According to UNESCO estimates, the Earth’s oceans, lakes and rivers are home to more than 3 million shipwrecks, including ships, planes, submarines and all sorts of means of transport and everything they had together. Most of the wreckage is in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but even under the wreckage of the Twin Towers a ship was found.
Some of the items that ended up in the ocean waters are famous, loaded with literary and cinematographic works. However, there are other castaways that are rarely addressed, even if they are historically important. How about, then, if we addressed these cases here? Check out the stories of ships and a plane whose abodes are at the bottom of the sea.
1. Amelia Earhart’s plane
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Among so many accomplishments and records that he accumulated throughout his life, he also wrote books about the experience of piloting, in addition to actively participating in movements for the defense of women’s rights.
Unfortunately, he died prematurely. , at the age of 41, when he was flying over the Pacific Ocean, near Howland Island, when he was trying to circumnavigate the world. Without being found, Amelia was declared lost and later killed in 1939. Her plane wreckage was never found, even though many explorers tried to find it.
2. Santa María Ship
(Source: Wikimedia Commons )
On the crossings towards the “New World”, Christopher Columbus left with a convoy of three ships: the larger Santa María and two smaller caravels, Pinta and Santa Clara (Niña). However, on the way back to Spain, Columbus returned only with the smaller caravels.
The reports of the trip say that the Santa María ran aground in Hispaniola (present-day Haiti) at Christmas in 1492. The boat stayed there, ended up lost and was never found. Archaeologists tried to find it, but nothing was found.
3. Royal Merchant Ship
Merchant Royal was an English ship that sank somewhere near the Isles of Scilly, near the county of Cornwall, England. The desire to find it is immense, as it is estimated that it was shipwrecked carrying 100,000 pounds of gold, equivalent to US$ 1 billion, in current values.
While it is not found, the record of The greatest treasure of the seas still belongs to the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a Spanish ship that sank in 1622 and was found, in 1985, with the equivalent of US$ 450 million. By the way, the Atocha was found during searches by the Merchant Royal. What “bad luck”, huh?
4. Ship SS Arctic
(Source : Wikimedia Commons)
The SS Arctic was a luxurious and very powerful ship, which, it was said, was able to cross the Atlantic Ocean in just 10 days. Built with a US government subsidy so that Collins Line, the company responsible for the construction, could compete with the British Cunard Line.
In 1854, four years after being ready, the Arctic collided with a French steamer. About 300 people died in the accident, but neither the ship’s remains nor the bodies of passengers were found. As a curiosity, the SS Arctic sank close to where the Titanic also sank.
5. SS Ship Waratah
( Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Called the Australian Titanic, the SS Waratah was a British passenger ship. imposing, with capacity for 750 passengers and 150 crew, responsible for the route between London and Sydney. On his second voyage, due to being overweight, he ended up not resisting the rough waters and disappeared near Cape Town, South Africa.
For decades, efforts were made to find the wreckage. of the ship and the bodies, so as to ensure that families could bury their loved ones. In 2004, the main hunter of the SS Waratah, gave an interview saying that he gave up the search, as he had no idea where to look anymore.
