What Happened to These Ships?
You've probably heard plenty of stories about people who disappeared without a trace, but what about an entire ship of passengers? Sure, there could be a simple explanation: they sank. The sea is as wide as it is deep, after all. But as you'll see, the fates of some of the most bizarre shipwrecks in history have far stranger tales than that. The 20 maritime stories on this list are sure to send chills down your spine.
1. The Antikythera Shipwreck
In 1900, while Greek sponge divers were exploring near the island of Antikythera, they stumbled upon a wreck that dated back to the first century BCE. But it wasn't just any shipwreck—along with it, there were sculptures, jewelry, coins, glassware, and something even more bizarre: the Antikythera Mechanism, a complex system of bronze gears that could track astronomical cycles.
No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyright claims). on Wikimedia
2. H. L. Hunley
The H. L. Hunley was no stranger to sinking—in fact, it sank three times in less than a year. While it was recovered the first two times before being returned to service, it then disappeared in 1864 with its eight-man crew and remained missing until 1995. It was finally raised from the seabed at the turn of the century.
3. The World Trade Center Ship
When workers were excavating the World Trade Center in 2010, they encountered something surprising: the remains of an 18th-century wooden ship. Though the vessel's identity remains uncertain, the most probable theory for it being where it ended up was likely due to the rapid development of New York City, leading to it being buried.
4. MV Joyita
The MV Joyita first vanished in 1955—only to turn up more than a month later, but by that time it was drifting hundreds of miles off course. Everyone who had been aboard was gone. Investigators found troubling signs with the ship, but none indicated why the passengers and crew would abandon a vessel designed to remain afloat. To this day, none of the 25 people onboard has ever been found.
Unknown photographer on Wikimedia
5. USS Cyclops
Few maritime disappearances are as bizarre as that of the USS Cyclops. Carrying more than 300 people, it never reached its destination, Baltimore. But even stranger was that no distress call was received. More than 100 years later, the U.S. Navy still isn't sure what exactly happened, and only theories remain.
Photograph was taken by the New York Navy Yard. on Wikimedia
5. SS Poet
An even more recent disappearance is the SS Poet, which left Philadelphia for Egypt in October 1980 and simply vanished. Just like USS Cyclops, no distress call was ever received, and there has been no trace of the ship or any of its 34 crew members.
7. Carroll A. Deering
When the schooner Carroll A. Deering was discovered stranded in January 1921, nobody was aboard. Strangely, though, its lifeboats were gone, along with important navigational equipment and some personal belongings. But if the crew had abandoned the vessel, why? None of the sailors were ever found, meaning its story remains a mystery.
Unspecified in source on Wikimedia
8. Sweepstakes
You'd assume most shipwrecks have sunk deep into the bottom of the sea, but what happened to Sweepstakes might surprise you. In fact, it only sank about 20 feet of water. Thanks to that, much of its hull remains recognizable today, allowing visitors a terrific sight of a ship that went under more than 140 years ago.
Arthur Hamilton Clark 1841-1922 on Wikimedia
9. MS Zenobia
The Swedish ferry Zenobia didn't even complete its first trip before things went awry in 1980. The vessel eventually sank off Cyprus, and with it, more than 100 loaded trucks aboard went down. The wreckage gave exploring divers an unusual look at an entire road-transport shipment lost at once.
10. The Uluburun Shipwreck
Though the Uluburun wreck was discovered in 1982, the vessel had been resting there since the late Bronze Age—some 3,300 years earlier. Excavations on the ship recovered everything from luxury items to personal possessions, and even trade objects linked to several ancient cultures.
11. SS Marine Sulphur Queen
Perhaps the disappearance of SS Marine Sulphur Queen could've been attributed to the fact that it'd been transporting molten sulfur, but even with a massive search, no survivors or main wreckage were ever located by investigators. The theories were endless, ranging from an explosion to structural failure, yet there simply wasn't enough physical evidence to conclude exactly what happened on that fateful night in February 1963.
12. Gribshunden
The royal flagship Gribshunden was carrying King Hans of Denmark and Norway to a meeting when it tragically caught fire and sank off Sweden. Recovered in the wreck, however, was an exceptional array of royal provisions that were incredibly well preserved, including black pepper, cloves, ginger, almonds, and saffron—many of which, at that point, were centuries old!
Militärhistorikern on Wikimedia
13. SS Koombana
In March 1912, just as a violent tropical cyclone was developing, the luxury steamship Koombana set sail with roughly 157 people. Whether due to the severe weather or something else entirely, only scattered debris remained of it. More than a century of searches have failed to locate the wreck, and no one is certain what happened to it.
Allan C. Green (1878–1954) on Wikimedia
14. SS Thistlegorm
When the SS Thistlegorm sank in the Red Sea in 1941 during World War II, everything aboard was taken with it. And not only was there regular military equipment, but the cargo included trucks, aircraft parts, railway cars, and even two steam locomotives, many of which remain at or around the wreck that divers can explore.
Woodym555, edited by Fir0002 on Wikimedia
15. SS Waratah
In July 1909, the SS Waratah was carrying 211 people on board and only on its second voyage when it vanished off South Africa. Other ships reported severe weather in the area, but despite repeated searches, the ship was never found, and nobody aboard was ever seen again.
16. SS Palo Alto
Built from concrete during World War I but unable to perform the job it'd been intended to do, the SS Palo Alto took on a completely different life: it was deliberately converted into an entertainment complex, fitted with a café, ballroom, and even carnival attractions. Unfortunately, it only lasted a few years, and after being battered by a storm, it was largely forgotten.
FolsomNatural from Folsom, CA on Wikimedia
17. HMAS Protector
Before extensive damage ran the Australian gunboat Protector out of commission in 1943, it had already had a fairly long career. In fact, it was in service all through the colonial era and World War I, and even World War II. What remains of it now is positioned at Heron Reef to serve as a breakwater.
18. MS World Discoverer
In April of 2000, the cruise ship World Discoverer struck something underwater, but quick thinking by the captain allowed everyone aboard to escape onto a nearby bay. The ship never returned to service, however, so the large vessel remains stranded there even two decades on for all curious travelers to see.
19. HMS Pandora
When the HMS Pandora set sail in 1790, it had a specific goal: find the Bounty and arrest its mutineers. The mission was successful to some extent—14 men were captured—but then the ship struck Australia's Great Barrier Reef in 1791. The wreck wasn't hauled up until the late 1970s, and subsequent expeditions would recover thousands of relics from one of maritime history's best-known mutinies.
20. HMS Breadalbane
The wreck of the merchant ship Breadalbane was actually due to a missing one: it'd been searching for Sir John Franklin's missing Arctic expedition when it caught ice and sank near Beechey Island in 1853. It would take more than 100 years for underwater teams to find it, finally bringing an end to this rather ironic case.
