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See Also
See Again
© Public Domain
0 / 29 Fotos
The White Ship
- In November of 1120, the White Ship sank near the coast of Normandy. Approximately 300 passengers drowned including William the Aetheling, the only legitimate son and heir to King Henry I of England.
© Getty Images
1 / 29 Fotos
The White Ship
- The death of William the Aetheling meant King Henry I of England had no successor when he died in 1135. Subsequently, a civil war broke out and peace wasn't restored until 1154.
© Getty Images
2 / 29 Fotos
SS Sultana
- The SS Sultana was built in 1863 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was typically used to transport passengers, mail, and goods between New Orleans and St. Louis.
© Public Domain
3 / 29 Fotos
SS Sultana
- On April 26, 1865, the Sultana, designed to carry only 356 people, left Vicksburg carrying over 2,300 people. A day later on April 27th, one of the ship's four boilers exploded and resulted in approximately 1,700 deaths.
© Public Domain
4 / 29 Fotos
Titanic
- The sinking of the Titanic is one of the most famous tragedies in modern history and inspired stories and films. The Titanic was a British luxury passenger liner, the construction of which began in 1909.
© Getty Images
5 / 29 Fotos
Titanic
- On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail from Easthampton, England bound for New York City. On April 14-15, 1912, the ship collided with an iceberg causing it to sink. Estimates say that approximately 1,500 passengers (of about 2,200) lost their lives when the ship sank.
© Getty Images
6 / 29 Fotos
SS Eastland
- On the rainy morning of July 24, 1915, thousands gathered for the Western Electric Company's annual picnic, which was to begin with a boat ride across Lake Michigan. Passengers started boarding the SS Eastland around 6:30 am in downtown Chicago.
© Getty Images
7 / 29 Fotos
SS Eastland
- The Eastland capsized on the Chicago River and claimed at least 844 lives, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in American history. This tragedy also ranks among Chicago's most catastrophic events and even surpasses the death toll of the 1871 Chicago fire.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
SS Mont-Blanc
- The ammunition freighter SS Mont/Blanc collided with a Norwegian ship, the SS Imo, on December 6, 1917. This resulted in a fire and subsequent explosion as well as over 2,000 deaths. There were thousands of terrible injuries.
© Public Domain
9 / 29 Fotos
SS Mont-Blanc
- This explosion was one of the most violent non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. Its force caused a tidal wave and violent tremors. Today, it is still considered the largest ever accidental man-made explosion.
© Getty Images
10 / 29 Fotos
RMS Lancastria
- The British ocean liner RMS Lancastria was owned by the Cunard Line and reconstructed in April 1940. It was subsequently sent to help British troops and citizens evacuate from France.
© Getty Images
11 / 29 Fotos
RMS Lancastria
- At about 4 pm a German fighter plane bombed the RMS Lancastria. It capsized and sank within about twenty minutes, and as it did so, lost more than 1,400 tons of fuel into the water which partly caught fire. It's estimated that between 4,000 and 6,5000 passengers died in the attack.
© Public Domain
12 / 29 Fotos
HS Armenia
- In November 1928, the world met the HS Armenia, a soviet passenger ship. During WWII it was used to transport troops. It measured 367 feet (112 meters) in length and had a maximum capacity of 980 passengers.
© Public Domain
13 / 29 Fotos
HS Armenia
- On November 7, 1941, loaded with more than 4,000 wounded and medical personnel from hospitals in Sevastopol, the HS Armenia was attacked by a German bomber and sank. At least 4,000 people died, although estimates go as high as 10,000, and only eight people actually survived.
© Public Domain
14 / 29 Fotos
Yamato Battleship
- The Yamato was a Japanese WWII battleship built in 1941. The ship was struck by a US bomb on April 7, 1945, and subsequently capsized.
© Getty Images
15 / 29 Fotos
Yamato Battleship
- The ammunition on board the Yamato Battleship exploded as it was capsizing and tore the boat into two pieces. It took an additional 13 torpedoes and 8 bombing hits to finally sink the ship. There was a loss of 2,498 lives.
