The biggest maritime disasters in history. The most famous maritime disasters in the world

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

There are many such disasters and tragedies. However, some of them deserve special attention.

Torpedoing of the mysterious ship "Armenia"

The largest maritime disasters happened precisely in the 20th century, mainly during the war years. The biggest tragedy of all is the loss of the motor ship "Armenia". The ship was used to transport the wounded from the Crimea during the offensive German soldiers. After thousands of wounded in Sevastopol were loaded on board the ship, 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 afterwards.

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 off the coast of Yalta at the moment when the Germans had already entered the city, the captain of the ship did not inform anyone about his further route. Therefore, it is not known exactly which way "Armenia" moved.

Tragedy on the Baltic Sea

In the Baltic Sea, wrecks are often encountered by scuba divers and divers. But the wreck of the Cap Arkona liner and the cargo ship Tilbek is 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 last one, by the way, managed to escape. Everyone else, mostly those who were wearing striped overalls, were shot by German ships.

So British aviation allowed a large-scale catastrophe, which did not bring decisively any benefit in the war. In their defense, the British Air Force said that the bombing had happened by accident, by mistake.

The legendary Titanic

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

The ship was nicknamed "unsinkable" while still in port. Needless to say, he matched it a bit. Despite the heavy damage received, the ship is still long time kept 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 death of the Titanic will be in the first place. This is due not at all to the number of human victims and touching stories about salvation, but to the fact that the nobility traveled on the ship.

Liner "Lusitania"

In 1915, maritime disasters added to their list with the crash 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 accident occurred near Kinsale (Ireland), 13 kilometers from it. Probably, such proximity to the mainland allowed a sufficient number of people to escape.

The total crash of the liner occurred in 18 minutes. There were about 2,000 people on board, more than 700 of whom managed to escape. 1198 passengers and crew members went down with the wreckage of the former large liner.

By the way, it is with this tragedy that the Anglo-German confrontation begins in the water. Both countries try to cause damage, sometimes even "accidentally", to each other regarding the navy.

Nuclear-powered ship "Kursk"

The most recent catastrophe in Russian memories is the sinking of the Kursk. This tragedy brought misfortune and grief to many families who did not expect to part with their loved ones forever. After all, the nuclear-powered ship did just a training swim.

Sunken submarines have always aroused interest. On August 12, 2000, the Kursk was added to their list. On the this moment There are 2 reasons why this happened. In the first case, it is believed that a projectile exploded in the torpedo room. 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 ship sank.

The victims of the tragedy were 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 large-scale human casualties, but also by their uniqueness. Many of them occur under conditions that at first glance seem completely impossible. A paradoxical catastrophe is the death of the Dona Paz ferry and oil tanker, which 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 passengers were burned alive, as a global fire began. It was impossible to get out of the resulting fiery trap. More than 80 tons of oil spilled into the sea, after which it immediately ignited. Who would have thought that on the water you can die from fire?

Both ships went completely underwater in less than half an hour. There were no survivors, the element took 4375 people.

Conclusion

All maritime disasters are tragedies that plunge people into grief and cut off the fate of people. Physical damage to the fleet is inflicted, especially if a warship is lost. But moral damage is also observed, because no one wants to lose colleagues and brothers in their specialty.

But any 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 should be developed to help eliminate the possibility of a recurrence of a particular catastrophe.

Everyone knows the story of the ill-fated Titanic. But at the same time, few people even suspect that the case of the Titanic is only the third shipwreck in terms of the number of victims. History has also known much larger oceanic tragedies. This review will focus on the most terrible shipwrecks that have become a real shock to the world.

1. The greatest victims in wartime

In January 1945, this German ship, which evacuated civilian and Nazi troops 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 by torpedoes to starboard, the ship sank in less than 45 minutes. An estimated 9,400 people lost their lives, making this the largest shipwreck in terms of loss of life in history.

