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Shipwrecks

A team is exploring shipwrecks in Lake Union, including this steel workboat submerged 30 feet deep.

An Underwater Robot Explores the Hidden ‘Shipwreck City’ Beneath the Surface of This Popular Urban Lake in the Pacific Northwest

Using a remotely operated vehicle, researchers are exploring a long-overlooked piece of Seattle’s maritime history

A 19th-century painting of HMS Erebus, one of two ships involved in John Franklin's 1845 expedition to the Arctic

New Research

This Sailor From the Franklin Expedition Died in the Arctic in a Uniform That Didn’t Belong to Him. Now, DNA Has Revealed His Identity

New research has identified four members of the doomed 1845 search for the Northwest Passage, including the owner of a paper-stuffed wallet that has long mystified historians

During World War I, the Tampa protected convoys from submarine attacks.

Divers Discover the Shipwreck of a World War I-Era Coast Guard Cutter, Which Vanished With 131 Sailors on Board in 1918

The wreckage of the “Tampa,” which was torpedoed by a German submarine, was found 50 miles off the coast of Cornwall, England. The disaster was the largest single American naval combat loss of life during the war

A remotely operated vehicle captured this image of the ceramics from the Camarat 4.

Here’s What Underwater Robots Are Finding at France’s Deepest Shipwreck, a 16th-Century Merchant Vessel Resting at the Bottom of the Mediterranean

Known as the “Camarat 4,” the ship was loaded with cannons, cauldrons and hundreds of ceramics—which are still visible on the seafloor. Researchers are surveying the site and carefully recovering a small selection of artifacts

The Strait of Gibraltar 

Cool Finds

In a Graveyard of Shipwrecks Between Europe and Africa, Archaeologists Discovered Vessels Doomed Over Thousands of Years

The “harbor” of the Strait of Gibraltar is the final resting place for shipwrecks from ancient Rome, the medieval era and World War II, according to a new archaeological survey

The life jacket worn by Titanic survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli

The Titanic Carried 3,500 Life Jackets, but Almost All of Them Have Been Lost to History. This One Just Sold at Auction for Nearly $1 Million

The artifact belonged to first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli, a secretary heading to Chicago with her employer. It’s the only life vest connected to a survivor of the 1912 shipwreck to ever appear at auction

A gold lion ornament created by an Akan artist

New Research

Pirate Shipwreck Off the Coast of Cape Cod Sets the Historical Record Straight on West African Gold

Europeans spread rumors about degraded gold from their Akan trade partners. A new analysis of artifacts from the “Whydah Gally” shipwreck tells a different story

The 125-foot-long Clough sank in September 1868.

A Sudden Squall Doomed This Stone-Hauling Vessel in Lake Erie. More Than 150 Years Later, Divers Just Found the Shipwreck

The “Clough,” a 125-foot-long bark, sank in September 1868 near Cleveland, with just one crew member surviving to explain what had happened

Fish swim around the Antilla shipwreck.

The ‘Antilla’ Shipwreck Tells the Story of When World War II Came to Aruba

Tourists can learn about this history by snorkeling over the wreck of the German ship in shallow waters just off the island’s coast

Divers have recovered 1,200 artifacts from the site.

See the 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Roman Cargo From an Accidental Shipwreck Discovered at the Bottom of a Lake in Switzerland

Divers recovered weapons, tools, pieces of horse-drawn chariots, ceramic plates, platters and goblets. One archaeologist surmises that the loss would have been “immense” at the time

Archaeologists found these stoneware fragments in the wreckage of the Dannebroge.

This Danish Warship Exploded in Battle 225 Years Ago. Now, Archaeologists Are Racing to Recover Its Artifacts

The destruction of the “Dannebroge” was documented in art and history books. Now, thanks to a museum’s excavations, archaeologists can study the wreck up close for the first time

John Jacob Astor IV's 18-karat gold pocket watch and 14-karat gold pencil case

The Titanic’s Wealthiest Victim Was Carrying a Gold Pocket Watch When He Died. Now, It Could Sell for $500,000 at Auction

John Jacob Astor IV was returning from his honeymoon with his wife, who survived the 1912 disaster. His pocket watch and gold pencil case are going up for sale this month

The Swift was a Bermuda sloop, a type of single-masted wooden sailing vessel.

Archaeologists Just Uncovered a Shipwreck That Ran Aground on a Remote Island During the War of 1812

The vessel appears to be the “Swift,” a wooden sailing ship that sank off Sable Island in Canada

The vessel is submerged 240 feet deep off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

See a 163-Year-Old Civil War Shipwreck in Stunning Detail With These New High-Resolution Sonar Images

The USS “Monitor” was the U.S. Navy’s first ironclad warship. The vessel, which sank off of North Carolina in 1862, revolutionized naval warfare

The timbers and hull planks emerged on a beach in Studland Bay after Storm Chandra.

Shipwreck Timbers Appeared on a Beach After a Storm. They Had Been Buried Beneath the Sand Since the 17th Century

Experts think the newly unearthed timbers may have come from the “Fame,” an armed Dutch merchant vessel that sank off the Dorset coast in 1631

Wreckage of the Lac La Belle was discovered roughly 20 miles off the coast of Wisconsin in 2022

This Luxury Steamer Disappeared on a Stormy Night in 1872. Nearly 150 Years Later to the Day, It Was Found at the Bottom of Lake Michigan

The “Lac La Belle” was discovered 20 miles off the coast of Wisconsin in 2022 after a fisherman offered shipwreck hunters a mysterious clue

The timbers on display in 1954

New Research

Archaeologists Are Finally Unraveling the Secrets of the Shipwreck Discovered 20 Feet Below the Streets of Manhattan

Researchers are opening a new investigation into the timbers, which may have once belonged to the “Tyger,” a Dutch trading vessel that sank in 1613

Nearly 136 years after it sank, the long-buried remains of the schooner Lawrence N. McKenzie have resurfaced.

Beach Erosion Reveals Fragments of a 136-Year-Old Shipwreck That Sank in New Jersey’s ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’

The schooner “Lawrence N. McKenzie” was transporting a load of oranges from Puerto Rico to New York City when it wrecked on March 21, 1890

A painting of the San José, which sank off Cartagena, Colombia, in 1708. Archaeologist Roger Dooley commissioned this illustration based on his research on the galleon.

Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the ‘San José’

A new book by author Julian Sancton explores the lengthy quest to find the Spanish galleon—and the political firestorm that has engulfed the wreck ever since

Ada Blackjack was the only survivor of a 1921 expedition to Wrangel Island, a remote landmass above the Arctic Circle.

Meet 13 People Who Survived on Deserted Islands, From a Real-Life Robinson Crusoe to a Noblewoman Marooned With Her Lover

Ahead of the release of Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” revisit the stories of Alexander Selkirk, Marguerite de la Rocque, the Tongan castaways and others who endured in remote locales

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