The Worst Maritime Disasters in History

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[ToptenzNettop]

to get a 2-year plan + 1 month free with a huge discount!

[manifestationsofasort]

Part 2? I think the Costa Concordia and Sewol ferry should be mentioned, as well as the MS Estonia. The MS Estonia is particularly interesting and worth reading about.

[stoffls]

As you did not only include peacetime sinkings, you left out the Wilhelm Gustloff, the worst confirmed sinking of a ship. It was torpedoed in January 1945 in the Baltic Sea and the ship was full of refugees. No exact numbers are available but the death toll ranks somewhere between 4000 and 9000.

[EmilyJelassi]

My great grandparents lived in Halifax during the explosion. We have 4 beautiful crystal vases that they had on their mantle.. all 4 have a crack, but none broke

[LennoxMatt]

Once again the Empress of Ireland gets overlooked. Higher death toll than Titanic and sunk in just 14 minutes

[kimhohlmayer]

If there is a part two as others have suggested, there is the Empress of Ireland and The General Slocum. Both had terrific losses of life.

[russelllomando]

How about the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska - 11 million gallons.
And the Deepwater Horizon platform disaster - 134 million gallons.

[Imabirdhaww]

Your number one here I think is a great video idea: 10 times nature changed the course of history.

[demonicusa.k.a.theblindguy]

I'm kind of surprised that the R. M. S. Empress of Ireland didn't make this list.

[GrinderCB]

Kind of surprised the Indianapolis disaster wasn't included. The ship that carried parts of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to Tinian and then headed south on its next assignment was torpedoed by a Japanese sub and sank. Most of the crew survived the sinking but treaded water for days waiting to be rescued, and many were killed by sharks during that time. To top it off, the captain was court-martialed on a charge of negligence in failing to set a zig-zag course to avoid submarines, and the captain of the sub testified in the case. It was shown that Captain McVey had not been properly advised of sub activity in the area but he was still found responsible. His crew stood by him but he committed suicide some time later.

[CaptHollister]

Kind of expected the RMS Princess of ireland to make the list...
And since you broke your own rule about sticking to peacetime disasters by bringing up the Kamikaze, then it would have been fair to mention the single biggest disaster in maritime history when a Soviet submarine torpedoed the Wilhelm Gustloff causing the death of between 9, 000 and 10, 000 mostly civilian refugees escaping the Soviet advance into Prussia.
Edit: of course, I meant, RMS EMPRESS of Ireland, as correctly pointed out by MrWillcapone.

[ronniesbrain]

Was surprised that you didn't include the Eastman in the Chicago River

[dinomonzon]

The MV Dona Paz/MV Vector disaster of 1987 was of such magnitude that it was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records.
One incident that should’ve been cited was the Torrey Canyon disaster where tons of fuel were vented into sea, all because its CO overrode his First Mate’s advice about the infamous Seven Stones, on which the ship ran aground.

[AllDayBikes]

I think I have seen Simon cover The Halifax Explosion on like 5 videos, and I like all of them haha.

[johnrohloff]

The 1968 Wahine sinking in wellington harbour was the biggest marithtime disasters in new zealand history, if you do a top 10 on worst railway disaters in history the 1953 tangiwai rail disater would fit

[martinbscott]

Definitely deserving more than a Part 2. Also, mention of the Princess Sophia, off the west coast of Canada.

[cleverusername]

Britain: "Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!"
The ocean: "that's a negative, Ghost Rider"

[muralamoomum]

9, 000 wounded
2, 000 dead
In the Halifax explosion.. the saddest parts
1. The Capt. of the Mont Blanc survived, Capt. Le Medec he was sent back to France to face charges and had NONE, the Halifax Explosion is completely wiped from his sailing records and he even got a distinguished sailing award/medal for his actions during WW1.
2.A huge snowstorm blew into Halifax/Nova Scotia the night of Dec 6th and that killed a lot of people as well.
Boston was one of the 1st places to send Nova Scotia relief after the explosion, hence why every Dec the people of Nova Scotia send the city of Boston it's city Christmas tree. It's a huge honor and its called "The tree for Boston".
There is a set of Bells that ring every year on Dec 6th for the victims they were donated by Barbra Orr, who lost her entire family in the explosion.
The after shocks were felt as far away as Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton (about 300/400 kms away)
And windows broke in the town of Truro (100 kms away)
The community of Richmond which was one of the worst effected/hit (kind of the ground zero) in the explosion, was rebuilt and called the Hydrostone District.
However it has also been said that because of the amount of solders in Halifax at the time may have also helped with the rescue efforts.
Many books can be found with more information and there was also a movie made about it called " A Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion"

[alyssinwilliams]

"Hrm, I wonder if we'll see the Halifax Explosion on this list; maybe not, most of its effects were felt on land, so it might not fall under 'maritime'" were my thoughts towards the end of entry #3. Oops!

[lordMartiya]

Nitpick on the Kamikaze: the Mongols actually managed to land troops that were repelled, and repeatedly, due the Japanese knowing what they were facing and taking all the necessary precautions to insure the fight would happen on their terms. The typhoons arrived MONTHS after the initial landings, as the Mongols were still trying to land in force when the typhoon season started.
Even then, during the second invasion the death toll could have been much lesser, except Kublai Khan sent an army too large for the oceangoing ships available and his generals complemented them with confiscated river boats, and where the oceangoing ships mostly survived the storm, as they were made with this kind of danger in mind, the river boats were wiped out.