2. The greatest victims in non-war time

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

3. The death of 1,198 people in 18 minutes

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

The disaster killed 1,198 people out of 1,959 on board. The attack on the passenger liner turned many countries against Germany, and also contributed to the entry of the United States into the First 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 17 June 1940 with over 4,000 deaths. It is considered the worst disaster among British ships. Died during the sinking of the Lancastria more people than in the shipwreck of the Titanic and the Lusitania combined.

5. The 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 on board so quickly that it became impossible to lower the lifeboats.

6. The death of 6,000 people in 7 minutes

“A German transport ship was carrying 6,100 documented passengers on board (and perhaps over 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 victims in the US Navy

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

Of the 1196 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 after 4 days).

8. The death of "Le Yola"

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

9. Destroyed the city

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

10 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 April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York, USA. The Titanic disaster resulted in 1,514 deaths.

And in continuation of the topic, we have collected.

The sinking of the Titanic after a collision with an iceberg in 1912 became a symbol for decades to come of all the 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 gone down in history. The retribution for such delusions always turns out to be cruel.

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

Trophy "Berlin"

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

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, she hit a mine near the port of Swinemünde and sank at a shallow depth. In 1947, the ship was raised by Soviet divers and sent for partial repairs to the docks of the Kronstadt port. The ship that became a trophy received a new name - "Admiral Nakhimov", after which it went to its homeland, to 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

Prestigious holidays and special operations

"Admiral Nakhimov" became in the USSR a symbol of a prestigious cruise vacation, hitherto unfamiliar Soviet citizens. However, sometimes it was used for other purposes. Yes, during Caribbean Crisis Soviet military personnel were transferred to Cuba on board, and in 1979 - Cuban military personnel to carry out secret mission in Africa.

In the history of "Admiral Nakhimov" there were flights with pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, and swimming with the participants of the World Festival of Youth and Students. The ship 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, the Admiral Nakhimov changed long-distance flights to 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

August 29, 1986 "Admiral Nakhimov" went on a regular flight on the route Odessa - Batumi - Odessa with calls to Yalta, Novorossiysk and Sochi. The cruise was supposed to end on September 5th. After leaving Odessa, the ship safely reached Yalta, and then at 14:00 on August 31 arrived in Novorossiysk. At 22:00, the liner was to leave the port and head for Sochi. There were 1243 people on board: 346 crew members and 897 passengers.

Since 1984, he has been the captain of the Admiral Nakhimov Vadim Markov, an experienced sailor who had a job on the lines of foreign navigation. Captain Markov knew his ship very well, and the exit from the port did not promise any dangers.

According to the message of the vessel traffic control post (PRDS), at that moment the only ship approached the port of Novorossiysk - the dry cargo ship "Pyotr Vasev", carrying Canadian barley. Captain commanded the cargo ship Viktor Tkachenko, who said that he would miss the steamer leaving the bay.

"Pyotr Vasyov" goes towards

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

Peace reigned on board. Some of the passengers went to sleep, some were going to a movie show, the youth were at a disco in the music room, some people were in bars.

At this time, Captain Tkachenko once again confirmed that Pyotr Vasyov would let Admiral Nakhimov through. Tkachenko transmitted the same information via radio communication to the second assistant to the captain 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 part on their starboard sides. Captain Tkachenko was guided by the indications of ARPA - an automated radar plotting system. The data of this device indicated that the ships would safely disperse.

But Chudnovsky, who was on the Admiral Nakhimov, who was observing the situation visually, already at about 23:05 discovered that the ships were heading for a dangerous approach. The officer on duty contacted Tkachenko again, clarifying: “Pyotr Vasyov” definitely misses the steamer? Captain Tkachenko confirmed: yes, everything is in order.

"Pyotr Vasyov". Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

"Work back immediately!"

