The largest maritime disasters in history. The world's most famous maritime disasters

Such as a fire, water ingress, deterioration of visibility or the situation in general. Well-coordinated crews, guided by experienced captains, cope with problems quickly. Otherwise, sea disasters occur that take with them human lives and leave their black mark on history.

There are quite a lot of similar disasters and tragedies. However, some of them deserve special attention.

Torpedoing of the mysterious motor ship "Armenia"

The largest maritime disasters occurred in the 20th century, mainly during the war years. The most large-scale tragedy of all is the loss of the motor ship "Armenia". The ship was used to transport wounded from the Crimea during the offensive German soldiers. After thousands of wounded were loaded on board the ship in Sevastopol, the ship arrived in Yalta. It was believed that this city was doomed, so the NKVD officers placed several heavy boxes on the ship. There were rumors that they contained gold. This attracted many adventurers subsequently.

On November 7, 1941, the Heinkel He-111 torpedo bomber attacked the ship, after which the ship quickly sank. It is still unknown how many people it carried. Only a rough estimate of the number of victims is given (7-10 thousand people).

It should also be noted that the ship has not yet been found. Since it sailed from the shores of Yalta at a time when the Germans had already entered the city, the captain of the ship did not inform anyone about his further route. Therefore, it is unknown exactly which route “Armenia” moved.

Tragedy on the Baltic Sea

In the Baltic Sea, scuba divers and divers come across sunken ships quite often. But the sinking of the Cap Arcona liner and the Tilbek cargo ship was a tragedy that claimed almost 8,000 lives. It is considered one of the largest maritime disasters.

Both ships were attacked. They were transporting prisoners from concentration camps. Also on board were SS soldiers and a German crew. The latter, by the way, managed to escape. All the rest, mainly those who were dressed in striped uniforms, were shot by German ships.

Thus, British aviation allowed a large-scale disaster that brought absolutely no benefit to the war. In their defense, the British Air Force stated that the bombing occurred by accident, by mistake.

The legendary Titanic

Anyone who studies sunken ships or has heard something about them will invariably associate the story with the Titanic. However, there is nothing mysterious or unique about it. The ship's captain was informed of the threat of icebergs, but decided to ignore the information. Soon he received a message that there was a huge block of ice ahead. There was no time left to change course. Therefore, the captain decided to expose his right side to the attack.

While still in port, the ship received the nickname “unsinkable.” I must say that he corresponded to him a little. Despite the extensive damage received, the ship is still for a long time stayed on the water. During this period, the nearest ship "Carpathia" managed to come to the rescue. That is why more than 700 passengers were saved. There were about 1000 dead.

Thus, if we consider the most “promoted” maritime disasters 20th century, then the sinking of the Titanic will come first. This is not due to the number of casualties and touching stories of rescue, but to the fact that the nobility traveled on the ship.

Liner "Lusitania"

In 1915, maritime disasters were added to the list with the sinking of a British passenger liner. On May 7, the Lusitania was attacked by a German submarine. The torpedo hit the starboard side, causing a series of explosions. As a result, the ship sank in a matter of moments.

The disaster occurred near Kinsale (Ireland), 13 kilometers away. Probably, such proximity to the mainland allowed a sufficient number of people to escape.

The complete collapse of the airliner occurred in 18 minutes. There were about 2,000 people on board, more than 700 of whom managed to escape. 1,198 passengers and crew members sank along with the wreckage of the former large liner.

By the way, it was with this tragedy that the Anglo-German confrontation on the waters began. Both countries are trying to cause damage, sometimes even “accidentally,” to each other’s maritime fleet.

Nuclear-powered icebreaker "Kursk"

The most recent disaster in the memories of Russians is the death of the Kursk. This tragedy brought misfortune and grief to many families who did not expect to be separated from their loved ones forever. After all, the nuclear-powered icebreaker was only making a training swim.

