Marine disasters. Sunken passenger ships and submarines. Loud shipwreck. Where is the line between truth and fiction? Major shipwrecks and their causes

The top 10 lists only civilian shipwrecks that occurred in peacetime or in neutral waters; during wars, more terrible shipwrecks were recorded, for example, the death of the Armenia liner, which was transporting more than 9,000 refugees from Sevastopol.

1. Dona Paz Ferry, Philippines, December 20, 1987 (4,386 people)

The worst disaster at sea, killing more than 4,000 people, this terrible shipwreck occurred on December 20, 1987, when the Philippine ferry Dona Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait, 180 kilometers south of Manila.The ferry was completely filled with passengers eager to reach their destination before the Christmas holidays began.Although the sea was calm and visibility was perfect, the lack of competence of the crew on both ships led to this disaster.As soon as the ships collided, 8,800 barrels of oil and gasoline from the tanker ignited and almost no one survived this terrible fire.

2. Steamship Kiyangiya, China, December 3, 1948 (3,335 people)

Chinese passenger ship Kiyangiya was shipwrecked on December 3, 1948 while sailing from Shanghai to Ningbo. The ship was transporting refugees from China; officially 2,000 people were registered on it, but as it turned out later, the number of passengers was approximately 2 times more than stated. During the transition, he ran into a Japanese mine and began to quickly sink, about3,335 people died in the shipwreck and only about 700 were able to escape.

3. Ferry Le Joola, Senegal, September 26, 2002 (1,863 people)

One of the worst maritime disasters in the history of the world. The ferry was carrying more than 2,000 passengers from the port of Senegal when it capsized in 5 minutes 35 kilometers off the coast of Gambia on September 26, 2002. The reason for the death of the ferry was overload, while it was possible to take on board no more than 550 passengers, the ferry took on board more than 2,000 people.

4. Steamship Hoi Chu, China, November 8, 1945 (1,800 people)

The mass loss of 1,800 people occurred when the Chinese steamer Hoi Chu, en route to Hong Kong from Canton and carrying about 2,000 military personnel, 100 civilians and crew, sank in the Bocca Tigris at the mouth of the Canton River. The cause of death was a mine left after the war; only 300 people survived the disaster.

5. Steamship Sultan, USA, April 27, 1865 (1,600 people)

The explosion of the Sultan, which killed nearly 1,600 passengers, was perhaps the worst maritime disaster in the history of the United States.The Sultan transported approximately 2,300 prisoners of war down the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, as well as several civilian passengers and crew.Just a couple of hours after midnight on April 27, 1865, one of the Sultan's three boilers exploded, after which the ship quickly sank.

6. Titanic, UK/USA, April 15, 1912 (1,514 people)

The 20th century tragedy involving the superliner Titanic has inspired writers and directors for decades, and dozens of books and films have been written and filmed about the disaster. One of the largest and most luxury liners of its time, it set off on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York, USA, on April 10, 1912. Many believed that the Titanic, built using the most advanced technologies of its time, was unsinkable. However, nothing is guaranteed on the high seas and on April 14 the ship collided with an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland. As a result of the collision, its hull was damaged and the liner sank, killing 1,514 people in this disaster.

7. Steamship Taiping, China, January 27, 1949 (1,500 people)

Nearly 1,500 passengers, mostly Chinese expatriates bound for Taiwan, set sail from Shanghai aboard the SS Taiping in search of better life. They all died on the fateful day of January 27, 1949, when the ferry was rammed by another Chinese ship.

8. Ferry Toya Maru, Japan, September 26, 1954 (1,153 people)

The most severe Typhoon, called No. 15 in Japan, without any name just a number, killed almost 1,153 passengers aboard the commercial ferry Toya Maru on September 26, 1954. The event is presented as the worst civilian shipwreck in Japanese history. The ferry operated between Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido and Aomori on the island of Honshu. The previously scheduled ferry departure was canceled in anticipation of the typhoon's approach. However, the captain decided to sail in the evening, believing that the worst part of the storm had already passed. It was a serious mistake; after leaving the harbor, the crew lost control of the ship and it sank off the coast of Japan. 1,153 passengers and crew members disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

9. General Slocum, 1,021 killed

June 15, 1904, marked as a dark day in the history of New York, was the day when the largest shipwreck occurred in the city's waters. The General Slocum, a New York City sightseeing ship, was carrying 1,342 passengers, mostly members of the Lutheran Church congregation, to a church picnic in Locust Grove, Long Island. The passengers were mostly Germans from the little Germany area of ​​Manhattan, including a large group of women and children.