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

Captain Tkachenko looked only at the device with inexplicable obstinacy for several more minutes. And only then, finally looking where Zubyuk was pointing, he realized with horror - "Pyotr Vasyov" on high speed flies straight at 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 became: “Stop, full back!”. However, a heavy cargo ship cannot change direction instantly. "Pyotr Vasev" continued to go to the "Admiral Nakhimov". On the ship, the officer on duty to the captain Alexander Chudnovsky radioed to the dry cargo ship: “Work back immediately!”. The helmsman of the "Admiral Nakhimov" was given the command: "Left aboard!".

"Nakhimov" went to the bottom in 8 minutes

This did not help - at 23:12 there was a collision. "Pyotr Vasev" at a speed of 5 knots entered at an angle of 110 ° in the middle of the starboard side of the ship. In the underwater part, the bulk carrier entered with its protruding part, the bulb, into the hull of the Admiral Nakhimov for several meters in the bulkhead area between the engine and boiler rooms. "Admiral Nakhimov" continued to move forward by inertia, turning the cargo ship 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 roll to starboard. Emergency lighting, which switched on instead of the main one, worked for only two minutes. Many people were locked in cabins inside the sinking ship. All that the team members managed to do was launch inflatable rafts. 8 minutes after the collision, at 23:20, "Admiral Nakhimov" went under water, leaving hundreds of people fighting for their lives on the surface. Among them was not the assistant captain Alexander Chudnovsky. The sailor, realizing that the ship was dying, pronounced a death sentence on himself - having gone down to his cabin, he locked himself in it and, together with the Admiral Nakhimov, went to the bottom.

More than 60 ships rescued dying people

The first to approach the crash site was a small pilot boat LK-90, heading for the "Pyotr Vasyov" to escort it to the pier. "Admiral Nakhimov" sank in front of the crew members of the boat.

At 23:35 LK-90 proceeded to rescue people. 118 people were lifted on board a small boat, which is much more than the allowable load. Then the rescued began to be transferred to other approaching ships. At this time, the captain of the port of Novorossiysk Popov ordered all watercraft to go to the disaster area to save people. Tugs, small and raid boats, boats of border troops, "comets" on hydrofoils - 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 out to sea on skiffs, risking their own death.

The crew of the dry-cargo ship Pyotr Vasyov also took part in the rescue operation, raising 36 people on board. Of the 1243 people on board, 423 were killed: 359 passengers and 64 crew members. Among the dead were 23 children.

Who is guilty?

A large government commission arrived from Moscow, headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Heydar Aliyev, and with it a large investigation team.

As a result, both captains went to court - Viktor Tkachenko and Vadim Markov received 15 years in prison. Markov, who miraculously survived the crash, was blamed for his absence from 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 with his family.

For thirty years in the crash of "Admiral Nakhimov" whoever and what they were accused of - and anomalous zone, and the Soviet system, and the dilapidation of the ship, and saboteurs ... The story about the usual "human factor" cut many ears. "Admiral Nakhimov" took two more human lives after the crash - two divers died, raising the bodies of the victims to the surface. After that, work on the ship was stopped, and the bodies of 64 people remained inside the Admiral Nakhimov hull.

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.

Vadim Markov, after his release, returned to Odessa, worked in the Black Sea Shipping Company as a captain-mentor. Due to persecution by the relatives of the deceased, 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 the "Pyotr Vasyov" Viktor Tkachenko, having taken his wife's surname - Tallor, moved to permanent place residence in Israel, hoping that there the story of the death of "Admiral Nakhimov" would cease to interfere with his life. In 2003, the yacht, driven by Victor Tallor, was wrecked off the coast of Newfoundland. The wreckage of the yacht and the remains of people found on the coast of Canada.

