The death of the unsinkable "Titanic", the explosion of "Novorossiysk" and other famous shipwrecks in history

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Since those ancient times, when man became a navigator, he was constantly faced with the danger of perishing in the seas. Underwater reefs and rocks, "killer waves", the notorious human factor and other reasons have led and, possibly, will lead to disasters in the sea. Even the twentieth century, with its steel and durable ships, lightning-fast communications and radars, did not save the ship from destruction. Where and for what reasons did the famous shipwrecks occur in world history?

"Titanic" - the main sea disaster of the XX century

The British liner has earned the title of the most recognizable sunken ship in the world. Much has contributed to this. Even before the launch, newspapers and magazines called the Titanic unsinkable, and for business - the hold and lower decks were equipped with sealed doors, and the double bottom made it possible to remain buoyant in the event of a leak.

The excitement around the popular and luxurious liner has led to the fact that tickets for its first and last flights from the UK to the United States were more expensive than other similar ships. This is not only about the first class, in which some well-known entrepreneurs, writers and public figures have rushed to take their places. The public's attention only strengthened the impression of the impending tragedy …

Icebergs were a common threat to ships in the North Atlantic during the springtime, but huge ice floes often left ships with only scratches. The command of the "Titanic" (which, we recall, was nicknamed "unsinkable") and could not imagine the dire consequences of a collision with ice. In addition, it was necessary to adhere to the schedule and go at high speed.

On the fifth day of her voyage from the British port of Southampton to New York, on the night of April 15, 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg. It was dark, and the obstacle was not noticed in time. Long holes allowed water to fill the holds above the bulkheads. Two and a half hours later, the ship went under water. Due to the lack of boats, about one and a half thousand people could not escape and drowned in the waters of the ocean.

"Dona Paz" - collision of a ferry with a tanker

Since the sinking of the Titanic, the biggest peacetime maritime disaster has been the sinking of the Philippine ferry Dona Paz. Its history is not at all like the history of an expensive and brand new liner. At the time of the crash, Donja Paz had served the people for two decades. The ferry was built by the Japanese and sold to the Philippines after many years of operation.

The poor Asian country used the ship to the last on its inland shipping lines. There were no navigation devices on it, there was only one person on the captain's bridge at the time of the disaster - a sailor's apprentice, and the rest of the crew in the cockpit was watching TV and drinking beer.

On December 20, 1987, Donja Paz collided with the tanker Vector with oil products on board. By the way, the crew of the tanker also did not show special vigilance and professional attitude to their duties - they did not accept any attempts to change course in advance. The tanker caught fire, both ships began to sink, and the passengers in panic threw themselves into the water, where burning fuel was already spilling on the surface.

Due to the extreme overcrowding of the ferry, the exact number of passengers was unknown, so the victims were not counted immediately, but only after many years of investigation. The dead, as it turned out, was almost 4.5 thousand. Only 24 passengers survived the crash.

"Sultana" - the largest river shipwreck

It was not only the sea that was fraught with dangers for ships. The sinking of the American steamer Sultana, cruising along the Mississippi River in 1865, is considered to be the largest wreck on river waters. In the United States, the Civil War ended that year, and the captive northerners were finally freed. The captain of the Sultana, James Mason, agreed to take on board more than two thousand former prisoners and transport them to the northern states.

In the middle of the night on April 27, 1865, a boiler exploded on the ship. Part of the deck, along with people peacefully sleeping on it - who had nowhere else to stay - collapsed down. One pipe from the power of the explosion flew overboard, and the other fell on the bow of the ship. The wooden ship easily caught fire, and the headwind in the direction of the ship's movement only intensified the fire. Some people escaped in boats, some - by swimming, but nevertheless, the death toll exceeded 1700 people.

It was not possible to establish the exact reasons for the explosion. Most likely, the poor design of the boilers and the use of dirty water from the Mississippi, clogging the mechanisms, and the overcrowding of the ship played a role. There were also more exotic versions: the former agent of the Southerners, Robert Louden, later said that it was he who planted the bomb on the ship - although this statement was probably pure bravado.

"Novorossiysk" - explosion at a combat post

Warships are often killed during battles. The Italian battleship Giulio Cesare survived two world wars and was handed over to the Soviet Union as reparations. The ship, which was outdated at that time, was repaired for several years and in 1955 was included in the Black Sea Fleet under the name "Novorossiysk". According to some estimates, at that time it could be considered the most powerful Soviet warship.

"Novorossiysk" served its new homeland for a very short time, only a few times went to sea to practice combat missions and took part in celebrations on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the defense of Sevastopol. On the night of October 29, 1955, an explosion was heard on a moored ship. The hull was punctured, and more than 150 people in the bow rooms were killed.

The reasons for the explosion remained unclear. It was not possible to prove sabotage by foreign states. The official investigation considered that the most likely source of the explosion was a German bottom mine placed in the bay during the war.

Unfortunately, the catastrophe did not end in an explosion. They immediately tried to tow the Novorossiysk in shallow water, but its bow landed on the ground and the ship began to roll rapidly on its side, and then completely went under water. The decision to evacuate the sailors was taken too late, and they were trapped in the capsized ship. As a result, the account of the dead lives exceeded 800 people.

Thresher - largest submarine wreck

The main disaster in the Russian submarine fleet is considered the sinking of the "Course". However, in world history there was a similar incident that led to the death of a larger crew. The American nuclear submarine "Thresher" in 1963 conducted strength tests during deep-sea diving.

On April 10, 1963, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Thresher was supposed to descend to a test depth of 360 meters. Approaching this depth, the boat stopped answering calls. In the last and heavily distorted message from the boat, it was possible to make out the words "ultimate depth", followed by a noise. Subsequently, it was identified as the noise of a crumbling hull.

As established by the investigation, due to poor-quality soldering of the seam, water penetrated into the reactor, and it refused. The boat could not rise and began to sink to the bottom until the destruction of the solid hull.129 people on board drowned with her.

"Admiral Nakhimov" - collision of two ships

Even with modern navigation devices, ship collisions are possible due to the human factor. The story of the collapse of the Soviet passenger steamer "Admiral Nakhimov" became such an example. The fate of the ship was somewhat similar to the Novorossiysk: it was also built abroad, in Germany, and after the war was handed over to the Soviet fleet.

Despite its age, the "Admiral Nakhimov" made cruises without accidents and incidents. He successfully carried passengers long distances, all the way to Cuba and Saudi Arabia. The deterioration of the vessel made itself felt, and at the end of 1986 it was planned to write it off the balance of the Black Sea Shipping Company.

Unfortunately, the circumstances were different. In the evening of August 31, 1986, making a flight from Novorossiysk to Sochi, "Admiral Nakhimov" crossed course with another ship - dry cargo ship "Pyotr Vasev". This happened due to uncoordinated actions of the crews: the passenger liner slightly changed its course, and the captain of "Petra Vaseva" did not take this into account and did not pay attention to the radar screen in time.

The dry cargo ship rammed the Admiral Nakhimov. The liner tilted heavily, which made it impossible to lower the boats into the water. "Admiral Nakhimov" went under water just 8 minutes after the collision. Passengers in a hurry fled on rafts or by swimming, some, due to panic, did not even have time to get out of the cabins and corridors, and many did not even have enough life jackets. More than 400 people out of 1200 on board did not survive this night.