© Getty Images
16 / 29 Fotos
SS Cap Arcona
- The SS Cap Arcona was a German luxury ocean liner when it first launched in 1927. However, it was later used to transport prisoners from concentration camps to Lübeck in 1945 after Germany surrendered.
© Public Domain
17 / 29 Fotos
SS Cap Arcona
- In May of 1945, the SS Cap Arcona was attacked by fighter-bombers of the British Air Force while it held over 6,000 soon-to-be-free prisoners on board. The boat capsized but did not sink due to shallow waters. However, around 5,000 people were killed in the attack.
© Public Domain
18 / 29 Fotos
MV Wilhelm Gustloff
- The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was originally a cruise ship that was transformed to help transport troops in WWII. It departed alongside two torpedo boats and the passenger ship Hansa. However, mechanical issues forced the Hansa and one torpedo boat to turn back, leaving only the torpedo boat Löwe.
© Shutterstock
19 / 29 Fotos
MV Wilhelm Gustloff
- The Soviet submarine S-13 fired four torpedoes at the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, sinking it in less than an hour and causing the deaths of 9,400 people, including numerous women and children. This remains the deadliest maritime disaster in history.
© Getty Images
20 / 29 Fotos
PS General Slocum
- Built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891, the PS General Slocum was a sidewheel passenger steamboat. The ship measured 1,284 tons (1.2 million kilograms) gross, boasted a hull depth of 12.3 feet (4 meters), and was constructed of white oak and yellow pine.
© Getty Images
21 / 29 Fotos
PS General Slocum
- On June 15, 1904, the PS General Slocum was on the water and carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church to a church picnic when it caught fire and sank. There were 1,342 passengers on board and an estimated 1,021 of them died.
© Public Domain
22 / 29 Fotos
SS Kiang Ya
- The SS Kiang Ya, originally named the SS Hsing Ya Maru, was built in 1939. It served as a coastal passenger steamship. In 1947, the Toa Kaiun Kabushiki Kaisha shipping company that owned the boat sold it to the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company.
© Public Domain
23 / 29 Fotos
SS Kiang Ya
- The Kiang Ya was designed to carry up to 1,186 passengers. However, on December 3, 1948, the ship set sail with 2,250 officially registered passengers and approximately 1,200 unofficial ones. That night, after an explosion occurred near the stern of the ship, somewhere between 2,750 and 3,920 people died.
© Public Domain
24 / 29 Fotos
MV Goya
- Built in 1940, the MV Goya was a cargo ship. On April 16, 1940, while the ship was being used to evacuate wounded soldiers and civilians fleeing from West Prussia, it was hit by the Soviet submarine L-3. Only 176 people out of more than 7,000 passengers survived.
© Public Domain
25 / 29 Fotos
Tōya Maru
- On September 26, 1954, the Japanese train ferry Tōya Maru sank during Typhoon Marie. All of the 1,153 people on board were killed in this tragedy.
© Public Domain
26 / 29 Fotos
SS Afrique
- The SS Afrique, a passenger ship belonging to Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis, started running in 1907. Approximately thirteen years later, on January 12, 1920, the ship sank and only 34 people out of 609 survived.
© Public Domain
27 / 29 Fotos
Iosif Stalin-class passenger ship
- This Society passenger ship was used as a troop transporter in the Second World War. On December 3, 1941, the ship (with 5,589 soldiers on board) hit mines and while they attempted to salvage the ship, Finnish forces spotted them and opened fire causing the ammunition onboard to detonate. A shocking 3,849 soldiers out of the 5,589 on board died. Sources: (Britannica) (Sky History) (The Shipyard Blog) (Business Insider) (Marine Insight) See also: Interesting facts you didn't know about the Titanic
© Public Domain
28 / 29 Fotos
© Public Domain
0 / 29 Fotos
The White Ship
- In November of 1120, the White Ship sank near the coast of Normandy. Approximately 300 passengers drowned including William the Aetheling, the only legitimate son and heir to King Henry I of England.