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

For hundreds of years of sailing on various ships, sailboats and barges across the expanses of the seas and oceans, there have been many kinds of accidents and shipwrecks. Films have even been made about some of them, the most popular of which, of course, is the Titanic. But which shipwrecks were the largest in terms of the size of the ship and the number of victims? In this ranking, we answer this question by presenting the biggest 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 a zone designated by the Kaiser government as a zone of submarine warfare. The ship, sailing with a painted over name and not raising any flag above it, sank in 18 minutes, 13 kilometers from the coast of Ireland. 1198 people died out of 1959 who were on board. The destruction of this ship set public opinion many countries against Germany and contributed to the entry of the United States into the First World War two years later.

10

Single-screw steamer, had a capacity of 7142 register tons, a length of 132 meters, a beam of 17 meters, a maximum speed of 11 knots. April 12, 1944 steamer with explosives total weight more than 1,500 tons stood up for unloading at the pier of the port of Bombay. There were other cargoes on board - 8,700 tons of cotton, 128 gold bars, sulfur, wood, machine oil, etc. The ship was loaded in violation of safety regulations. At about 2 p.m., a fire started on board, and no actions contributed to its elimination. At 16:06 there was an explosion, from which a tidal wave was formed of such force that the Jalampada ship, with a displacement of almost 4,000 tons, ended up on the roof of a 17-meter warehouse. After 34 min. there was a second explosion.

Burning cotton scattered within a radius of 900 meters from the epicenter and set fire to everything: ships, warehouses, houses. Strong wind from the sea drove a wall of fire on the city. The fires were extinguished only after 2 weeks. It took about 7 months to restore the port. Official statistics announced 1376 deaths, 2408 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 city blocks. 6 thousand firms 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 steamer was the second of three Olympic-class twin steamers and the largest passenger liner in the world at the time of construction. Gross tonnage 46,328 register tons, displacement 66,000 tons. The ship is 269 meters long, 28 meters wide and 52 meters high. The engine room had 29 boilers and 159 coal fireboxes. Max Speed 25 knots. On its maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, it 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, several feature films were shot 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 the strongest explosion, the port and a significant part of the city were completely destroyed. About 2,000 people died as a result of an explosion under the rubble of buildings and because of the fires that arose after the explosion. Approximately 9,000 people were injured, 400 people lost their sight. The explosion in Halifax is one of the strongest explosions arranged by mankind, this explosion is considered powerful explosion pre-nuclear era.

7

This French auxiliary cruiser served as a flagship and participated in the neutralization of the Greek fleet. Displacement - 25000 tons, length - 166 meters, width - 27 meters, power - 29000 Horse power, speed - 20 knots, cruising range - 4700 miles at 10 knots. She 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, 870 escaped.

6

After 1944, this German passenger ocean liner was converted into a floating hospital, participated in the evacuation of mostly wounded soldiers and refugees from East Prussia from the advancing Red Army. The liner left the port of Pillau on February 9, 1945 and headed for Kiel, there were 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 the liner was torpedoed, the submarine commander was convinced that in front of him was not a passenger liner, but a military cruiser.

5

The passenger ferry Dona Paz, registered in the Philippines, sank on December 20, 1987 at about 10 p.m. near the island of Marinduque after a collision with the tanker Vector. Approximately 4,375 people died in the process, making this the largest maritime disaster in peacetime.

4

This passenger-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 different estimates, from 3000 to 4500 people. On the ship were several thousand wounded soldiers and evacuated citizens, including the staff of 23 military and civilian hospitals, the leadership of the pioneer camp and part of the party leadership of the Crimea. The loading of the evacuees was in a hurry, and their exact number is not known. There is a version that the cause of this maritime disaster was the criminal errors of the command Black Sea Fleet. The crowded motor ship, instead of making the transition to the Caucasian, was sent by the command to Yalta.

3

A cargo ship built in Oslo, Norway, launched on 4 April 1940. It was confiscated by the Germans after Norway was occupied 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 cannons. This ship managed to make four trips, in which 19,785 people were evacuated. On the night of April 16, 1945, the ship making the fifth trip 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, the victims of which were approximately 8,000 people. The German liner "Cap Arkona" and the cargo ship "Tilbek", transporting prisoners from the evacuating concentration camps, were fired upon by British aircraft. As a result, more than 5,000 people died on the Cap Arkon, and about 2,800 on the Tilbeck. According to one version, this raid was a mistake on the part of the British Air Force, who believed that German troops were on the ships, according to another, the pilots were ordered to destroy everything enemy ships in the area.

