Famous sunken ships, which can still be visited. Shipwreck Costa Concordia (2012)

On November 21, 1916, the ship "Britannic", belonging to the ships of the "Olympic" class, and the twin brother of the famous "Titanic" sank.

The White Star Line company began production of the Olympic class liners in 1910. The first of the three twin brothers to arrive was the Olympic liner. She was considered the largest ship in the world and surpassed all competitors who held this title before. The next in this class appeared "Titanic" and "Britannic", which were striking in their luxury and size. However, "Olympic" is the only one of the three liners that did not crash, unlike their "brothers".

We decided to recall the largest shipwrecks:

The Titanic was the second Olympic class liner and was considered even more luxurious than its predecessor and the largest passenger liner in the world. In May 1911, he was first launched. And on April 10, 1912, he went to his first and last flight... Famed as the safest and most unsinkable, "Titanic" April 14, 1912 collided with an iceberg. More than 1,400 people died in this disaster. 712 people were saved. This was a real shock for the whole world.

2. "Britannic"

The Britannic was the third and final ship of the Olympic class. After the sinking of the Titanic, the most important goal of the creators of the new liner was to increase the level of safety. Which they have achieved through the new system of davits.

The liner was launched on February 26, 1914, but with the imminent outbreak of the First World War, the Britannic was converted into a hospital ship. On November 12, 1916, he embarked on a 6th voyage to the Mediterranean. On November 21, the liner sailed between the island of Kea and mainland Greece where mines were placed by a German submarine. The vessel was blown up on the bow from the starboard side. While the crew was trying to buy at least a little time, an urgent evacuation began. Nine people died on board, and another 21 people died during the launch of the boats. Nevertheless, the rescue operation on the Britannica was considered one of the most successful in the history of navigation.

3. "Lusitania"

The Lusitania is a British passenger liner first launched on June 7, 1906. The construction of "Lusitania" and various costs were provided by the British government on condition that in case of emergency the liner will be converted into an armed cruiser. However, when the First World War began. True, the Lusitania did not fit as an armed cruiser, so it served as the main high-speed passenger ship. On May 7, 1915, while in the submarine war zone designated by the Kaiser government, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine. 1198 people died, no more than 700 were saved. After this catastrophe, public opinion in many countries was opposed to Germany.

4. "Andrea Doria"

Andrea Doria - Italian transatlantic liner, first launched on June 16, 1951. It did not resemble any of its predecessors previously built, and was distinguished by its special safety. That is why after the collision on July 26, 1956 with the Stockholm liner off the coast of New York, not a single person remained on the sunken liner. This is the most successful rescue operation in history.

5. "Donja Paz"

Dona Paz is a Filipino passenger ferry built in 1963 in Japan. On December 20, 1987, the ship embarked on its last voyage. Already in the evening of the same day, the ferry collided with the tanker "Vector". The number of victims is about 4,375. This is the largest maritime disaster in peacetime.

6. "Lancastrian"

Lancastria is an ocean-going passenger liner built in 1920. After the outbreak of the Second World War, it was used as a military vessel. During the evacuation of troops from Norway on June 17, while off the coast of France, 10 bombs dropped by an enemy plane hit Lancastria. Onboard there were 4,500 soldiers and 200 crew members. Only about 700 people were saved.

Liner Costa Concordia, one of the ten largest cruise ships in the world, wrecked on January 13, 2012. And the other day, off the coast of the Italian island of Giglio, a unique operation to lift a 300-meter sunken giant weighing 114 thousand tons was successfully completed.

The final elimination of the consequences of the crash will consist of 10 stages and will take several years.

Let's first tell you how the crash happened cruise ship Costa Concordia.

Confirming the notoriety of Friday the 13th, the huge cruise ship Costa Concordia, which carried more than 4,200 people, crashed in January 2012 near the island of Giglio, off the coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. (Photo by AP Photo | Giuseppe Modesti):

According to the captain, the cruise ship ran into rocks that were not indicated on the navigation map. 32 people died, two are missing.

