The biggest shipwrecks. The largest peacetime shipwreck in history

For thousands of years, ships have sunk during war, natural disasters, and in some cases even due to human error. The ten largest and most famous shipwrecks that have ever occurred have been revealed.

The Titanic sailed from Southampton to New York, where it hit an iceberg and sank after 2 hours and 40 minutes. Its hull, divided into two parts, lies on the seabed at a depth of more than 3,700 meters.

Sultana

Almost forgotten, but one of the deadliest disasters. More than 1,800 people died during the sinking of this ship. It was the greatest maritime disaster in all of history. American history. The explosion of four boilers turned the ship into a huge fireball, consuming everyone and everything. The explosion killed 80% of everyone on board. The disaster took a back seat in the press due to the fact that President Lincoln was assassinated just the day before. . 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. It was caught in a terrible storm, which caused its sinking, killing all 17 crew members on board. The wreck site 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. Due to the murky water, this place is considered one of the most dangerous dive sites.

Oriskany

Nicknamed the Mighty O, the ship was one of 24 huge Essex-class ships ordered navy USA. The ship has seen many battles in many places, ranging from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to the Vietnam War. . The ship was converted into an artificial reef in 2004 and has become a very successful home for 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 not related to the war. The disaster claimed at least 1,863 lives. The ship was designed to carry 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 the morning after the incident; a huge number of victims died in the water awaiting rescue. The ship is still considered missing.

Vida Galli

This ship has a very interesting story. It was primarily used for the slave trade, but then in late February 1717, a pirate named "Black Sam" Bellamy seized the ship and claimed it as his own. During the year he owned the ship, he used the Vida Galli to capture and plunder more than 50 ships. The ship was caught in a strong storm, as a result of which its main mast collapsed and it capsized, dragging all the pirates under the water. The ship was discovered more than 250 years after it disappeared along with its loot. It was at a depth of only 5 meters. It was the first real pirate ship ever discovered.


Rona

This is quite possibly the most beautiful shipwreck in the world. British packet boat wrecked off the coast of Salt Island, British Virgin Islands, October 26, 1867. The ship went straight into a 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 has taken the ship into its possession, and now it is covered with corals, eels live in it, different types fish and even sharks.

Costa Concordia

The most last crash cruise ship. Although the ship only partially sank, the disaster cost the lives of 34 passengers. The crash was widely reported in the press. Captain Schettino tried to make a spectacular maneuver into the port. To do this, he turned off the ship's navigation system, which reported how close the ship was to the rock shoal. The ship hit big Stone, and water began to fill the ship, causing it to capsize. The "Costa Concordia" is still located in the area of ​​Giglia Island, Tuscany, and has become a popular tourist attraction; Plans are now being developed to lift and tow it.


Mont Blanc

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

Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes is very popular among divers because wildlife and landscapes that emerged from 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. Luckily, he was brought back to port by the small tug Jessie. The schooner was seriously damaged and could not be repaired, so it sank in the port itself. Fortunately, a huge load of coal was lifted from the side of the sunken ship.

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

British ranking opens passenger airliner, which 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. 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, 1,513 died. The Titanic disaster became legendary; 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, 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 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 criminal mistakes of the command 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. With the joint efforts of the crew and passengers, some lifeboats were launched into the water, and yet ice water there were a lot of people. 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.

Sea vessels have always been the subject of universal admiration, but often the world was shocked by their sudden death. The largest shipwrecks - how they happened and how much they took with them human lives?

It is worth noting that ships sank for various reasons. Mainly due to the following indicators:

  • "human factor";
  • malfunction of the ship's mechanisms;
  • strong storms.

Great shipwrecks are, and therefore everyone should know about them.

The most famous shipwrecks: the sinking of the Titanic

The story associated with the Titanic became famous among a wide range of the public after the release of the film of the same name. It is noteworthy that the plot of the film was based on real events. It is unknown whether there was true story love, which was discussed in the film, but the fact that the ship sank, taking with it a huge number of human lives, is the pure truth.

The Titanic was launched in 1911, on May 31st. At that time, the ship was considered the largest liner in history, and therefore its first voyage took place in a festive atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the Titanic sailed open swimming just once. The voyage he was on had been taken by other ships thousands of times before, but in 1912 the ship unexpectedly sank.

The bulky airliner did not survive the collision with the iceberg on April 14. No one could pinpoint the exact reason: either it was an oversight by the workers, or a lack of equipment. One way or another, it took very little time to be completely immersed in water - 160 minutes. This was a shock to the designers, since they had great hopes for the ship, and the size of the liner itself delighted everyone.

There were more than two thousand people on the ship, of whom only 711 survived. The lucky ones told many amazing stories about what they experienced at the moment when they were told about the shipwreck. Unfortunately, there was a catastrophic lack of rescue equipment, which caused mass deaths of passengers.

The story of the Titanic became a sensation, but the most famous shipwrecks do not end there, since many similar events happened in just 100 years.

The worst shipwrecks of the twentieth century

There are other cases in the history of navigation that are striking in their enormity. A grandiose movie was not made about their death, like about the Titanic, but their sinking was just as unexpected for the model developers and the families of the victims.