Sunken submarines have always aroused interest. On August 12, 2000, Kursk was added to their list. On this moment There are 2 reasons for what happened. In the first case, it is believed that a shell exploded in the torpedo compartment. However, no one can say why this happened. In the second case, an attack from the side, more specifically, by the Memphis submarine. As for hiding real reason the death of the Kursk, the government decided to avoid international conflict. One way or another, at the moment there is no exact information as to why the nuclear-powered icebreaker sank.

The tragedy killed 118 people. Help the dying people at the bottom Barents Sea turned out to be impossible. Therefore, no one managed to survive.

The most paradoxical death

The largest maritime disasters are distinguished not only by the large-scale loss of life, but also by their uniqueness. Many of them happen under conditions that at first glance seem completely impossible. A paradoxical disaster is the sinking of the Dona Paz ferry and an oil tanker that occurred at the end of 1987.

The fact is that the captain of the ferry was sitting in his cabin and watching TV, while the ship was controlled by an inexperienced sailor. An oil tanker was sailing towards him, with which a collision occurred a few minutes later. As a result, almost all the passengers were burned alive as a global fire began. It was impossible to escape from the resulting fire trap. More than 80 tons of oil spilled into the sea, after which it immediately ignited. Who would have thought that on water you could die from fire?

Both ships were completely submerged in less than half an hour. There were no survivors; the disaster took 4,375 people.

Conclusion

All marine disasters are tragedies that plunge people into grief and cut short the destinies of people. Physical damage is caused to the fleet, especially if a warship is lost. But there is also moral damage, because no one wants to lose colleagues and brothers in their specialty.

But any one is also a kind of experiment, only unplanned. After the incident, the fleet needs to analyze the situation from all sides, identify the circumstances and causes. Next, measures must be developed to help eliminate the possibility of a recurrence of a specific disaster.

Perhaps everyone knows the story of the ill-fated Titanic. But at the same time, few people even suspect that the Titanic case is only the third shipwreck in terms of the number of victims. History has known much larger ocean tragedies. In this review we will talk about the most terrible shipwrecks that came as a real shock to the world.

1. The greatest casualties in wartime

In January 1945, this German ship, which evacuated civilians and Nazi military personnel who were surrounded by the Red Army in East Prussia, went to the bottom after being hit by three torpedoes in the Baltic Sea.

After being hit on the starboard side by torpedoes, the ship sank in less than 45 minutes. An estimated 9,400 people died, making it the deadliest shipwreck in history.

2. The greatest casualties in non-war times

The Philippine passenger ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with the tanker Vector on December 20, 1987, killing 4,375 people. The collision with the tanker, which was carrying 1,399,088 liters of gasoline, sparked a huge fire that led to survivors aboard the Dona Paz jumping into the shark-infested waters overboard.

3. Death of 1,198 people in 18 minutes

This British ocean liner sailed between Liverpool, England and New York, USA. During World War I, the ship was hit by a German torpedo on May 7, 1915, and then sank within just 18 minutes of being hit.

The disaster killed 1,198 of the 1,959 people on board. The attack on the passenger liner turned many countries against Germany, and also contributed to the US entry into the First World War. world war.

4. The biggest losses in the British fleet

This British ocean liner was requisitioned by the government during World War II. She was sunk on June 17, 1940, resulting in the death of more than 4,000 people. It is considered the worst disaster of any British ship. Died in the sinking of the Lancastria more people than during the shipwreck of the Titanic and Lusitania combined.

5. Worst disaster in Canadian history

This Canadian ocean liner sank in the St. Lawrence River after colliding with a Norwegian coal carrier on May 29, 1914. The accident killed 1,012 people (840 passengers and 172 crew members). After the collision, the ship listed so quickly that it was impossible to lower the lifeboats.

6. Death of 6,000 people in 7 minutes

“The German transport ship was carrying 6,100 documented passengers on board (and possibly more than a hundred undocumented) when it was torpedoed on April 16, 1945, by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea during World War II.

Just seven minutes after the torpedo hit, the ship sank, killing almost all passengers and crew. This shipwreck is considered the second in the history of navigation in terms of the number of victims.

