Famous Shipwrecks

Titanic Perhaps the best known of all shipwrecks, the Titanic, which boasted a gym, swimming pool and a squash court, sank in the early morning of 15 April, 1912 after colliding with and iceberg that ripped open the ship's hull. There weren't enough lifeboats for all passengers, leaving 1503to perish in the icy North Atlantic. The wreck, which lies 323 nautical miles (600kilometres) southeast of Newfoundland, was found in September 1985 by a team of scientists led by Captain Jean-Louis Michel and Dr Robert Ballard.

Mary Rose The Mary Rose buckled under the heavy weight of more than 90 guns and approximately 200 crewmembers on July 19, 1514, much to the horror of England's King Henry VIII, who had called it "the fairest flower of all the ships that ever sailed." Fewer than 40 sailors survived the tragedy. Salvage work started soon after but was haited by 1550. It was not until the mid-1960s that efforts began again. In 1982, close to 60 million people watched the recpry of the warship live on TV.

Belgrano More than 300 men was killed when Argentinian Navy cruiser, the ARA General Belgrano, was hit by two tropedoes fired by British nuclear submarine, HMS Conqueror. Although 770 people were rescued, the attack was controversial beacause the Belgrano had been sailing away from the Falkland islands to escape the 1982 war. A 2003 expedition to recover the wreck at the South Atlantic was unsucessful.

Wilhelm Gustloff The Titanic may be the most famous maritime disaster but the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea resulted in the greatest loss of life. The former German cruise ship was evacuating civilians and wounded soldiers trapped by the advancing Soviet Red Army in East Prussia. More than 10,000 people (4000of whom were children) were crammed into the ship, way over its 1880 capacity. The Wilhelm Gustloff sunk on January 30, 1945 when it was struck by three torpedoes fired by a Soviet submarine. Over 9000 people died.