Remained forever at the bottom of the oceans and seas:

  • "Yamato";
  • "Salzburg";
  • "Bismarck";
  • "Cap Arcona";
  • "Junio ​​Maaru."

Great Shipwrecks of History

And several more ships that are well known in world history. One of them is the Wilhelm Gustloff passenger liner, which had only fifty flights.

What is surprising is the cost of tickets. Allow yourself to travel on " Wilhelm Gustloff“even representatives of the poor working class could.

This liner belonged travel company Third Reich. Since the liner was first launched in 1937, it has survived a lot. It saw World War II, during which the Wilhelm Gustloff served as a hospital and later took part in naval battles. On January 30, 1945, this liner was sunk by a Soviet Union torpedo.

Historians believe that there were about 9,000 people on board the liner at the time of the crash, although the official death toll was 5,000.

But the worst shipwrecks did not end with the Wilhelm Gustloff. Second World War took another great ship - “ Armenia».

"Armenia" was a passenger and cargo ship that was created in 1928 in the Soviet Union. This ship had really large dimensions and potential. Historians find it difficult to answer how many voyages the ship made, but they know exactly when it sank.

This happened in 1941 near Crimea. "Armenia" was sunk by German aircraft.

Amazing and scary at the same time is the fact that the ship sank under water in just 4 minutes, taking with it 5,000 human lives.

Only eight passengers survived.


Finally

Historical experience has made us realize how important it is to comply with safety conditions when drawing up a plan for the construction and launching of a ship. Nowadays, sea vessels are equipped with a huge number of life-saving devices, which, even in cases of disaster, enable people to survive. We can only hope that the necessary measures have been taken and not a single modern ship will be included in the historical record called “shipwreck.”

11/07/2011

The sinking of the motor ship "Bulgaria" claimed the lives of dozens of people, and made us think once again about the safety of river and sea transport. Most people are only familiar with the tragedy of the Titanic, about which many films have been made and many stories have been told.


N oh, strangely enough, it wasn’t the Titanic that took the most to the bottom a large number of human lives. This ranking lists the worst shipwrecks in history and is based on those killed in these disasters. It is worth noting that all these disasters occurred in peacetime.

1. Dona Paz - 4,375 dead




Passenger ferry registered in the Philippines. Sank on December 20, 1987 after a collision with the tanker Vector. An estimated 4,375 people were killed, making it the worst peacetime maritime disaster. The ferry was built in 1963 at the Japanese shipyard Onomichi Zosen, Onomichi, and was named Himeuri Maru. The Himeuri Maru was owned by the Ryukyu Kaiun Kaisa Company and cruised Japanese waters with a capacity of 608 passengers. In 1975, the ship was sold to Sulpicio Lines, a Philippine passenger ferry operator, and was named Don Sulphico and later Doña Paz. A month before the collision, the ferry was being repaired at the docks. During Don's confrontation, Paz performed twice a week Passenger Transportation along the route Manila-Tacloban-Catbalogan-Manila-Catbalogan-Tacloban-Manila.

2. Halifax explosion - 1,950 dead




The Halifax Explosion was an explosion that occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, in Halifax Harbour. As a result of a strong explosion of the French military transport Mont Blanc, loaded with explosives, which occurred as a result of the collision of the Mont Blanc with the Norwegian ship Imo, the port and a significant part of the city were completely destroyed. About 2 thousand people died as a result of the explosion, under the rubble of buildings, and due to fires that arose after the explosion. Approximately 9 thousand people were injured.

3. Joola - 1,863 dead




A Senegalese government ferry that capsized off the coast of The Gambia on September 26, 2002. The disaster resulted in the deaths of at least 1,863 people. On September 26, 2002, the ferry Yoola sailed from Ziguinchor in the Casamance region on one of its regular trips to the capital of Senegal, Dakar. During the voyage, the ship, designed to carry about 580 passengers, accommodated about 2,000 people. Along the way, the ship capsized due to strong winds off the coast of Gambia. Detailed reports show that this happened in less than five minutes.

4. Sultana - 1,800 dead




The steamship Sultana, sailing along the Mississippi River, was destroyed as a result of the explosion of one of its four boilers on April 27, 1865. This resulted in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. Approximately 1,800 of the 2,400 passengers on board were killed. The steamship sank near Memphis, Tennessee.

5. Titanic - 1,517 dead




Titanic is a British steamship of the White Star Line, one of three twin ships of the Olympic class. The largest passenger airliner in the world at the time of its construction. During her maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, she collided with an iceberg and sank 2 hours and 40 minutes later. There were 1,316 passengers and 892 crew members on board, for a total of 2,208 people. The Titanic disaster became legendary and was one of the largest shipwrecks in history. Several feature films have been shot based on its plot.

