What was the worst ship sinking in history?

The wartime sinking of the German Wilhelm Gustloff in January 1945 in World War II by a Soviet Navy submarine, with an estimated loss of about 9,400 people, remains the deadliest isolated maritime disaster ever, excluding such events as the destruction of entire fleets like the 1274 and 1281 storms that are said to ...



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The Doña Paz remains the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster of all time, with almost three times more casualties than the Titanic. The SS Cap Arcona was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1927 and was the flagship of the Hamburg-South America line.

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Thankfully, very few cruise ships have actually sunk in modern history. Even so, the Titanic's sinking impacted maritime law so much that there are more than enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew onboard any given sailing. Within the last 111 years, over 20 cruise ships and ocean liners have sunk.

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In March, a ship carrying a load of coal when it sank in a storm in 1891 was discovered in the lake. And in February, a 144-foot shipwreck that searchers called a Bad Luck Barquentine was found in Lake Superior more than 150 years after it sank.

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“every year, on average, more than two dozen large ships sink, or otherwise go missing, taking their crews along with them.” In a prescient comment, she says, “imagine the headlines if even a single 747 slipped off the map with all its passengers and was never heard from again”.

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