Terrible shipwrecks. The most famous shipwrecks you can see. Wrecked ships

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 the cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized in waters near the island of Isola del Giglio on Italy's west coast. The capsized ship attracted thousands of curious tourists. Here we have collected some impressive shipwrecks that are worth seeing before time destroys them.

"SS America"

The SS America was an ocean liner built in 1940. After a long career, the ship was sold in 1993 with the intention of being renovated to become 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 off the west coast of Fuerteventura (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 ridges 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 the 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 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"

The Evangelia is a merchant ship built by the same shipyard as the Titanic and launched on May 28, 1942 under 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 the 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 a small cargo ship, 67 meters long, 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.

No matter how far scientific and technological progress goes, disasters have happened, are happening and will probably continue to happen for a long time. Some of them could have been avoided, but most of the worst events in the world were inevitable because they happened at the behest of Mother Nature.

The worst plane crash

Collision of two Boeing 747s

Humanity does not know of a more terrible plane crash than the one that occurred on March 27, 1977 on the island of Tenerife, which belongs to the Canary group. On this day, at Los Rodeo airport, a collision occurred between two Boeing 747s, one of which belonged to KLM, the other to Pan American. This terrible tragedy claimed 583 lives. The reasons that led to this disaster are a fatal and paradoxical combination of circumstances.

Los Rodeos airport was seriously overloaded on this ill-fated Sunday. The dispatcher spoke with a strong Spanish accent, and the radio communications suffered from serious interference. Because of this, the Boeing commander, KLM, misinterpreted the command to abort the flight, which became the fatal cause of the collision of two maneuvering aircraft.

Only a few passengers managed to escape through the holes created in the Pan American plane. The wings and tail of another Boeing fell off, which led to a fall one hundred and fifty meters from the accident site, after which it was dragged for another three hundred meters. Both flying cars caught fire.

There were 248 passengers on board the Boeing KLM, none of whom survived. The Pan American plane became the site of the death of 335 people, including the entire crew, as well as the famous model and actress Eve Meyer.

The worst man-made disaster

On July 6, 1988, the worst disaster known to the history of oil production occurred in the North Sea. It happened on the Piper Alpha oil platform, which was built in 1976. The number of victims was 167 people, the company suffered a loss of about three and a half billion dollars.

The most offensive thing is that the number of victims could have been much lower if not for ordinary human stupidity. There was a large gas leak, followed by an explosion. But instead of stopping the oil supply immediately after the accident began, the maintenance personnel waited for management's command.

The countdown went on for minutes, and soon the entire platform of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation was engulfed in fire, even the living quarters caught fire. Those who could have survived the blast were burned alive. Only those who managed to jump into the water survived.

Worst water accident ever

When the topic of tragedies on the water is raised, one involuntarily recalls the film “Titanic”. Moreover, such a catastrophe really happened. But this shipwreck is not the worst in the history of mankind.

Wilhelm Gustloff

The sinking of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff is rightfully considered the biggest disaster that occurred on the water. The tragedy occurred on January 30, 1945. Its culprit was a submarine of the Soviet Union, which hit a ship that could accommodate almost 9,000 passengers.

This, at that time, a perfect product of shipbuilding, was made in 1938. It seemed unsinkable and housed 9 decks, restaurants, a winter garden, climate control, gyms, theaters, dance floors, swimming pools, a church and even Hitler’s rooms.

Its length was more than two hundred meters, it could sail half the planet without refueling. The ingenious creation could not sink without outside intervention. And it happened in the person of the crew of the submarine S-13, commanded by A. I. Marinesko. Three torpedoes were fired at the legendary ship. In a matter of minutes he found himself in the abyss of the Baltic Sea. All crew members were killed, including about 8,000 representatives of the German military elite who were evacuated from Danzig.

Wreck of the Wilhelm Gustloff (video)

The greatest environmental tragedy

Shrunken Aral Sea

Among all environmental disasters, the leading place is occupied by the drying out of the Aral Sea. At its best, it was the fourth largest lake in the world.

The disaster occurred due to the unreasonable use of water used to water gardens and fields. The drying out was due to the ill-considered political ambitions and actions of the leaders of those times.

