|
Post by frankthetriviaman on May 22, 2017 23:48:01 GMT -5
6) SS Andrea DoriaOn July 26, 1956 the Italian Liner Andrea Doria collided with the MS Stockholm while en route to New York City. She was top-heavy and took on a heavy starboard list, rendering her port side lifeboats useless. A tragedy on the scale of the Titanic, thankfully, was avoided thanks to improvements in ship communication and design. Thanks to a relatively quick response from various ships in range of the stricken vessel, there were only 46 deaths on the Andrea Doria; almost all of them from the collision event itself. Five crew deaths on the Stockholm brought the total death toll to 51. Thanks to her design though, she was able to stay afloat for 11 hours; long enough to safely evacuate all passengers and crew. The disaster received a great deal of media coverage, and video showing the last moments of her sinking would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize.
|
|
|
Post by frankthetriviaman on May 23, 2017 0:04:44 GMT -5
5) HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of WalesOn December 10, 1941 the British Force Z was attacked by Japanese land based bombers, a mere three days after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Prince of Wales, having previously engaged the Bismarck earlier that year, was a modern battleship, while Repulse was an older Battle cruiser. The resulting engagement sank both ships, and 840 men were killed The British Eastern Fleet had been severely weakened by this blow, and the loss of these battleships meant the allies had no operable battleships in the Pacific theater of war. This engagement showed the power of aircraft over even the mightiest of warships, and the loss of two more battleships proved to be a hard blow to the allies. Winston Churchill would go on to say he never had a greater shock during the war then when he heard of the sinking of these two ships
|
|
|
Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on May 23, 2017 0:08:10 GMT -5
4) HMS Hood & The BismarckAnother double-shot, this time from different sides. The HMS Hood was the pride of the British navy for over 20 years before coming up against the Bismarck in battle and sunk with all but three hands. The loss of the ship was a blow to the British, who declared war on the Bismarck, eventually hunting it down and sinking it. Both had a heavy loss of life, so whilst one could argue that the Bismarck was rightfully sunk, the men on board were merely doing their jobs, as were those on board the Hood. Hence, both make the list.
|
|
|
Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on May 23, 2017 0:17:55 GMT -5
3) RMS LusitaniaOn May 7, 1915, the RMS Lusitania was struck by a torpedo from German u-boat U20, and sank to the bottom of the ocean in only 18 minutes, killing 1,198 people. The sinking caused a massive uproar, as both the Allies reaffirmed that there was no turning back in the war, and the US, while not joining the war at this point in time, were reassured that they would not be helping the Germans.
|
|
|
Post by frankthetriviaman on May 25, 2017 22:40:52 GMT -5
2) RMS TitanicOn April 14, 1912 the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the frigid North Atlantic waters, killing approximately 1,500 people while only 705-712 people survived. The lack of lifeboats due to outdated regulations compounded with problematic thinking regarding the concept of lifeboats lead to disaster. Of course, that is part of the common perception. It should be noted that during this time, lifeboats were perceived as more of a ferry system; no one could imagine a situation where the entire compliment of a ship needed to be evacuated at once. The logic was simple- a ship would stay afloat long enough for passengers to be safely evacuated and for rescue ships to appear, and use their lifeboats. And this was a proven concept- in 1909 the RMS Republic collided with another ship, and suffered minimal loss of life despite the lack of lifeboats for everyone. Unfortunately, it took four hours for help to arrive; and Titanic sank in two hours and 40 minutes. The ship that was meant to become the pride of the White Star Line Fleet ended up sinking on her maiden voyage, and the story dominated the media of the time. Perhaps among the loss of life, the saddest of tales is just how many third class passengers lost their lives. These immigrants sold all they had to start a new life in America; only for entire families to be lost at sea. The issues and controversies are many that surround the disaster. Though some things are outright myths, the tragedy continues to haunt and fascinate us to this day.
|
|
|
Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on May 25, 2017 22:53:21 GMT -5
1) Costa ConcordiaNow many of you will be surprised that the RMS Titanic is only number 2. But remember - this list is not ranked. We're merely looking at some of the most tragic losses at sea, and we're gonna finish it up with the Costa Concordia. On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia, a world famous luxury cruise ship, struck a rock at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, and began to capsize and sink. Whilst only 32 of the 4,252 people on board died, the tragedy is the misconduct of the captain, who not only failed to report the problem an hour after the ship struck the rock, but also slipped away before several passengers had left the ship during the rescue operations (which took six hours - five longer than they should have). The Costa Concordia is a modern tragedy that showcases how badly things can happen when you have a captain who is more worried about himself than thousands of people, and it wraps up this list of 25 Tragic Losses At Sea. (Also, I'd like to thank Frank for allowing me to participate in this list and for giving my suggestions a go. Really enjoyed it, hope you guys did too!)
|
|