Shipwrecks are important discoveries. Over countless centuries, there have been many ships that have fallen prey to accidents – natural as well as caused by human interference. In this article we take you through the pages of history to find some of precious maritime treasures that have been lying at the ocean's floor.
Top 10 most famous shipwrecks in the world are mentioned below:
The Titanic: The Titanic was the largest cruise ship of its time. The Titanic was built in Ireland at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. It was considered to be the most developed ship of that era. However, as history tells us, the Titanic unfortunately sank after colliding against an iceberg in its maiden voyage on the 14th of April, 1912. Around 1, 517 people lost their lives in one of the biggest marine tragedies.
The process to carry out the discovery of the Titanic' wreck was carried out in the year 1985. Quite a number of artefacts have been removed from the ship wreck and they are displayed in the National Maritime Museum, in England.
The Estonia: The Estonia ship casualty is one of the recent maritime incidents to have occurred. The Estonia, built in the German shipyard Meyer Werft, sank on the 28th September 1994 in the Baltic Sea. Over 800 people lost their lives in this horrifying incident, the causes of which were many and at the same time, controversial.
The most commonly known reason for the accident is said to be the rough weather conditions that the ship encountered. However, certain other sources disregarded this reason and stated that because of the ship's military involvement, bombs were planted by rival countries to destroy the ship. The shipwreck site is protected heavily. People are disallowed to approach the site because of the danger that might be caused to the wreck. Illegal diving near the wreck site is heavily penalised and punished.
The Vampire: The original name of this ship was HMS Wallace. It was a British naval ship that was given to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a loan in the year 1933. Its name was changed to HMAS Vampire, that same year. The Vampire is a very well-known warship. It was destroyed in the year 1942 by Japanese aircrafts while it was trying to bring the aircraft HMS Hermes to safety from Trincomalee.
The Andrea Doria: The Andrea Doria was an Italian ship that sank after colliding against a Swedish ship MS Stockholm in the year 1956, while trying to reach the port of New York City. However, in spite of the severity of the incident, not many lives were lost because of timely communication by the ship's authorities. Today, the shipwreck is a very famous site for divers. In fact, the Andrea Doria shipwreck site is known as the Mt. Everest of Scuba Diving.