Gradually, the coastline moved far into the sea, which led to the extinction of most species of flora and fauna. In addition, droughts began to become more frequent, the climate changed significantly, shipping became impossible, and more than sixty people were left without work.

Where did the Aral Sea disappear: strange symbols on the dry bottom (VIDEO)

Nuclear disaster

What could be worse than a nuclear disaster? The lifeless kilometers of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl region are the embodiment of these fears. The accident occurred in 1986, when one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded early on an April morning.

Chernobyl 1986

This tragedy claimed the lives of several hundred tow truck workers, and thousands died over the next ten years. And only God knows how many people were forced to leave their homes...

The children of these people are still born with developmental anomalies. The atmosphere, land and water around the nuclear power plant are contaminated with radioactive substances.

Radiation levels in this region are still thousands of times higher than normal. No one knows how long it will take for people to settle in these places. The scale of this disaster is still not fully known.

Chernobyl accident 1986: Chernobyl, Pripyat - liquidation (VIDEO)

Disaster over the Black Sea: Tu-154 of the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed

Crash of Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Not long ago there was a crash of a Tu-154 aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense en route to Syria. It claimed the lives of 64 talented artists of the Alexandrov ensemble, nine famous leading TV channels, the head of a charitable organization - the famous Doctor Lisa, eight military personnel, two civil servants, and all crew members. A total of 92 people died in this terrible plane crash.

On this tragic morning in December 2016, the plane refueled in Adler, but unexpectedly crashed just after takeoff. The investigation took a long time, because it was necessary to know what the cause of the Tu-154 crash was.

The commission that investigated the causes of the accident named overloading of the plane, fatigue of the crew and low professional level of training and organization of the flight among the circumstances leading to the disaster.

Results of the investigation into the Tu-154 crash of the Russian Ministry of Defense (VIDEO)

Submarine "Kursk"

The sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, in which 118 people on board were killed, occurred in 2000 in the Barents Sea. This is the second largest accident in the history of the Russian submarine fleet after the disaster on the B-37.

On August 12, as planned, preparations for training attacks began. The last written confirmed actions on the boat were recorded at 11.15.

A few hours before the tragedy, the crew commander was informed about the cotton, which he did not pay attention to. Then the boat shook violently, which was attributed to the activation of the radar station antenna. After that, the boat captain no longer contacted us. At 23.00 the situation on the submarine was declared as an emergency, which was reported to the leadership of the fleet and the country. The next morning, as a result of search operations, the Kursk was found at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 108 m.

The official version of the cause of the tragedy is the explosion of a training torpedo, which occurred as a result of a fuel leak.

Submarine Kursk: what really happened? (VIDEO)

Wreck of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"

The wreck of the passenger ship "Admiral Nakhimov" occurred in August 1981 near Novorossiysk. There were 1,234 people on board the ship, 423 of whom lost their lives on that fateful day. It is known that Vladimir Vinokur and Lev Leshchenko were late for this flight.

At 23:12, the ship collided with the dry cargo ship "Petr Vasev", as a result of which the electric generator was flooded and the light went out on the "Nakhimov". The ship became uncontrollable and continued to move forward by inertia. As a result of the collision, a hole of up to eighty square meters was formed in the starboard side. Panic began among the passengers; many climbed onto the left side and thus descended into the water.

Almost a thousand people ended up in the water, and they were also dirty with fuel oil and paint. Eight minutes after the collision, the ship sank.

Steamship Admiral Nakhimov: shipwreck - Russian Titanic (VIDEO)

Oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico

The worst environmental disasters in the world in 2010 were joined by another one that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, eighty kilometers from Louisiana. This is one of the most dangerous man-made accidents for the environment. It happened on April 20 on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

As a result of a pipe rupture, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.

A spot measuring 75,000 square meters formed in the bay. km, which amounted to five percent of its total area. The disaster took the lives of 11 people and injured 17.

Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (VIDEO)

Concordia crash

On January 14, 2012, the list of the worst incidents in the world was supplemented with one more. Near Italian Tuscany, the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran into a rock outcropping, leaving a hole seventy meters in size. At this time, most of the passengers were in the restaurant.

The right side of the liner began to submerge in the water, then it was thrown onto a sandbank 1 km from the crash site. There were more than 4,000 people on the ship who were evacuated throughout the night, but not everyone was saved: 32 people were still killed and a hundred were injured.