The cause of the ship's death was the disgusting preparation of the crew and captain of the ship; when leaving the port, after 20 minutes old furniture began to smolder in one of the ship's rooms, the fire was noticed in time, the crew quickly rolled out a fire hose, but when the water was turned on, the hose broke in several places, due to which it was not possible to extinguish the fire, which resulted in the sinking of the ship. It took the fire only half an hour to destroy the steamer.

10. Salam-98, 1,101 people died

On February 3, 2006, Salam 98, a ship carrying more than 1,300 passengers and an additional 103 crew members, sank in the waters of the Red Sea, killing 1,101 people. Ship from Saudi Arabia, the port of Duba went to Egypt, the port of Safaga. Most of the passengers were Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia and returning home from work.

The captain of the ferry, Syed Omar, bears responsibility for the incident, since when the fire broke out on the upper deck, the ferry was near the shore, but the captain decided to go to the Egyptian port anyway, his actions led to the death of more than 1,100 people.

Not all wrecked ships end their stories 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 waters.

World Discoverer

1. The ship with the sonorous name World Discoverer (“Discoverer of the World”) was built in 1974. Its main task was to cruise 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, World Discoverer ran into a reef unmarked on the map, and the starboard side received significant damage. To prevent the ship from sinking and avoid human casualties, the captain decided to run aground in Roderick Dhu Bay. Despite the fact that the ship was subsequently plundered by looters, it is currently popular place among lovers of sea romance.

Mediterranean Sky

2. Mediterranean Sky, or as it was called during construction, City of York, was built in 1952 in Newcastle (England). Cruise ship departed London in November 1953 and served in this port until 1971, when she was sold and renamed Mediterranean Sky. The ship's last voyage took place in August 1996 along the route Brindisi - Patras. Due to the financial situation of the ship-owning company, the ship was seized in 1997. Two years later, Mediterranean Sky was towed to the Gulf of Eleusis (Greece). At the end of 2002, the ship began to take on water and tilt. To prevent sinking, it was towed to shallow water, but this did not help: in January 2003, the ship capsized on one side and remained there awaiting its fate.

Captayannis

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

4. The history of “America” began at the shipyard in Newport News (Virginia, USA). The launch 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, the America set off on its first voyage, but already in 1941 the ship was requisitioned naval forces USA and sent back to Newport News to be converted into a warship. After the end of the war, "America" ​​sailed on 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 for conversion into a five-star floating hotel in Thailand, this time the ship was named "Star of America". In 1993, the liner left Greece in tow, but during a storm the towing cable broke. Several attempts to recover her were unsuccessful, and on January 18, 1994, the Star of America ran aground near Canary Islands.

Dimitrios

5. Dimitrios (formerly Kintholm) is a small (67 meters) cargo ship that was built in 1950. After sailing for three decades, the ship ran aground on December 23, 1981, off the coast of Greece. There are many rumors regarding the origin of the ship and its wreck. There is even a theory that Dimitrios was used to transport contraband cigarettes between Turkey and Italy, and the Greek authorities seized the ship and deliberately released it so that it had to walk five kilometers in shallow water. According to another version, on December 4, 1980, the ship was forced to call at a Greek port due to the serious illness of the captain. After arriving at the port, due to various problems both with the crew and with the ship itself, the entire crew was dismissed and the ship was abandoned in the port. There it remained until June 1981, when its location was declared unsafe. After this, the ship changed its location many times until it finally got stuck in the place where it remains to this day. No attempts were made to restore it.

6. Olympia was a commercial ship that was hijacked by pirates en route from Cyprus to Greece in 1979. 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 remained there until the present time, becoming the most remarkable object on the island.