7. The highest number of casualties in the US Navy

On July 30, 1945, shortly after the delivery of critical parts for the first atomic bomb, which was used in battle, to the US air base on the island of Tinian, the ship was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58 and sank in just 12 minutes.

Of the 1,196 crew members on board, only 317 survived (about 300 immediately drowned with the ship, and the rest did not wait for help, which arrived only 4 days later).

8. The death of "Le Yola"

A Senegalese ferry capsized off the coast of Gambia on September 26, 2002, killing at least 1,863 people. The sinking of the ferry Le Yola is considered the second deadliest non-military maritime disaster after Dona Paz. The ferry was heavily overloaded, so after hitting a storm it capsized in just 5 minutes.

9. Destroyed the city

This French cargo ship carrying a load of ammunition exploded in Halifax harbor, Canada, on December 6, 1917, killing 2,000 residents of the city and its surrounding area. The explosion was caused by a collision with the Norwegian ship Imo.

10. The most famous shipwreck

This is perhaps the most famous maritime tragedy of all time. The Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the northern part of Atlantic Ocean On April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York, USA. The Titanic disaster led to the death of 1,514 people.

And in continuation of the topic, we have collected.

The death of the Titanic after a collision with an iceberg in 1912 became a symbol for decades to come of all major maritime disasters that occurred in Peaceful time. By the end of the 20th century, people again began to have the illusion that tragedies of this kind had become history. The retribution for such delusions is always cruel.

On August 31, 1986, a disaster occurred in Tsemes Bay near Novorossiysk, which later became known as “ Soviet Titanic" But, unlike the story of 1912, in this case there was no iceberg - the collapse was entirely the work of human hands.

Trophy "Berlin"

The Soviet cruise ship Admiral Nakhimov was launched in March 1925 in Lobbendorf, Germany, receiving the name Berlin. In the early years of its existence, the Berlin flew from Germany to New York. By the end of the 1930s, transatlantic flights became unprofitable, and the ship was transferred to cruises in the Mediterranean.

With the outbreak of World War II, the Berlin was converted into a hospital ship and was used as such until 1945. In January 1945, it hit a mine near the port of Swinemünde and sank at shallow depths. In 1947, the ship was recovered by Soviet divers and sent to the docks of the Kronstadt port for partial repairs. The steamship that became a trophy received a new name - “Admiral Nakhimov”, after which it went to its homeland, Germany. In the GDR, the ship underwent a major overhaul and in 1957 became part of the Black Sea Shipping Company.

"Berlin", 1920s. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Prestige holidays and special operations

“Admiral Nakhimov” became a symbol of a prestigious cruise vacation in the USSR, hitherto unknown Soviet citizens. However, sometimes it was used for other purposes. Yes, during Cuban missile crisis on board they transferred Soviet military personnel to Cuba, and in 1979 - Cuban military personnel to carry out secret mission in Africa.

In the history of "Admiral Nakhimov" there were also flights with pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, and swimming with participants of the World Festival of Youth and Students. The steamship had an exceptional reputation - for almost three decades of its operation in the USSR, not a single serious incident was recorded with its participation.

Time, however, made itself felt - in the 1980s, Admiral Nakhimov replaced long-distance flights with cruises on the Black Sea. These cruises were wildly successful among the unspoiled residents of the USSR.

The promenade deck of the Admiral Nakhimov in 1957. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Flight Odessa - Batumi - Odessa

On August 29, 1986, “Admiral Nakhimov” went on its next voyage along the route Odessa - Batumi - Odessa with calls to Yalta, Novorossiysk and Sochi. The cruise was supposed to end on September 5. Having left Odessa, the ship safely reached Yalta, and then at 14:00 on August 31st arrived in Novorossiysk. At 22:00 the liner was supposed to leave the port and head for Sochi. There were 1,243 people on board: 346 crew members and 897 passengers.

