We all know about the Titanic. Most of us remember the Lusitania. Some of us sang about the Edmund Fitzgerald. But those are just a few of the thousands of similar shipwrecks and sinkings throughout maritime history that litter the seafloor, and every shipwreck is the end of a story. But even when Davy Jones claims a vessel for his locker, its story still makes it to port. Here are 10 of those stories.Here are ten notable ships from history that were tragically wrecked, sank, or otherwise lost.
10 The Vergulde Draeck
The Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) was a trading ship owned by the Dutch East India Company, constructed in 1653. She had been in operation for only three years when tragedy struck off the coast of Western Australia. During a freight haul from the Cape of Good Hope to Batavia, Indonesia (now known as Jakarta), a submerged coral reef split the hull and forced the crew to abandon her. An estimated 185,000 guilders (silver coins) and other cargo—the equivalent of €2,412,500 today – were lost in the wreckage.Only 75 of the crew of 193 survived and made it to shore. The ship’s lifeboat and some provisions were also salvaged, so seven of the 75 survivors returned to sea to sail to Batavia for aid. They made it to their destination after 41 days. Rescue ships were then sent to recover the remaining survivors and cargo, but they all failed to find any trace of the wreck or the survivors’ camp. As a result, the Dutch East India Company ceased sending rescue expeditions after three years of failure, and the wreckage would not be discovered until 1963.The Fremantle Maritime Museum in Australia now houses some of the artifacts pulled from the wreckage, but not all of the silver has been found.[1]