1

The most on the water happened with this German passenger liner, which since 1940 has been converted into a floating hospital. During the Second World War, it was used as an infirmary, a hostel for the 2nd training brigade of submariners. 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 be more than 9,000 people.

At 21:16 the first torpedo hit the bow of the ship, later the second blew up the empty pool where the women of the naval auxiliary battalion were, and the last one hit the engine room. With the joint efforts of the crew and passengers, some lifeboats were launched, and yet there were many people in the icy water. From 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 with their scale and horror of what happened. A lot of terrible shipwrecks that caused significant human casualties are also known in Russian history.

Top worst shipwrecks of the 20th century

As is known, modern ships equipped with the means to save a person's life. However, this was not always the case. Especially many large shipwrecks occurred in the last century.

Some water disasters have occurred far out to sea, and some have occurred offshore due to reef collisions. The consequences can be frightening. Next, consider some of the most terrible shipwrecks in the history of mankind.

Steamboat "Sultana" (SS Sultana)

The wooden paddle steamer "Sultana" was built at the American shipyard in Cincinnati and launched in 1863. The ship suffered distress on April 27, 1865 on the Mississippi River near Memphis due to the explosion of a steam boiler.

Soldiers released from captivity were transported on the ship. 1653 people became victims of the disaster, 741 people were saved. This shipwreck in terms of the number of victims is the largest catastrophe of the 19th century.

Ferry "Donja Pas"

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

Colliding with the tanker, the ferry literally broke in half. A fire broke out and the 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 operators in the Third Reich. It was launched in 1937. The ship departed 50 cruises, and the cost of tickets was so low that even the working class could afford to travel on board it.

During the Second World War, the liner served as a hospital, and later became a barracks for submariners. In early 1945, the ship was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. According to official figures, 5348 people died in that shipwreck. Historians also 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. Titanic according to the site, is included in the rating of the largest ships.

The victims of the shipwreck were 1513 people. Only 711 passengers survived. The Titanic sank under water in 160 minutes. This terrible disaster was reflected in the cinema: in 1997, the film of the same name was directed by James Cameron. 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. A 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 reefs and capsized. The crash killed 32 people.

6 people found guilty in Costa Concordia crash

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

The worst shipwrecks in national history

Several major shipwrecks are also known in Russian history, and all of them caused huge human casualties. It is impossible not to recall the collapse of "Armenia", "Admiral Nakhimov" and "Novorossiysk". a terrible tragedy became for our country and the whole world the death of the submarine "Kursk", the shipwreck of "Bulgaria" and "Komsomolets".

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

One of the most major disasters on the water in the USSR was the crash of "Admiral Nakhimov". He went from Novorossiysk to Sochi, carrying 1243 people. Due to the fact that the steamer rammed a grain carrier, it had a hole, and it sank in 7 minutes. This shipwreck occurred at the end of August 1986, and 423 people died then.

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, due to which a hole of 150 square meters was formed. meters. Novorossiysk sank with 604 people on board.

The ferry "Estonia" in September 1994, leaving the port of Tallinn, got into a storm, lost its bow, which caused 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 happened to the Kursk nuclear submarine. The crash occurred in August 2000 due to explosions on board. The crew consisted of 118 people, there were no survivors.

In July 2011, there was another terrible shipwreck in national history- the sinking of the ship "Bulgaria", which cruised 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 disaster with the ship "Goya" is recognized as the worst shipwreck

The crash 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 the passengers, went under water. On land, major accidents with human casualties occurred no less frequently. We invite you to learn more about the worst disasters in history.
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