Captain of the Admiral Nakhimov since 1984 Vadim Markov, an experienced sailor who had work on foreign shipping lines behind him. Captain Markov knew his ship very well, and leaving the port did not promise any dangers.

According to a message from the ship traffic control post (VDR), at that moment the only ship approaching the port of Novorossiysk was the dry cargo ship Pyotr Vasev, carrying Canadian barley. The cargo ship was commanded by a captain Victor Tkachenko, who said that he would allow the steamer leaving the bay to pass.

“Peter Vasev” is meeting halfway

With a delay of 10 minutes from the schedule, the Admiral Nakhimov unmoored and rushed to the exit from the port. The steamer passed the port gates, set a course of 154.2 and began to follow the direction of the Penay Banks buoys, which were located at the exit from the bay.

There was calm on board. Some of the passengers went to bed, some were going to a movie show, young people were at a disco in the music salon, some people were in bars.

At this time, Captain Tkachenko once again confirmed that “Pyotr Vasev” would allow “Admiral Nakhimov” to pass. Tkachenko transmitted the same information via radio to the second mate of the Admiral Nakhimov. Alexander Chudnovsky, who at 23:00 took over the watch from Captain Markov. Tkachenko and Chudnovsky agreed that the ships would pass on their starboard sides. Captain Tkachenko relied on the readings of the ARPA - an automated radar course plotting system. The data from this device indicated that the ships would disperse safely.

But Chudnovsky, who was on the Admiral Nakhimov and observed the situation visually, discovered at approximately 23:05 that the ships were moving dangerously close. The watchman again contacted Tkachenko, clarifying: “Pyotr Vasev” is definitely letting the steamer through? Captain Tkachenko confirmed: yes, everything is fine.

"Peter Vasev." Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

“Work back immediately!”

Meanwhile, on the Pyotr Vasyov there were those who saw that the situation was developing in a dangerous direction. Mate Zubyuk drew Tkachenko's attention to the fact that the bearing on the Admiral Nakhimov practically does not change, which indicates that there is a threat of collision. At the same time, Zubyuk pointed to the lights of the steamer, indicating that the ships were approaching a collision.

Captain Tkachenko looked only at the device for several more minutes with inexplicable stubbornness. And only then, finally looking where Zubyuk was pointing, I realized with horror - “Peter Vasev” on high speed flies straight towards the Admiral Nakhimov.

Captain Tkachenko began to give commands to the engine room - “medium forward”, “small forward”. These half measures no longer helped, and last command Tkachenko began: “Stop, go all the way back!” However, a heavy cargo ship cannot change direction instantly. "Pyotr Vasev" continued to go towards "Admiral Nakhimov". On the ship, the captain's assistant on the watch, Alexander Chudnovsky, radioed to the cargo ship: “Work back immediately!” The helmsman of the Admiral Nakhimov was given the command: “Left aboard!”

"Nakhimov" sank to the bottom in 8 minutes

This did not help - at 23:12 a collision occurred. "Pyotr Vasev" at a speed of 5 knots entered the middle of the starboard side of the steamer at an angle of 110°. In the underwater part, the bulk carrier entered with its protruding part, the bulb, several meters into the hull of the Admiral Nakhimov in the area of ​​the bulkhead between the engine and boiler rooms. The Admiral Nakhimov continued to move forward by inertia, turning the cargo ship around and thereby increasing the size of the hole in the starboard side, which eventually amounted to about 80 square meters.

A huge hole led to the rapid flooding of the ship. In just 30 seconds, the engine room was filled with water. The ship began to fall to starboard. The emergency lighting, which turned on to replace the main one that had turned off, only worked for two minutes. Many people were trapped in cabins inside the sinking ship. All the team members managed to do was launch the inflatable rafts. 8 minutes after the collision, at 23:20, the Admiral Nakhimov sank under the water, leaving hundreds of people fighting for their lives on the surface. Among them there was no assistant captain Alexander Chudnovsky. The sailor, realizing that the ship was dying, pronounced a death sentence on himself - going down to his cabin, he locked himself in it and, together with the Admiral Nakhimov, sank to the bottom.