People awaiting evacuation from the sinking ship, January 14, 2012. Some of them are now dead. (Photo by AP Photo | Courtesy a tourist aboard the ship):

Later, the ship Costa Concordia almost completely sank into the Mediterranean Sea. January 24, 2012. (Photo by AP Photo | Italian Navy GOS):

The Italian "Titanic" - the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank in Italy - has been in trouble since its launch in 2005, when, according to an old naval tradition, a bottle was to be smashed on the side of the ship. But the bottle didn't break. In 2008, the € 450 million Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed into a pier off the coast of Naples, Italy.

The prosecutor's office argued that it was the actions of the captain with the corresponding name Francesco Schettino that led to the wreck of the ship, and also accuses him of escaping from the ship long before the end of the evacuation, leaving his passengers. (Photo by Reuters | Enzo Russo | ANSA):

Let's compare Titanic and Costa Concordia by technical characteristics:

Rescuers at the ship, January 19, 2012. To get into some compartments, it was necessary to install explosive charges on the ship's hull, which made the necessary holes. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia | Reuters):

By the way, among the sea disasters that occurred in peacetime, the Titanic ranks third in terms of the number of victims - 1,513 people. Leadership remains with the ferry "Donja Paz", which collided in 1987 with an oil tanker. Then in the collision and the subsequent fire, more than 4,000 people died.

Chairs retrieved from the Costa Concordia, (AP Photo | Pier Paolo Cito):

Costa Concordia had 1,500 cabins, the world's largest seafront wellness center, four swimming pools, five spas, five restaurants, 13 bars, a cinema, a disco and an internet cafe. A look inside the sunken cruise ship, January 19, 2013. (Photo by Reuters | Centro subacquei dei Carabinieri):

According to passengers, when the ship had already received a hole, the crew, dressed in life jackets, persuaded the passengers to return to their cabins, assuring that nothing terrible was happening. Panic reigned.

Scuba divers inspect the interior of the sunken ship Costa Concordia, January 24, 2012. (AP Photo | Italian Navy):

This is how the Costa Concordia cruise ship remained off the coast of the Tuscany region of Italy on February 11, 2012. (Photo by Reuters | Giampiero Sposito):

In this disaster, 32 people died, two more were not found. Their names are engraved on a memorial plaque. Italy, 13 January 2013. (Photo by AP Photo | Gregorio Borgia):

The specialists were able to start pumping diesel fuel from the vessel's tanks only a month later: both because of the search for people and because of the weather conditions. And although a large-scale ecological catastrophe was avoided, the damage to the protected territory of Italy was nevertheless inflicted. (Photo by Filippo Monteforte | AFP | Getty Images):

Complete elimination of the consequences of the crash will consist of 10 stages and will take several years. (Photo by AP Photo | Pier Paolo Cito):

How the Costa Concordia cruise ship was lifted

The next step in eliminating the consequences of the crash was the lifting of the cruise ship Costa Concordia.

A view near the island of Giglio off the coast of the Tuscany region of Italy, September 16, 2013. (Photo by Reuters | Tony Gentile):

Here, at the crash site of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, work is being completed on the installation of equipment before bringing the vessel into an upright position. This operation is truly unique. Engineers have never had to work with such large vessels before.

The purpose of this operation was to remove the vessel from the stones, lift and place it vertically using an underwater platform and cranes. The containers on the sides (below in the photo) will allow the entire structure to remain on the surface. (Photo by Andreas Solaro | AFP | Getty Images):

The largest and most expensive maritime rescue operation in history is worth about 250 million euros, and the damage to the owners was 1.5 billion euros. Italy, August 26, 2013. (Photo by Reuters | Alessandro Bianchi):

The main danger of this operation was that during the first maneuvers, the ship's hull, which had serious damage, could break. (Photo by AP Photo | Gregorio Borgia):

After lifting the sunken, rescuers are most interested in the restaurant and the deck on the starboard side - most likely, they will try to find the bodies of two missing persons there - the waiter Kevin Rebello and the passenger Maria Grazia Trekariki.