Costa Concordia – the crash through the eyes of eyewitnesses (VIDEO)

Eruption of Krakatoa in 1883

Natural disasters show how insignificant and helpless we are in the face of natural phenomena. But all the worst disasters in the world are nothing compared to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, which occurred in 1883.

On May 20, a large smoke column could be seen above the Krakatoa volcano. At that moment, even at a distance of 160 kilometers from him, the windows of houses began to tremble. All the nearby islands were covered with a thick layer of dust and pumice.

Eruptions continued until August 27. The final explosion culminated in sound waves that circled the entire planet several times. At that moment, the compasses on the ships sailing in the Sunda Strait stopped showing correctly.

These explosions led to the submersion of the entire northern part of the island. The seabed rose as a result of the eruptions. Much ash from the volcano remained in the atmosphere for another two to three years.

The tsunami, which was thirty meters high, washed away about three hundred settlements and killed 36,000 people.

The most powerful eruption of Krakatoa Volcano (VIDEO)

Earthquake in Spitak in 1988

On December 7, 1988, the list of “Best Disasters in the World” was replenished with another one that occurred in the Armenian Spitak. On this tragic day, tremors literally “wiped” this city from the face of the earth in just half a minute, destroying Leninakan, Stepanavan and Kirovakan beyond recognition. In total, twenty-one cities and three hundred and fifty villages were affected.

In Spitak itself, the earthquake had a force of ten, Leninakan was struck by a force of nine, and Kirovakan was struck by a force of eight, and almost the rest of Armenia was hit by a force of six. Seismologists estimate that this earthquake released the energy equivalent to the force of ten exploding atomic bombs. The wave that this tragedy caused was recorded by scientific laboratories almost all over the world.

This natural disaster deprived 25,000 people of their lives, 140,000 of their health, and 514,000 of their homes. Forty percent of the republic's industry was out of order, schools, hospitals, theaters, museums, cultural centers, roads and railways were destroyed.

Military personnel, doctors, and public figures throughout the country and abroad, both near and far, were called to help. Humanitarian aid was actively collected around the world. Tents, field kitchens and first aid stations were set up throughout the area affected by the tragedy.

The saddest and most instructive thing about this situation is that the scale and casualties of this terrible disaster could have been many times smaller if the seismic activity of the region had been taken into account and all buildings had been built taking these features into account. The lack of preparedness of the rescue services also contributed.

Tragic days: earthquake in Spitak (VIDEO)

2004 Tsunami Indian Ocean - Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka

In December 2004, a devastating tsunami of terrible force caused by an underwater earthquake hit the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other countries. Huge waves devastated the area and killed 200,000 people. The most annoying thing is that most of the dead are children, since in this region there is a high proportion of children to the population, moreover, children are physically weaker and less able to resist water than an adult.

Aceh province in Indonesia suffered the greatest losses. Almost all buildings there were destroyed, 168,000 people died.

Geographically, this earthquake was simply huge. Up to 1200 kilometers of rock have shifted. The shift occurred in two phases with an interval of two to three minutes.

The number of victims was so high because there was no common warning system along the entire Indian Ocean coast.

There is nothing worse than disasters and tragedies that deprive people of life, shelter, health, destroy industry and everything that a person has worked on for many years. But it often turns out that the number of casualties and destruction in such situations could have been much less if everyone had been conscientious about their professional responsibilities; in some cases, it was necessary to provide in advance an evacuation plan and a warning system for local residents. Let's hope that in the future humanity will find a way to avoid such terrible tragedies or reduce the damage from them.

Tsunami in Indonesia 2004 (VIDEO)

Recommended for you

I came across this sad topic. We all hear about the tragedy of the Titanic, but in fact it is far from the largest shipwreck.

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

Let's remember this in more detail...

An object: passenger ferry "Doña 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 (to 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 a disaster 4386 people died, of these, 4,317 were passengers on the Dona Paz ferry and 58 crew members, as well as 11 crew members on the Vector tanker. Only 24 ferry passengers and 2 tanker crew members were saved. This number of casualties makes it the largest peacetime crash in history.