© Getty Images
1 / 29 Fotos
The White Ship
- The death of William the Aetheling meant King Henry I of England had no successor when he died in 1135. Subsequently, a civil war broke out and peace wasn't restored until 1154.
© Getty Images
2 / 29 Fotos
SS Sultana
- The SS Sultana was built in 1863 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was typically used to transport passengers, mail, and goods between New Orleans and St. Louis.
© Public Domain
3 / 29 Fotos
SS Sultana
- On April 26, 1865, the Sultana, designed to carry only 356 people, left Vicksburg carrying over 2,300 people. A day later on April 27th, one of the ship's four boilers exploded and resulted in approximately 1,700 deaths.
© Public Domain
4 / 29 Fotos
Titanic
- The sinking of the Titanic is one of the most famous tragedies in modern history and inspired stories and films. The Titanic was a British luxury passenger liner, the construction of which began in 1909.
© Getty Images
5 / 29 Fotos
Titanic
- On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail from Easthampton, England bound for New York City. On April 14-15, 1912, the ship collided with an iceberg causing it to sink. Estimates say that approximately 1,500 passengers (of about 2,200) lost their lives when the ship sank.
© Getty Images
6 / 29 Fotos
SS Eastland
- On the rainy morning of July 24, 1915, thousands gathered for the Western Electric Company's annual picnic, which was to begin with a boat ride across Lake Michigan. Passengers started boarding the SS Eastland around 6:30 am in downtown Chicago.
© Getty Images
7 / 29 Fotos
SS Eastland
- The Eastland capsized on the Chicago River and claimed at least 844 lives, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in American history. This tragedy also ranks among Chicago's most catastrophic events and even surpasses the death toll of the 1871 Chicago fire.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
SS Mont-Blanc
- The ammunition freighter SS Mont/Blanc collided with a Norwegian ship, the SS Imo, on December 6, 1917. This resulted in a fire and subsequent explosion as well as over 2,000 deaths. There were thousands of terrible injuries.
© Public Domain
9 / 29 Fotos
SS Mont-Blanc
- This explosion was one of the most violent non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. Its force caused a tidal wave and violent tremors. Today, it is still considered the largest ever accidental man-made explosion.
© Getty Images
10 / 29 Fotos
RMS Lancastria
- The British ocean liner RMS Lancastria was owned by the Cunard Line and reconstructed in April 1940. It was subsequently sent to help British troops and citizens evacuate from France.
© Getty Images
11 / 29 Fotos
RMS Lancastria
- At about 4 pm a German fighter plane bombed the RMS Lancastria. It capsized and sank within about twenty minutes, and as it did so, lost more than 1,400 tons of fuel into the water which partly caught fire. It's estimated that between 4,000 and 6,5000 passengers died in the attack.
© Public Domain
12 / 29 Fotos
HS Armenia
- In November 1928, the world met the HS Armenia, a soviet passenger ship. During WWII it was used to transport troops. It measured 367 feet (112 meters) in length and had a maximum capacity of 980 passengers.
© Public Domain
13 / 29 Fotos
HS Armenia
- On November 7, 1941, loaded with more than 4,000 wounded and medical personnel from hospitals in Sevastopol, the HS Armenia was attacked by a German bomber and sank. At least 4,000 people died, although estimates go as high as 10,000, and only eight people actually survived.
© Public Domain
14 / 29 Fotos
Yamato Battleship
- The Yamato was a Japanese WWII battleship built in 1941. The ship was struck by a US bomb on April 7, 1945, and subsequently capsized.
© Getty Images
15 / 29 Fotos
Yamato Battleship
- The ammunition on board the Yamato Battleship exploded as it was capsizing and tore the boat into two pieces. It took an additional 13 torpedoes and 8 bombing hits to finally sink the ship. There was a loss of 2,498 lives.
© Getty Images
16 / 29 Fotos
SS Cap Arcona
- The SS Cap Arcona was a German luxury ocean liner when it first launched in 1927. However, it was later used to transport prisoners from concentration camps to Lübeck in 1945 after Germany surrendered.