A unique operation to raise the sunken ship off the coast of the Italian island of Giglio took less than a day - 19 hours. The vessel was successfully put on the keel.

The goal of the operation was to achieve zero roll, and this goal was achieved. (Photo by Vicenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty Images):

600 days on its side on the reefs turned out to be fatal for the cruise ship Costa Concordia, the hull is hopelessly deformed, but now there are no inaccessible zones on it. September 19, 2013. (Photo by Vicenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty Images):

Costa Concordia in an upright position, September 17, 2013. The twisted side of the ship. (Photo by Vicenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty Images):

Off the coast of the island of Giglio, a boat anchored to a platform to help it weather the winter storms will remain at least until the end of next spring. Costa Concordia will then be towed to one of the nearest ports for recycling. (Photo by Vicenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty Images):

The starboard side suffered serious damage. September 17, 2013. (Photo by Andreas Solaro | AFP | Getty Images):

Recovered from the day the ship Costa Concordia, September 17, 2013. The mangled right side is visible in the photo. See also: (Photo by Andreas Solaro | AFP | Getty Images):

Through the bitter-salty water, the decks of ships sunk at shallow depths appear. Like ghosts from a parallel world, they plunged into oblivion and now frighten random witnesses from the depths.

At low tide, they approach the surface itself, where the leg of an unwary swimmer can touch the rusty and slimy side of a dead man.

When the tide comes, the sea hides the trophy, carrying it into the abyss of the waves, under the weight of the waters above. There, where everything is covered with the darkness of the depths: the wreckage of ships, and submerged cities, and octopuses, and storms, and boxes of gold ...

Ship graveyard in Truda Bay

Destroyers, patrol boats, submarines, landing ships - 42 objects in total in a submerged and semi-submerged state. The main attraction of the Russky Island in images from space.

Most of them are decommissioned ships of the Pacific Fleet. Many have been awaiting their fate since the mid-1970s, and have already lost all hope of disposal under normal conditions. Today, Truda Bay has become a popular stand-up paddleboarding destination due to its magnificent and intimidating views of the rusty ridges of ships lying under water.

Remains of "Phoenix" and BEKA-1 on Black sea coast near Odessa

Wreck in Copenhagen harbor

"Island of the lost ships" off the coast of Australia

F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighter shot down over a Pacific atoll lagoon

Legendary "Maud" - R. Amundsen's expedition ship, covered with ice off the Arctic coast of Canada

The sunken schooner on Lake Huron already mentioned in the previous review. Aerial view this time

The cruiser "Murmansk" crashed into the cliffs of Hammerfest. The most heroic representative of the entire collection of lost ships

The former flagship of the Northern Fleet, KRL "Murmansk" served 36 years, leaving over 240 thousand nautical miles astern. In 1989, the old cruiser was removed from the active composition of the fleet and laid down; sold for metal three years later.

In December 1994, while being towed to India, an old warrior fell off the towing ropes. Death on the stinking beach of Alang seemed unworthy of the SF flagship. Like a samurai who chose seppuku, the cruiser chose to fall with her chest on the sharp rocks.

He spent 15 long years off the coast of Norway, turning into a local attraction for those wishing to gawk at the Soviet warship. However, the fears of Norwegian environmentalists took over - in 2010, work began on cutting the "Murmansk" in an impromptu drained "lagoon". By now, there are no traces left of it.

Wrecks can tell a lot about the era when they sailed the seas and oceans. However, each of them survived the tragic death of those who were on board at a fateful moment. Until now, sunken ships keep their secrets under the water column. Any more or less prepared diver can try to solve the mysteries of ghost ships today. However, not every scuba diving enthusiast will be able to get inside the ship. Modern equipment and special training will help to solve this problem too. Therefore, today everyone who wants to touch the underwater secrets of sunken ships can afford it as an interesting tourist entertainment.

