A Ro-Pax vessel, later renamed Al Fahad, that was anchored after engine problems and abandoned 14.6 kilometres (9.1mi) southwest of the old city center of Jeddah.[3]
An ocean liner that suffered an internal explosion off Dubai, possibly due to an act of sabotage. 238 people were killed, and the ship sank under tow two days later.
A Chinese merchant vessel built during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). It was discovered in 1996, and was the first vessel China discovered in the open seas.
An ocean liner that caught fire in mysterious circumstances, and was capsized by the water used to fight the fire. The wreck now lies buried beneath Container Terminal 9.
A cargo ship that was bombed and sunk by the CIA while anchored at Ambon, Maluku, as part of a covert operation to drive foreign trade from Indonesian waters.
A regular route ferry between Matsuyama and Kitakyushu that capsized in Typhoon Della off Kunisaki Peninsula, Inland Sea, with at least 133 people confirmed dead.
An Ottoman frigate that foundered in bad weather and ran aground on the east coast of Kii Ōshima, while returning to Turkey after a voyage of friendship to Japan.
Nine historic trade ships carrying ceramics dating back to the 10th century until the 19th century were excavated under Swedish engineer Sten Sjöstrand in the South China Sea.[9][10][11][12]
A schooner-rigged diesel yacht that was confiscated from its German owners and renamed USS Hermes. After World War I, it was sold to MGM, who renamed it MV Lanakai and used it in the film The Hurricane, starring Jon Hall and Dorothy Lamour. During World War II, the ship operated as a covert intelligence-gathering vessel around the Philippines and Vietnam. It was sunk by a typhoon in 1947.[19]
A lumber transport, known locally as El Capitan, that was commissioned for supply duties during World War II. A Liberty ship, the vessel received a Battle Star for her duties and survived being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine at Guadalcanal. She was sunk by typhoon in Subic Bay, whilst undergoing re-fit/repair after the war.[19]
A Japanese prisoner-of-war (POW) transport ship "hell ship" that was sunk by aircraft from USSHornet in Subic Bay. Oryuko Maru was "unmarked" as a POW transport. 200 Allied POWs died during the sinking, with a further 100 murdered or dying of suffocation or dehydration prior to the attack. Of a total of 1,620 POWs initially loaded on Oryuko Maru, only 403 survived Japanese captivity during the war.[19][22]
A schooner, chartered to the East India Company, that struck a reef 46 miles (74km) from Palawan, en route to Balambangan Island. All but three crewmen survived the sinking and were picked up by the British ship Union. The three sailors who drowned were apparently drunk and refused to take to the lifeboats.[24]
A merchant vessel in wartime auxiliary naval service, sunk by US forces in Subic Bay during World War II. The wreck is located in the Grande Island channel, at a depth of 54 metres (177ft).
A Spanish gunboat that was scuttled between Grande Island and Chiquita Islands, near the mouth of Subic Bay, during the Spanish–American War, in the hope of blocking the passage to the US Navy.[19][21]
A 3,712-ton freighter serving in wartime auxiliary naval service. It was initially requisitioned in September 1940, as an auxiliary anti-submarine net-layer and patrol boat, before being re-enrolled as an auxiliary transport in August 1942. She was converted to an emergency tanker in January 1943, and sunk by US naval aircraft in Subic Bay during World War II.[19]
A Mokpo-Jin Island route ferry that capsized off Jeollanam-do. According to South Korean Coast Guard official confirmed report, at least 103 people were confirmed dead, only 48 persons survived.
A ferry with 476 souls on board – most of which were high school students – that capsized near Donggeochado after making a "sudden turn" that overbalanced the ship, which could not be righted. Only 172 survived. The captain and crew were later charged with criminal negligence, gross negligence and manslaughter after it was revealed the ship was heavily overbalanced, and that the captain and crew abandoned ship after ordering the passengers to remain seated even as water began filling the ship, resulting in unnecessary deaths.
A cruise ship that had been abandoned for a year without any maintenance, sank and capsized in shallow waters near the port of Laem Chabang, Sri Racha.
An iron-screw steamer ketch built in Hull in 1893. It was sold and renamed Carmen in 1902, and sold again in 1919.[25] Its subsequent fate was unknown until the wreckage was discovered in the 1950s.[26]
A French naval patrol ship sunk by Turkish coastal artillery off Kemer inside Avova Bay (Ağva Körfezi). Approximately 150 shots were fired, of which 110 hit the target. The crew were rescued by Turkish soldiers.
Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore-side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged landscapes. A specialty within maritime archaeology is nautical archaeology, which studies ship construction and use.
Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. The term is used mainly by recreational and technical divers. Professional divers, when diving on a shipwreck, generally refer to the specific task, such as salvage work, accident investigation or archaeological survey. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving. The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom.
The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialized most commonly in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving to become Underwater archaeology. However, shipwrecks are discovered on what have become terrestrial sites.
David A. Bright was an American underwater explorer and diver. He was the president of the Nautical Research Group, which he founded in 2003, and an avid contributor to documentaries on shipwrecks.
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about 100 kilometers (62 mi) northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, now an industrial and commercial area known as the Subic Bay Freeport Zone under the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
Ōryoku Maru was a Japanese passenger cargo ship which was commissioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II as a troop transport and prisoner of war (POW) transport ship. Japanese POW transport ships are often referred to as hell ships, due to their notoriously unpleasant conditions and the many deaths that occurred on board. In December 1944, the ship was bombed by American aircraft, killing 200 Allied POWs. Hundreds more died in the months that followed.
Loch Vennachar was an iron-hulled, three-masted clipper ship that was built in Scotland in 1875 and lost with all hands off the coast of South Australia in 1905. She spent her entire career with the Glasgow Shipping Company, trading between Britain and Australia. The company was familiarly called the "Loch Line", as all of its ships were named after Scottish lochs. The ship was named after Loch Venachar, in what was then Perthshire.
The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect and conserve shipwrecks and historical resources on 376 square miles (970 km2) of Lake Superior bottomlands in Whitefish Bay and around Whitefish Point, Michigan. The formation of the Michigan Underwater Preserves helped stop controversy over artifact removal from shipwrecks of this area. The preserve is now known for deep, well preserved shipwrecks in clear water accessible to scuba divers with technical skill and experience. The preserve is one of the last places in the Great Lakes to observe shipwrecks without zebra mussel encrustation.
The SS Samuel Mather was the first of seven U.S. merchant ships to bear that name. The wooden Mather sank in 1891 after she was rammed by the steel freighter Brazil in heavy fog in Whitefish Bay 8 miles (13 km) from Point Iroquois, ending the Mather's 4-year career. Her intact wreck is a rare of example of wooden freighters that plied the Great Lakes and she is a popular scuba diving site. Although there was no loss of life when the Mather sank, her wreck claimed the lives of three scuba divers more than 100 years after she sank. Artifacts from her wreck were illegally removed in the 1980s by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. The artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The wreck of the Mather is protected as part of an underwater museum in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
The Sagamore is reported to be the best example of a whaleback barge among Great Lakes shipwrecks. Only 44 whalebacks were ever built, and out of the 26 that sank, only 8 sank in the Great Lakes, most of them being blown up for blocking shipping channels. She sank in 1901 in the shipping lane near the Soo Locks when she was rammed by the steel steamer Northern Queen in one of Whitefish Bay's notorious fogs. Her captain and two crew members went down with her. Artifacts from her wreck were illegally removed in the 1980s. Her artifacts are now the property of the State of Michigan and are on display as a loan to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The wreck of the Sagamore is protected as part of an underwater museum in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.
Leigh Bishop is an explorer and deep sea diver known for his deep shipwreck exploration and still underwater photography.
The Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) was an amateur maritime archaeology organisation operating in South Australia (SA). It was formed in 1974 by recreational scuba divers and other persons to pursue an interest in maritime archaeology and maritime history. The SUHR was renamed as the South Australian Archaeology Society in March 2012 as part of a plan to expand its activities beyond maritime archaeology to include other archaeological disciplines.
Save Ontario Shipwrecks (SOS) is a Provincial Heritage Organization in Ontario, Canada. SOS is a public charitable organization which operates through Local Chapter Committees supported by a Provincial Board of Directors and Provincial Executive.
The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:
Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.
Valerie Olson van Heest is an American author, explorer, and museum exhibit designer. She is co-founder of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.
WRECKSITE Worldwide free database of + 65,000 wrecks with history, maritime charts and GPS positions
The Southeast Asian Ceramic Society's helpful list of shipwrecks carrying Southeast Asian or Chinese ceramics with summaries of the wrecks and their contents
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