8. The French barge BOS 400 was Africa's largest floating crane, 100 meters long, and ran aground in the bay on June 26, 1994 South Africa while being towed by a Russian Tiger. The ships had to travel from the Congo to Cape Town, but during a storm the tow rope was damaged and the barge ran aground at a place called Duiker Point. Despite several attempts to tow it, the floating crane was a complete loss.

La Famille Express

9. La Famille Express was built in 1952 in Poland and served in the USSR Navy until 1999 under the name “Fort Shevchenko”, 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 Frances in 2004 off the southern waters of Provo, near the Turks and Caicos Islands (Caribbean Sea). No attempt was made to tow the ship, and it was quickly plundered by looters. 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 South Australian government back in 1884 to protect coastline from possible attacks. The ship passed the First world war and almost completed the Second. Ironically, the ship was lost in a collision with a tug in July 1943 while 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 at the same shipyard where the Titanic was built. 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 fog at night, the ship sailed too close to the shore and ran aground near Costinesti (Romania). Some say this was done on purpose to get insurance payouts. The hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by the fact that at the time of the crash, despite the dense fog, there was no storm at sea, and all equipment was working properly.

Santa Maria

12. The 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 the economic crisis. The ship carried sports cars, food, medicine, clothing and much more. On September 1, 1968, the ship ran aground while passing through Cape Verde on its way to Brazil and Argentina. A local tugboat 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 Maheho wreck 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 operated a scheduled Sydney to Auckland service until it was called up for service during the First World War. In 1935 the ship was sold to Japan. While it was being towed, the ships encountered a serious storm and the tow rope broke. Futile attempts to secure the cable during a storm came to nothing, and Maheho set off on a “free voyage” with eight crew members on board. Three days later, the ship was found on the shore of Fraser Island - fortunately, none of the crew was injured. After this incident, Maheho was put up for sale, but no buyers were found and it is still in the same place. Beaten by time, rusted and no one but tourists need it.

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, tens.

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, 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, a collision occurred between a French military cargo ship“Mont Blanc”, which was fully loaded with one explosive - TNT, pyroxylin and picric acid, 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, participated in the evacuation of mainly 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 actual 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 into the water, 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.

The world is familiar with many shipwrecks that shocked us with their scale and horror of what happened. Domestic history knows many terrible shipwrecks that resulted in significant human casualties.

Top most terrible shipwrecks of the 20th century

Some water disasters occurred far out to sea, and some occurred in coastal areas due to collisions with reefs. The consequences can be frightening. Next, let's look at some of the most terrible shipwrecks in human history.

Steamship "Sultana" (SS Sultana)

The ship transported soldiers released from captivity. 1,653 people became victims of the disaster, 741 people were saved. This shipwreck is the largest disaster of the 19th century in terms of the number of victims.

Ferry Donja Paz

Colliding with the tanker, the ferry literally broke in half. A fire broke out and 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 submarine sailors. In early 1945, the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. According to official data, 5,348 people died in that shipwreck. Historians call a different number of victims - at least 9 thousand people.

The wreck of the Titanic

The shipwreck killed 1,513 people. Only 711 passengers were saved. The Titanic disappeared under water in 160 minutes. This terrible catastrophe was reflected in cinema: in 1997, the director made a film of the same name 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 the crash of the Costa Concordia

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

The most terrible shipwrecks in Russian history

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

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

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, which caused a hole of 150 square meters to form. meters. The Novorossiysk sank with 604 people on board.

In September 1994, the ferry Estonia, leaving the port of Tallinn, was caught in a storm, lost its bow, causing it to fall on its side and drown. The rescue operation was complicated by a natural disaster that left 852 people missing and killed.

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

In July 2011, another terrible shipwreck occurred in Russian history - the sinking of the motor 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 Komsomolets submarine crashed in the Norwegian Sea. This happened in April 1989 - the cause was a fire in the aft compartment. The crew consisted of 69 people, only 27 crew members managed to survive.

The worst water disaster in human history

The collapse 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 its passengers, sank under water. On land, major incidents involving human casualties occurred no less frequently. We invite you to find out more about the most terrible disasters in history.
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