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The warship "Sirius" was sent on a combat voyage in 1797. This forty-meter frigate took part in sea battles more than once and in most cases won a victory over the enemy. However, in an unequal battle that broke out at the end of August in 1810 between the British and French fleets, the frigate hit the coral reefs. Undefeated until that time, "Sirius", having received a hole, became vulnerable, and the French ships, one after another, fired from their guns at the British frigate until they sent it to the bottom. The ship is still at a depth of about 25 m. Of course, for such a long time, many marine inhabitants have lived in it. But to this day, off the southeastern coast of the island of Mauritius, you can see the hull of the frigate and the traces of the last battle of the "Sirius" - guns and other weapons torn apart by shells, lying at the bottom around the ship.

Ferry Zenobia

The death of the huge ferry "Zenobia" can be called unique not only because not a single crew member was injured during its crash, and everyone was safely rescued. The fact is that the ferry was built and launched in 1979, and during its maiden voyage it sank on the fourth day. The cause of the loss of the ferry was never finally established. There were speculations about malfunctions in the ferry's computer system, as well as deliberate drowning in order to obtain insurance. Each of the versions has the right to exist. After all, about 100 trucks and cargo worth about 200 million USD were sent to the seabed off the coast of Cyprus together with the ferry.

As a result of the slow sinking of the 172-meter ferry, many of the premises survived. However, not every diver can get to the engine room or restaurant. Due to the fact that the left side of the ferry gave a roll during the sinking, it found itself at a depth of 42 meters, and the starboard side sank to the mark of 18 meters. It should be noted that the water off the coast of Cyprus is remarkable for its amazing transparency. Therefore, "Zenobia" is clearly visible from a height if you fly up by plane to Larnaca.

132-meter "Fujikawa Maru"

The ship graveyard off the coast of Micronesia near Truk Island was formed during the Second World War. During the military operation "Hilton" in 1944, American fighters managed to defeat the Japanese sea and air fleet. For many decades, buried in seabed military technology attracted almost no one until in the 70s the scientific expedition of Jacques Cousteau began to study it. Since then, divers from all over the world have been rushing to see the sunken submarines, planes, ships and tanks of Japan during the Second World War.

Laguna Truk, at the bottom of which there is a Japanese cemetery military equipment, surrounded on all sides by corals that protect the equipment from ocean currents. Therefore, the buried submarines, ships and aircraft are well preserved. In addition, some ships met their doom on the shallows. These include the 132-meter "Fujikawa Maru", to which any diver can descend to a depth of 9 meters. In addition to the sunken grandiose military equipment, diving enthusiasts may be interested in the amazing corals and bright tropical fish that have firmly settled here, among which there may be reef sharks.

Orkney Islands Ship Graveyard

Another huge cemetery of ships is the site of the forced sinking of ships of the German navy during the First World War. These wrecks are located off the coast of northern Scotland at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. Forcibly detained off the coast of Britain, the German fleet was destroyed on the orders of its own command. German Admiral Reuters brilliantly planned an operation to destroy 50 warships in just a few hours, so that after the surrender of Germany they would not fall to the enemy.

At the bottom of the British harbor they found their final resting place about 70 different ships, among which there are not only German ships, but also unidentified and unexplored ships. Therefore, there is a great opportunity to become the discoverer of unknown sea vessels.

Steamer "Baron Gouch"

During the First World War off the coast of Croatia, the completely peaceful steamer Baron Gauch was also damaged. After launching in 1908, after some time it began to be repaired. During the war years, the steamer was first used to deliver food to the city of Kotor, and then to evacuate the civilian population from the war zone. One day in August 1914, the Baron Gauch was blown up by a mine. It is not so easy to explore this ship these days. Divers require a special permit to dive.

