Did you know that 80% of the oceans that cover 70% of the Earth are still unexplored? We are also planning to go to space. First we need to explore our own world. Maybe there are still species in the oceans that we haven’t discovered yet. There are even the shipwrecks of mysterious ships in those oceans, which are still unknown to this day.
We wondered about this today and we’ve brought together some of the most popular mystery ships disappearing stories. Let’s examine the interesting disappearance stories of these famous ships that once roamed the oceans.
Endurance – Ernest Shackleton
In November 1915, explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, crashed into glaciers during his voyage and slowly broke apart and sank off West Antarctica. The Endurance ship had been underwater for more than 100 years and its exact whereabouts were unknown. However, on March 9, an international research team announced that they had found the ship.
The team of explorers named Endurance22 ‘sailing’ from South Africa in February 2022. The team had high-tech autonomous underwater research equipment at their disposal, and with it they began searching for Endurance’s remains. The team discovered the ship’s remains 6 kilometers from the last location recorded by Frank Worsley, the captain of the Endurance.
The remains found were still in good condition, although the ship was shattered by the glaciers. The Endurance ship will remain in its underwater ‘grave’ for future research. The ship is currently protected as a historical monument under the Antarctic Treaty, meaning no one can touch the ship.
HMS Endeavor – James Cook
Captain James Cook sailed with this ship from Britain to Australia in 1770. The ship was later used in the US War of Independence to transport British troops and, according to data, sank in 1778.
Last February, the Australian National Maritime Museum announced the discovery of the remains of HMS Endedavour off Rhode Island. However, the Rhode Island Maritime and Archaeological Project states that we cannot know for sure whether this discovery belongs to HMS Endeavour, as there are still many unanswered questions.
Santa Maria – Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus’ largest ship, Santa Maria, just a few days after leaving Spain It crashed and sank off the coast of Haiti in 1492. In 2014, a submarine researcher claimed to have found the ship’s remains, but UNESCO definitively stated that the remains were built several centuries after the Santa Maria sank.
The remains of Columbus’s largest expedition ship have still not been found to this day. Few remains have been searched for the ship off the coast of Haiti, but never as large a search as Endeavour’s.
USS Cyclops – US Army
USS Cyclops, one of the logistics ships of the US naval army, sailed from Brazil to Baltimore in 1918 during World War I. The ship had mysteriously disappeared. Along with the ship, of course, his entire crew.
To this day, no one knows what happened to the USS Cyclops and its crew. However, given that the logistics ship was lost during World War I, some historians think it was sunk by a German submarine.
U-Boats – German submarines
U-Boats, one of the famous German submarines that sank the USS Cyclops, World War I and It was used in World War II to attack enemy ships. A large majority of these submarines were either sunk or mysteriously lost during the two wars.
To date, the remains of a few of the U-Boats have been found and recovered during sea exploration, but there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of which have yet to be found. They still lie in the depths of the oceans with their crews.
Le Griffon – French explorers
The Great Lakes of the USA, comprising Michigan, Huron, Eria, and Ontario The restless waters of India have hosted one of the most mysterious ship disappearances in history. In 1679, French explorers set sail to explore the northwest pass with the massive ship Le Griffon.
This was the ship’s maiden voyage and while just returning from her maiden voyage, the colossal ship was lost off ‘Green Bay’ in Wisconsin. In 2021, a group of undersea explorers claimed to have found the ship, but any source other than theirs has still not been confirmed as Le Griffon’s remains.
SS Baychimo – British Cargo ship
This cargo ship, named SS Baychimo, got stuck in ice off the northwest coast of Alaska in 1931, causing the crew to abandon ship. . The crew that left Baychimo never returned, and naturally the ship disappeared. This led people to believe that the ship had sunk.
However, until 1969, the information that the ship was still carrying the cargoes and was standing firm was reported to the authorities by many people. Whether this ghost ship is still at sea is a matter of debate these days.
SS Ourang Medan – Dutch Warship
The most interesting lost ship is the SS Ourang Medan, which has been the subject of movies and games so far. This ship was a Dutch warship during World War II. Although it varies according to sources, Ourang Medan, which was navigating the waters on average in the 1940s, experienced a mysterious tragedy while passing through the Strait of Malacca.
Ships near Ourang reported receiving a grim call for help. That call was: “The entire crew, including the captain, is dead, the chart room and bridge are littered with corpses.” The last call was then received from the ship in Morse code. The ship’s radio operator had the last word: “I’m dying.”
After the call for help, the rescuers who boarded the ship stated that they had indeed found the wrecked ship as described in their distress call. The entire crew was dead and the entire deck was littered with corpses. And not only that, the corpses had their mouths wide open, their faces turned to the sun, and their eyes feared. Even the ship’s dog had died with a grim expression on its face.
This is just the beginning of Ourang Medan’s mysterious story, by the way. According to the reports, a fire broke out in the boiler room of the ship right after the rescuers boarded the ship and the rescuers had to evacuate the ship. Shortly after the crews were evacuated, the ship exploded with great force and sank into the ocean without a trace.
Why did Ourang Medan explode?
(The game about Ourang Medan)
Naturally, all these series of events led people to think that supernatural events were taking place. What caused the Ourang Medan crew to be slaughtered and the ship to explode? All the theories produced on the subject come to a dead end. For example, the SS Ourang Medan has no official record with Lloyd’s Shipping, and there is no official record of the strange incident on board, only interviews with rescuers.
The reason why it is so difficult to determine the exact date of the event is that all the newspapers of that period told this story with a date in their heads. But people who lived at that time firmly swear that this strange story is true.
It is said that the reason why the ship is not registered with Lloyd’s Shipping is because it is actually registered in Sumatra. The ship’s name is ‘Ourang Medan’, which translates as ‘Medan’s Men’. Medan is an island of Sumatra.
Moreover, German researcher Professor Theodor Siersdorfer, who has been studying this case for about 50 years, discovered a brochure called Das Totenschiffin der Südsee, published in 1953. This brochure states that the ship carries potassium cyanide and nitroglycerin in its cargo hold. If this is indeed the case, this is thought to be the reason why the ship exploded. In the tense international climate at the end of World War II, these super-sensitive materials can cause a major accident if handled carelessly.
So what killed the crew of Ourang Medan?
As for the unfortunate crew of Ourang Medan, there are several theories. There are many theories about the supernatural, such as evil spirits, but to be more realistic, for example, a pirate ship attack was definitely out of the question, as the bodies are stated to be largely unharmed.
According to many researchers investigating the issue, the cause of death on the ship was the release of dangerous gases carried on the ship, and the crew died horribly because of this. That was the reason for the terrible expression on their faces. The mystery of Ourang Medan is still unsolved, and it is not clear whether the pleasant event is real. What are you thinking? Please do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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