Worst Ship Disaster
All of us know about the deadly RMS Titanic sinking. It is the best-known maritime disaster of all time but there are some other disasters as well. A few of them are even more deadly than the ill-fated Titanic. Some of the worst ship disasters are listed below: –
RMS Lusitania: –
- RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner. It was hit by a German torpedo on May 7, 1915, during World War I.
- This ship sank within 18 minutes killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard.
- This disaster also contributed to American entry into World War I.
RMS Lancastria: –
- It was also a British ocean liner.
- This maritime tragedy took place on June 17, 1940.
- It resulted in the loss of more than 4,000 lives.
RMS Empress of Ireland: –
- It was a Canadian ocean liner. It sank in the Saint Lawrence River followed by a collision with a Norwegian collier on May 29, 1914.
- This disaster took approximately 1,012 people and only 465 survived.
USS Indianapolis (CA-35): –
- This ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58.
- This attack took place shortly after delivering critical parts for the first atom bomb at United States air base at Tinian.
- It sank in just 12 minutes. Only 317 survived of total 1,196 crewmen aboard.
RMS Titanic: –
- It was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- This ship collided with an iceberg at 11:40 PM on April 14, 1912. The collision resulted in opening 5 of the 16 watertight compartments.
- Soon, the ship was filled with water and sank bow-first. Only 710 people survived and 1,514 were killed.