on February 10, 1945. According to the statements of the commander of the boat that torpedoed the liner, he was sure that this was a large military cruiser. More than 3600 people died.

5th place - Tanker "Vector" and ferry "Dona Paz"

The largest shipwreck that occurred in peacetime. In December 1987, a Philippine ferry collided with a tanker. As a result, about 4,400 people died.

4th place - "Armenia"

Soviet ship, sunk in 1941 by the German Air Force near the Crimean coast. The number of dead is not known exactly, according to various sources - from 3 to 5 thousand people.

3rd place - "Goya"

Norwegian ship confiscated by the Germans. In 1945, she carried out the sea evacuation of people from the Red Army. On April 16, the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine and sank. The estimated death toll is over 6,000.

2nd place - "Tilbek" and "Cap Arkona"

Two German ships that died as a result of a British air strike in May 1945. The approximate death toll is 8 thousand people, mostly prisoners of concentration camps to be evacuated. The exact reasons for the air raid remain unknown.

1st place - "Wilhelm Gustlov"

Record holder for the number of human casualties in the known maritime history. In the first half of the 40s, it was used by the German armed forces as a floating hospital. In January 1945 the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. According to researchers, the death toll exceeded 9 thousand people.

Major cargo ship disasters

To this day, the sinking of the Amoco tanker Cadiz remains one of the biggest oil disasters. Not far from the British coast, the tanker ran aground and broke in two. This resulted in a spill of more than one and a half million barrels of oil.

Among other wrecks of large ships, incidents with container ships can be separately noted. These are one of the largest ships in the world, carrying multi-ton cargo, and each such disaster leads to billions in losses. So, in June 2013, one of the largest container ships– Mol Comfort with 2400 containers on board. The specific value of the cargo is unknown, claims against insurers amounted to about $400 million. A year and a half after the shipwreck, and some time after the completion of the investigation, the insurance companies filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the disaster was caused by problems in the ship's design itself.

Among common causes that cause crashes, there are several:

• Combat operations, including terrorist attacks.
• Human factor - insufficient crew experience, etc.
• Other factors: violation of safety regulations, improper distribution of cargo, leading to deformation, exceeding the maximum permissible load of the vessel, etc.

Which shipwreck shocked you the most, and why? Share your opinion in