6. Empress of Ireland - 1,012 dead




The Empress of Ireland is a Canadian passenger liner laid down at the Govan shipyard, near Glasgow (Scotland). Launched in January 1906, she underwent sea trials until June 27, 1906. One of the largest ships of its class, owned by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. Made flights between England and Canada. The comfort of the premises, the high speed of the vessel, as well as excellent service on board the liner have made it popular among those who want to cross Atlantic Ocean. During her next voyage on May 29, 1914, the Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian coal carrier Storstadt on the St. Lawrence River and sank 14 minutes later at a depth of more than 40 meters. It carried 1,477 people on board (420 crew and 1,057 passengers).

7. Estonia - 852 dead




The ferry Estonia was built in 1979 in Germany at the Meyer Werft shipyard in the city of Papenburg. "Estonia" sank on the night of September 27 to September 28, 1994. In this case, 852 people died out of 1049 on board. The ferry was originally built for the company " Viking Line" and was named "Viking Sally". It was supposed to run between Turku, Mariehamn and Stockholm. In 1986 it was sold to Silja Line and renamed Silja Star, keeping it on its original route. In 1991, the ferry was operated by the Wasa Line company, which was wholly owned by Silja Line, and the ferry, now under the name Wasa King, began running between the Finnish city of Vaasa and the Swedish city of Umeå. In January 1993, to provide ferry service between Tallinn and Stockholm, the Swedish company Nordström & Thulin and the Estonian state-owned Estonian Shipping Company (“Estonian Shipping Company”, abbreviated as “ESCO”) created a joint venture “Estline” (“Estonian Shipping Company”). EstLine A/S), which acquired the ferry Wasa King, renaming it Estonia.

8. Eastland - 845 dead




It was a passenger ship based in Chicago. It was used for excursions to the Great Lakes. The ship sank on July 24, 1915 as a result of a natural disaster. It became the worst shipwreck disaster in the Great Lakes region.

9. Birkenhead - 460 dead




Birkenhead is a ferry built specifically for the Royal Navy. She was designed as a frigate, but was later intended to transport troops. On February 26, 1852, while transporting troops, the ship crashed off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa.

10. Mary Rose - 400 dead




Mary Rose was a three-decker flagship of the English navy under King Henry VIII Tudor. This massive carrack was launched at Portsmouth in 1510. It was probably named after the French queen Mary Tudor (the king's sister) and the rose as the heraldic symbol of the House of Tudor. During the Italian Wars, the Mary Rose was commanded by brother admirals Edward and Thomas Howard. In 1512, the Mary Rose took part in the attack on Brest. In 1528 and 1536 it was modernized: the number of guns was increased to 91, the displacement was increased to 700 tons. In 1545, the French king Francis I landed on the Isle of Wight. The British sent 80 ships, led by the Mary Rose, to the Solent to defend the island. Overloaded with artillery, the karakka, never known for stability, suddenly began to list and sank along with Admiral George Carew. Only 35 sailors managed to escape. By the way, the remains of this ship were found, and now they are stored in maritime museum city ​​of Portsmouth .

optopus.ucoz.ru, photo from pajamasmedia.com

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

As is known, modern ships equipped with means designed to save human life. However, this was not always the case. Especially many large shipwrecks occurred in the last 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 wooden paddle steamer Sultana was built at an American shipyard in Cincinnati and launched in 1863. The ship suffered a disaster on April 27, 1865 on the Mississippi River near Memphis due to the explosion of a steam boiler.


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

One of the largest shipwrecks of the 20th century occurred in 1987 - we are talking about the passenger ferry Dona Paz. For more than two decades, it regularly transported people, cruising along the coasts of the Philippines and Japan.


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"

The cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff belonged to one of the largest tour operator companies of the Third Reich. It was launched in 1937. The ship sailed 50 cruises, and the cost of tickets was so low that even the working class could afford to go on a trip on board.


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

Who doesn't know about the Titanic? It seems that everyone has heard about this sensational shipwreck. The ship made only one voyage, which ended in disaster in 1912. According to the website, Titanic is included in the rating of the largest ships.


The shipwreck killed 1,513 people. Only 711 passengers were saved. The Titanic disappeared under water in 160 minutes. This terrible disaster was reflected in cinema: in 1997, director James Cameron shot a film of the same name. The main roles in the film were played by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Cruise ship Costa Concordia

Costa Concordia is one of the largest European ships. The maritime disaster occurred on the night of January 13-14, 2012 in the Tyrrhenian Sea, near the Italian island of Giglio, during a cruise in the western Mediterranean. There were 4,229 people on board when the ship hit a reef and capsized. The crash killed 32 people.

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 for maritime navigation and pre-trip instructions for passengers were tightened.

The most terrible shipwrecks in Russian history

Russian history knows several major shipwrecks, and all of them resulted in huge casualties. One cannot help but recall the crash of the “Armenia”, “Admiral Nakhimov” and “Novorossiysk”. The death of the Kursk submarine and the shipwreck of the Bulgaria and Komsomolets became a terrible tragedy for our country and the whole world.

"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, causing 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

Perhaps the worst water disaster in the history of mankind was the shipwreck of the German ship Goya in 1945. About 7 thousand people became its victims.


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 learn more about the worst disasters in history.
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