Chronicle of events

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

It is reliably known that the Dona Paz left the port of Tacloban at 6.30 am and headed to Manila, and at approximately 22.00 — 22.30 The ship was passing through the Tablas Strait near the island of Marinduque. At this time, the weather was clear and the sea was slightly rough, so there were no threats to shipping in the area. But the ferry never arrived in Manila, having crashed somewhere in the strait.

At approximately 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 occurred, the tanker immediately leaked, a large amount of gasoline leaked onto the surface of the sea, which immediately caught fire. Soon the fire engulfed Donya Paz.

Panic began 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 passengers did not dare to leave the burning ship, but help never came.

Approximately at midnight The Dona Paz sank, taking with it its passengers and any hope of salvation. Near 2.00 The remains of the tanker sank.

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

Within days of the disaster, the remains of 108 people washed ashore. All of them had traces of burns, and almost all of them were eaten by sharks, of which there are a lot in these seas. Thousands more people were never found, which subsequently made it difficult to accurately count the number of victims and determine the causes of the disaster.

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

Immediately after the shipwreck there was confusion regarding the number of dead. Initially, the investigation was based on the number of officially registered passengers of the Dona 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 name increasingly large 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, some took up space in the corridors, and many were even located on the deck.

Only later - in 1999 - was it established that the ferry carried 4,341 passengers on board that tragic day, and most of them died in the disaster.

It should be noted that relatives of the victims are still pursuing legal battles against the operator Sulpicio Lines and the owner of the Vector tanker, Cal-Tex Philippines, Inc., accusing them of criminal negligence. However, even almost thirty years after the disaster, no success was achieved in this matter, and no one bore the blame for the tragedy.

Causes of the disaster

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

For a long time, the reasons for the collision of ships in the Tablas Strait remained unknown and there were numerous discussions about this. And to this day, it is not entirely clear how a ferry and a tanker could collide in a wide strait in clear weather. But if the exact causes of the disaster are unknown, the indirect causes have long been established.

In October 1988, the council assembled to investigate the disaster issued an official statement blaming the crew of the tanker Vector for the collision. During the investigation, it was revealed that the vessel did not have a license and was actually unseaworthy. Also, the tanker did not have experienced lookout and special navigation equipment, so the appearance of the Dona Paz ferry was a complete surprise, and the Vector crew was unable to prevent the collision.

It was assumed that part of the blame lay with the ferry crew, 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 captain of the ship), and the rest of the crew was minding their own business. But later this version was not properly confirmed, so all charges were dropped from the team and operator (Sulpicio Lines company).

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

Firstly, there were almost three times more passengers on the ferry than allowed (4341 against the maximum allowable 1518) - during the collision and subsequent fire, panic and crush began on the ship. The fire on the ship and the burning water closed all routes to salvation, so many passengers found their last refuge in the cabins and corridors of the ferry.

Secondly, a large number of people died in fire both on the ferry and at sea - due to an oil spill from the Vector tanker, the water literally burned and did not provide salvation. In addition, the waters in the strait are teeming with sharks, which also created 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 life jackets, there would hardly be enough for everyone. But the vests, like the people who needed them, sank to the bottom.

Fourthly, the crew of the Dona Paz ferry did not make any attempts to organize the rescue of people; these people were not prepared for an emergency situation. The professionalism of the ferry crew still raises questions.

Finally, fifthly, the ferry and the tanker were not equipped with basic means of communication - not even the simplest radio station! Therefore, at the time of the shipwreck, 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 Donya Paz.

An 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 passenger ferry Dona Paz of the Sulpicio Lines company goes to the bottom. The company administration then announced that there were 1,583 passengers and 60 crew on the ship. It subsequently turns out that there were actually 4,341 passengers, of whom only 24 survived. Less than a year later, the Dona Marilyn ferry perishes, and with it more than three hundred passengers and sailors. Seven weeks after this tragedy, the world learns of the sinking of the Rosalia ferry 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 on them actually disappeared into the depths of the sea around the Philippines.

And also about crashes, for example. And here's another

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.

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 was the second of three Olympic-class steamships and the largest passenger liner in the world at the time of its 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, 1513 died. The Titanic disaster became legendary, and 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 mock 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 were able to be launched, but many people still 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 the oil tanker MT Vector on 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 with her 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 North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The sinking of the Titanic took 1,514 lives.