It’s a pretty rare thing when tragic moments in history actually leave behind such hulking physical reminders. Their bones not only stand as a reminder of the tragedy itself, but the relentless power of the sea.
Scattered across lake and ocean floors, or hidden in more remote waters, the wrecks intrigue the heck out of us, since they usually come with eerie legends and unexplained disappearances.
Of the estimated three million shipwrecks worldwide, only a small fraction have actually been explored. Here are a few well-known and lesser-known rusty remains of once great ships.
1
The SS Yongala — Cape Bowling Green, Australia
Referred to as the "Aussie Titanic," the 357-foot-long steamship went down in a cyclone in 1911. It claimed the lives of 122 people and the wreck was discovered by local divers more than 50 years after it sank.
2
The Salem Express - Safaga, Egypt
This passenger ferry was sailing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt in December of 1991 when it hit an unmapped reef in gale-force winds. At least 470 people died because its captain took an unauthorized shortcut through the Red Sea's Hyndman Reefs.
3
The Z2 Georg Thiele - Narvik, Norway
In May 1940, during the Battle of Narvik, this German destroyer was purposely beached to save the remaining crew after 14 sailors had already been killed. It split in two and the rusted-out hull is still visible on the Ofotfjord shoreline today.
4
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald
On Lake Superior, Hurricane winds and high waves sank the massive cargo ship as it traveled from Wisconsin to a steel factory in Detroit in November, 1975. At 729 feet, it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes at the time. Sadly, All 29 crew members perished.
5
The RMS Republic
On January 23, 1909, the steam-powered ocean liner collided with the SS Florida off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Six people perished, and to this day, treasure hunters are convinced that it carried gold coins worth billions of dollars.
6
Cemetery of the Burci - Italy
In the late ‘70s, many wooden barges transporting goods between Venice and Treviso were abandoned along the banks of a bend in the Sile River. They gradually sank and started rotting, but their wooden bones have become an eerie tourist attraction.
7
The RMS Empress of Ireland - Québec, Canada
In thick fog, this passenger ship collided with the steam cargo ship, Storstad, on May 29, 1914. 1,012 out of its 1,477 passengers and crew were killed, making it the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Canadian history.
8
The Oldest Known Shipwreck In The World
In the Black Sea, off the coast of Bulgaria, the 75-foot ship known as “The Odysseus” sits 1.24 miles below the surface, where it is thought to have been situated for more than 2,400 years. The lack of oxygen at that depth keeps it in such good condition.
9
The AHS Centaur
This Australian hospital ship was ruthlessly sunk by a Japanese torpedo in 1943. Only 64 out of 332 patients, crew members, and nursing staff survived. Survivors spent 35 hours on rafts waiting to be rescued.
10
The Eduard Bohlen
Trapped in thick fog, the Eduard Bohlen ran aground along Namibia's Skeleton Coast on September 5th, 1909. Since the shoreline retreated, the 310-foot-long cargo ship is now stranded in the desert, over 1,000 feet from the water
