Liz Mechem - Disasters at Sea: A Visual History of Infamous Shipwrecks

Copyright 2009 Langenscheidt Publishing Group and Moseley Road Inc.

First Skyhorse Publishing edition 2014

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62914-177-0
eISBN: 978-1-62914-278-4

Printed in China

Miranda - The Tempest by John William Waterhouse, 1916

O , I have suffered

With those that I saw suffer! a brave vessel

(Who had no doubt some noble creature in her)

Dashed all to pieces! O, the cry did knock

Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perished!

W ILLIAM S HAKESPEARE , The Tempest

C ONTENTS

D OWN INTO THE DEPTHS

A raging storm and rough seas batter the man-o-war Ridderschap (right) and the Hollandia (left) against menacing rocks in the Strait of Gibraltar. The ships left Gibraltar in February 1694, never to be seen again.

W henever a ship departs from shore, its crew members must fear that they will not returnand it has always been so. Yet, whatever treasures the journey promises, whatever glory awaits in battle or discovery, these possible rewards always seems to outweigh the real risks. The sea itself is a charming companion, and, in the Age of Sailand even beyondit was a common conceit for sea captains to call it (or their ships) mistress.

DANGER AHEAD

Most ships return safely to port. Yet, unfortunately, many do not. Storms, shoals, currents, human errors and arrogance, warfare, and piracy have brought down ships for millennia. Many shipwrecks vanished into the depths, never to be found again. Undoubtedly, we do not even know where to look for quite a few of these. Some famous shipsamong them Christopher Columbuss most famous vessel, the Santa Maria have eluded discovery despite centuries of investigation. Others, such as the Mary Celeste and the Carroll A. Deering , did not wreck at all, but their inexplicable reappearances, bereft of crew, have given rise to mysteries as yet unsolved in the oceans vastness.

Some shipwrecks rank among historys greatest and most famous tragedies. The Titanic assuredly leads in this, but the Andrea Doria , the USS Indianapolis , and the Lusitania join the famously doomed ocean liner. Others have not received the attention that they deserve, such as the Wilhelm Gustloff , sunk at the end of World War II, taking with it 9,000 lives. The circumstances of some shipwrecks, notably the HMS Birkenhead and its self-sacrificing crew and passengers, inspire us, while others, particularly the Medusa and the brutality shown aboard its raft, only evoke revulsion. Some shipwrecks are remarkable for the perseverance of their crews, such as the aptly named Endurance , while others, such as the equally aptly named Erebus and Terror , are notable primarily for the tragedies that befell their crews after they sank.

Some shipwrecks, such as the sinking of the Vasa in Stockholm Harbor in 1628 or the capsizing of the SS Eastland in the Chicago River in 1915 (above), happen before the eyes of horrified witnesses, who are unable to stop the disaster.

FROM MOTHER NATURE TO THE SUPERNATURAL

This book delves into some of the worlds most amazing shipwrecks, exploring their histories and, in turn, what has happened to their remains. Chapter 1 covers the tragedies caused by Mother Nature, whether her wrath descended in the form of a hurricane, tidal wave, or crushing ice. Chapter 2 reveals the tragedies of human error, and chapter 3 continues in the same vein with tales of terrible collisions, be they with massive icebergs, hidden rocks, or other ships. Chapters 4 and 5 also concern shipwrecks fated by human design, tracing the thrilling exploits of the piracy age and the glories and horrors of war on the high seas. Shipwrecks with stranger tales to tell can be found in chapter 6, with all the haunting mysteries of the seafrom ghost ships to sea serpents to outright disappearances. Chapter 7 covers the ships lost to one of sailors most persistentand justifiablefears, that of fire at sea, while chapter 8 moves out of modern history and into legend, myth, and the ancient world.

Some ships, such as the HMS Rhone , which sank in the waters off the British Virgin Islands during a hurricane in 1867, leave long-lasting skeletons that prove irresistible to both amateur and professional wreck divers.

All shipwrecks, whether for their stories, their drama, or the ancient treasures that they promise, draw us to them as markers of watery graves, pointed history lessons, or curious mysteries. Their ghostly silence cannot still our fascination with their rotting decks or rusting turrets, once trod and manned by unlucky sailors. Nor, perhaps, should it: for as long as we travel the unconquerable sea, it will claim both ships and lives. Our best hope for survival on the waves is to learn the lessons they bequeath, and the only honor we can give to the lives they have claimed is a promise to never forget them.

Shipwrecks have long captured the human imagination, and many writers have taken up the task of chronicling the countless tales of downed ships throughout history. Although many remain obscure, certain ships have an immediate lure, as demonstrated by The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters , published in 1912, the very year the famously unsinkable ship sank in the North Atlantic.

1 N ATURES F URY

The Shipwreck by Hendrik Kobell, 1775

S ixteenth-century Spanish traders did a brisk business navigating between two colonial outposts on the Pacific Ocean. In the Philippines, they traded East Asian goods, such as silk and porcelain, and in New Spain (Mexico), they bartered for silver and gold. The San Agustin , a three-masted, 80-foot (24 m) Manila galleon, was one such treasure ship. She holds the distinction of being the oldest known shipwreck off the coast of California.