More than 60 ships rescued the dying people

The first to approach the scene of the disaster was a small pilot boat LK-90, heading to the “Peter Vasev” to escort it to the pier. "Admiral Nakhimov" sank in front of the boat's crew members.

At 23:35 LK-90 began rescuing people. 118 people were lifted aboard the small vessel, which is significantly more than the permissible load. Then the rescued people began to be transferred to other ships that approached. At this time, the captain of the port of Novorossiysk, Popov, gave the order to all watercraft to proceed to the disaster area to save people. Tugs, small and raid boats, border troops boats, hydrofoil comets - a total of 64 vessels took part in the rescue operation.

Had to work in difficult conditions— strong wind, waves up to two meters. But the sailors did everything possible and impossible. The cadets of the Novorossiysk Higher Naval Engineering School, alerted, went to sea in skiffs, risking their own deaths.

The crew of the dry cargo ship “Pyotr Vasev” also took part in the rescue operation, bringing 36 people on board. Of the 1,243 people on board, 423 died: 359 passengers and 64 crew members. Among the dead were 23 children.

Who is guilty?

A large government commission headed by the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR arrived from Moscow Heydar Aliyev, and with it a large investigative team.

In the end, both captains went to trial - Viktor Tkachenko and Vadim Markov received 15 years in prison. Markov, who miraculously survived the disaster, was blamed for his absence on the bridge. At the time of the disaster, the captain was in the cabin of the head of the KGB department for the Odessa region, Major General Krikunova, where he was invited to dinner. Unlike Markov, General Krikunov died along with his family.

For thirty years in the disaster of "Admiral Nakhimov" who and what was blamed - and anomalous zone, and the Soviet system, and the dilapidation of the ship, and saboteurs... The story about the ordinary “human factor” grated on the ears of many. "Admiral Nakhimov" took two more human lives after the crash - two divers died while lifting the bodies of the victims to the surface. After this, work on the ship was stopped, and the bodies of 64 people remained inside the hull of the Admiral Nakhimov.

The captain of the Peter Vasyov went to Israel and died in a shipwreck.

In 1992, after the collapse of the USSR, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine pardoned the convicted captains.

After his release, Vadim Markov returned to Odessa and worked at the Black Sea Shipping Company as a captain-mentor. Due to persecution from relatives of the victims, his family had to change their place of residence several times. In 2007, the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov died of cancer.

The captain of "Petra Vasyov" Viktor Tkachenko, taking his wife's surname - Talor, moved to permanent place residence in Israel, hoping that there the story of the death of “Admiral Nakhimov” will cease to interfere with his life. In 2003, a yacht captained by Victor Tallor crashed off the coast of Newfoundland. The wreckage of a yacht and the remains of people were found on the coast of Canada.

The area of ​​Tsemes Bay, where the Admiral Nakhimov lies at a depth of 47 meters, is officially the burial place of the victims of the disaster. Anchoring, diving by divers and submersibles, as well as any actions that disturb the peace of the burial site are prohibited in the specified area.

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 set up public opinion 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, the ship with explosives total mass more than 1,500 tons were unloaded 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.

The burning cotton scattered within a radius of 900 meters from the epicenter and set everything on fire: ships, warehouses, houses. Strong wind from the sea he 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, 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 Halifax explosion is one of the worst explosions caused by mankind, this explosion is considered with a powerful explosion 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 Horse power, speed - 20 knots, cruising range - 4700 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 different estimates, from 3000 to 4500 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 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, but many people still found themselves in the icy water. Due to the strong roll of the ship, it came off the deck. anti-aircraft gun 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

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 operating 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 struck 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”. A terrible tragedy The death of the submarine "Kursk", the shipwreck of "Bulgaria" and "Komsomolets" became 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 most major disasters On the water in the USSR, the Admiral Nakhimov crashed. 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 national history- 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 Goya disaster is recognized as the worst shipwreck ever.

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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