Liner Andrea Doria

Sank on the way to New York at a depth of 75 m, the liner Andrea Doria was the first international class passenger ship built after the Second World War. Not far from the American coast, at zero visibility, a Swedish ship heading for Europe crashed into the Doria. The captain of the sinking liner did his best to save the passengers and crew. Four nearby ships came to the aid of "Doria". Despite the fact that there were 1134 passengers and 572 crew members on board, almost everyone was saved. Only 43 passengers were killed in the collision of ships. Andrea Doria is considered the most inaccessible for divers due to its distance from the coast, low water temperature and great depth.

Titanic

Everyone knows the story of the tragic death of the Titanic. Every diver dreams of diving into the depths of the ocean to see the legendary ship with his own eyes. However, not everyone can decide on such a desperate step. After all, the depth at which the Titanic rests is 3750 m. However, thanks to the achievements of science, even this depth can be conquered. To dive to such an impressive depth, they use a special underwater vehicle - the Mir bathyscaphe. It can accommodate only three people, including the aircraft pilot. It is worth noting that the pleasure is quite expensive and not everyone can afford it.

In the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Giglio in 2012, on January 13, there was a terrible tragedy - the catastrophe of a large cruise ship Costa Concordia. At that time, there were 4,200 people on it.

Ship "Costa Concordia"

The liner was built in mid-summer 2006. This is one of the largest modern ships of Costa Cruises, which ranks first in Europe for passenger (cruise) traffic. 114,500 tons - its displacement, passenger capacity - up to 3780 people. The number of cabins on board is 1500.

Dimensions of the vessel: 290.2 m in length, 35.5 in breadth. A powerful electric generator is capable of providing energy to an entire city with a population of 50 thousand. There are four swimming pools, 5 restaurants, 5 spas, 13 bars, a disco, a cinema and an internet cafe on board.

Crash

On January 13, the ship from the port of Civitavecchia headed for Savona. It was the usual cruise route - "7 nights of the winter Mediterranean". This last cruise was planned to call in several ports of Italian cities, as well as in Barcelona and Marseille.

At 10 o'clock in the evening, near the island of Giglio, when most of the passengers were having dinner at a restaurant, the steamer ran into a huge stone reef. He received a large hole (length - 53 m, width up to 7.3 m) and began to sink. Compartments from the third to the eighth (5 in total) were flooded. The eighth was the engine room. As a result, control over engines and electronic equipment was lost.

The ship ran aground just 150 meters from settlement- the villages of Giglio Porto. Thus the Costa Concordia crashed.

The vessel was designed to be unsinkable if only two compartments were damaged. By the morning of January 14, the ship sank and, having touched the bottom, lay down on the starboard side.

At the time of the disaster, there were 3216 passengers (from 62 countries) and 1023 crew members on board. Among them were Russians (108 people) and Ukrainians (45 citizens). None of them were hurt. Only out of three Russians (crew members) after the disaster, two were hospitalized. On board were three more citizens from Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Rescue operations, help from local residents

According to the testimony of numerous witnesses (there is evidence on video recordings), the crew of the Costa Concordia failed the rescue operation. The captain of the Skettino liner himself, instead of giving the necessary distress signal and starting the evacuation only 15 minutes after the accident, announced to the passengers that the ship had only minor problems with the generator (at that time there were really problems with energy).

Only when closer to 11 o'clock the list of the vessel increased greatly (30 degrees), beeps were heard, which meant that passengers should leave the vessel. Of course, panic and crush began.

The captain himself (according to the investigation) was one of the first to leave the ship, without even sending any signal about this terrible disaster. Thanks to the actions of the coast guard, which contacted the ship, a rescue operation began in the middle of the night.

Passengers who did not have time to get into the boats were lifted from the side rails (they clung to them) by helicopters. Four boats did not have time to be lowered into the water. There was a very strong roll. Some passengers were able to swim to the shore by themselves.