© Public Domain
17 / 29 Fotos
SS Cap Arcona
- In May of 1945, the SS Cap Arcona was attacked by fighter-bombers of the British Air Force while it held over 6,000 soon-to-be-free prisoners on board. The boat capsized but did not sink due to shallow waters. However, around 5,000 people were killed in the attack.
© Public Domain
18 / 29 Fotos
MV Wilhelm Gustloff
- The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was originally a cruise ship that was transformed to help transport troops in WWII. It departed alongside two torpedo boats and the passenger ship Hansa. However, mechanical issues forced the Hansa and one torpedo boat to turn back, leaving only the torpedo boat Löwe.
© Shutterstock
19 / 29 Fotos
MV Wilhelm Gustloff
- The Soviet submarine S-13 fired four torpedoes at the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, sinking it in less than an hour and causing the deaths of 9,400 people, including numerous women and children. This remains the deadliest maritime disaster in history.
© Getty Images
20 / 29 Fotos
PS General Slocum
- Built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891, the PS General Slocum was a sidewheel passenger steamboat. The ship measured 1,284 tons (1.2 million kilograms) gross, boasted a hull depth of 12.3 feet (4 meters), and was constructed of white oak and yellow pine.
© Getty Images
21 / 29 Fotos
PS General Slocum
- On June 15, 1904, the PS General Slocum was on the water and carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church to a church picnic when it caught fire and sank. There were 1,342 passengers on board and an estimated 1,021 of them died.
© Public Domain
22 / 29 Fotos
SS Kiang Ya
- The SS Kiang Ya, originally named the SS Hsing Ya Maru, was built in 1939. It served as a coastal passenger steamship. In 1947, the Toa Kaiun Kabushiki Kaisha shipping company that owned the boat sold it to the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company.
© Public Domain
23 / 29 Fotos
SS Kiang Ya
- The Kiang Ya was designed to carry up to 1,186 passengers. However, on December 3, 1948, the ship set sail with 2,250 officially registered passengers and approximately 1,200 unofficial ones. That night, after an explosion occurred near the stern of the ship, somewhere between 2,750 and 3,920 people died.
© Public Domain
24 / 29 Fotos
MV Goya
- Built in 1940, the MV Goya was a cargo ship. On April 16, 1940, while the ship was being used to evacuate wounded soldiers and civilians fleeing from West Prussia, it was hit by the Soviet submarine L-3. Only 176 people out of more than 7,000 passengers survived.
© Public Domain
25 / 29 Fotos
Tōya Maru
- On September 26, 1954, the Japanese train ferry Tōya Maru sank during Typhoon Marie. All of the 1,153 people on board were killed in this tragedy.
© Public Domain
26 / 29 Fotos
SS Afrique
- The SS Afrique, a passenger ship belonging to Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis, started running in 1907. Approximately thirteen years later, on January 12, 1920, the ship sank and only 34 people out of 609 survived.
© Public Domain
27 / 29 Fotos
Iosif Stalin-class passenger ship
- This Society passenger ship was used as a troop transporter in the Second World War. On December 3, 1941, the ship (with 5,589 soldiers on board) hit mines and while they attempted to salvage the ship, Finnish forces spotted them and opened fire causing the ammunition onboard to detonate. A shocking 3,849 soldiers out of the 5,589 on board died. Sources: (Britannica) (Sky History) (The Shipyard Blog) (Business Insider) (Marine Insight) See also: Interesting facts you didn't know about the Titanic
© Public Domain
28 / 29 Fotos
The worst boat disasters in human history
Some of these ships changed the world
© Public Domain
Officials are searching for British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and five others after his superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily on August 19. Sadly, this incident is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to maritime disasters in history. From infamous ships like the Titanic to lesser-known but equally important vessels such as the SS Eastland and the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, history has had no shortage of such tragedies.
Curious about which ships suffered the greatest number of losses? Click through now to explore.
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