Subsequently, during the search for the missing people, the military sailors began exploding holes in the walls of the ship in order to break through to the remaining air bags in which there could be survivors.

Search and rescue operations had to be stopped several times due to unfavorable weather conditions and ship movements.

At the beginning of February 2012, it was announced that prospecting work had been stopped, but only in the submerged parts of the ship, due to the great risk for scuba divers. And searches on the seabed (within 18 sq. Km), as well as in the remaining non-flooded premises of the vessel continued.

The inhabitants of the island, in turn, helped the victims by placing them in a school, local church and other buildings. Provided them with medical care, brought food, warm clothes.

Victims, dead and wounded

Three deaths were reported from daily reports on January 14th.
On January 15, the bodies of two more dead passengers (an Italian and a Spaniard) were found.

By January 16, there were already 6 people killed. And 16 people at that time were listed as missing. The next day, the list of missing persons increased to 29 people (including 4 crew members). The confusion in the numbers of the report was due to the fact that most of the rescued were foreigners who did not speak Italian.

By the end of March 2012, a total of 30 bodies had been found. Two more people have been reported missing so far. The remains of the very last missing were found during the search work only in November 2013.

Invasion of tourists

"Costa Concordia" has increased the flow of tourists to the sites of the tragedy.

More than six months after the disaster, the tiny island was filled with a huge number of tourists. In neighboring San Stefano, 15 kilometers from the scene of the tragedy, tour operators were doing business - selling tickets for 10 euros. Tourists had the opportunity to look at the half-sunken liner from a special ferry that passed just a few meters from the Concordia.

Mayor of the village Giglio Sergio Ortelli noted that in fact there has been a significant increase in the number of tourists. They came to see the gigantic ship tumbled on its side and to photograph it as a souvenir.

Investigation work on the incident, results

The investigation established that the ship approached much closer (10 times) to the coast than envisaged by the route, and at a higher speed.

The entire campaign to eliminate the consequences of the shipwreck lasted more than two years. The damage, estimated by the authorities of the island of Giglio, amounted to 125-189 million euros.

The main defendant is the captain of the crashed liner, Francesco Schettino. He was found guilty of unintentionally killing people (32 people) and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Shipping experts are perplexed and amazed at how a modern and well-equipped vessel like the Costa Concordia could run aground in such well-studied maritime areas.

The experts had two questions. Namely, how it happened that the "Costa Concordia" departed from the planned route (3-4 nautical miles) and for what reason it turned over so soon.

This ship made cruises on this route 52 times a year.
The main assumptions about the causes of what happened are the human factor and a failure in technology or a combination of these two factors.

It is also possible that the ship's crew simply lost its course. Therefore, the ship "Costa Concordia" was dangerously close to the coast.

There were also versions that there were malfunctions in the vessel's navigation equipment.
Power outages could also occur on board.

But the most important thing is that there was a wreck in the Mediterranean Sea. huge liner"Costa Concordia" was recognized in the world only a day after the incident. The greatest indignation and bewilderment was caused by the behavior of the ship's captain Francesco Schettino and the command obeying him.

According to the testimony of passengers, some members of the crew at first did not even allow people to lifeboats, eventually climbed into them ourselves. And the captain escaped from the sinking ship, abandoning all the passengers.

Costa Concordia now

The operation to lift the ship was carried out in several stages. These works are the most expensive in the history of such operations, their cost is about 250 million euros. For the owners of the ship, the damage amounted to approximately 1.5 billion euros. In August 2013, a unique operation began. It took less than a day. The ship was safely put on the keel.

The goal of the entire operation was, first of all, to achieve the minimum roll (zero). This was successfully achieved. For 600 days of being on the reefs, the hull of the liner was badly damaged. However, the rise of Costa Concordia was completed successfully.

At the end of July 2014, work began on the towing of the vessel to the port of Genoa. Three days later, the ship was brought to the designated port. The dismantling of the hull will take almost 2 years.