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"Shipwrecked"

ChaudharyShChaudharySh February 12, 2020
         "A voyage to West Africa"



I was born in the year 1632, in York, a city in the north of England. From the time I was very young I was always intrested in ships and the sea. When I was nineteen I made my first voyage. I quickly learnt all I could about sailing and how to find my way around the world. Everywhere we went I did some trading, and I soon became quite rich.


Later I bought a farm in Brazil, in South America.  Thought I would livr there for the rest of my life, and thought I would live there for the rest of my life, and that I would never go to sea again. But Some of ny friends in Brazil heard that I was a good sailor, and that I had twice been to West Africa .They asked me to go there and trade for them. Foolishly, I agreed.

A ship was made ready and the cargo was put on board. Our ship was not very large___about one hundred and twenty tons. It carried six guns and fourteen men besides the captain, his boy and myself. Our cargo was beads, bits of glass, shells ,mirrors, knives, scissors, axes and other small things that we could trade in Africa.


               "Stormy Weather"

I went on board on 1st Septeer 1659, and we set sail the same day . First we travelled towards the north, along the coast .We had good weather, but it was very hot all the way until we came to Cape ST Augustino. From this point we sailed out to sea, out of sight of land .After about ten days we crossed the equator. It was then that a fierce strom began, and after a while we had no idea where we were.

For most of the next two weeks we were quite helpless. We went anywhere the fierce winds below us. During that time I expected every day would my last.
On the twelfth day the weather improved a litltle and the captain was able to find out where we were. He discovered that we were off the coast of Guiana, north of the river Amazaon.
Captain and I ran out the cabin, hoping to see where we were. Suddenly the ship ran onto some sand, just below the water, and stopped .It happened very quickly. Sea water began to pour ontothe ship .We ran quickly back into the cabin to escape from the huge waves that were breaking over us.
A shipwreck is the remains of a ship that has wrecked, which are found either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be deliberate or accidental. In January 1999, Angela Croome estimated that there have been about three million shipwrecks worldwide. Wikipedia

Shipwrecking is not a good thing to happen always. Indeed, several maritime accidents in the past have shown us how bad they are, and the uncountable loss they make. However, for the generations to come, shipwrecks act as a window to their own long history. The histories of conflict, survival, and of course, the history of destinies. Shipwrecks are important discoveries that tell us stories of the past, helping us connects the dots in our own history. Those are the testimonies to the trade and cultural exchanges our predecessors.

Over countless centuries, there have been many ships that have fallen prey to accidents – natural as well as caused by human interference. Many enthusiastic travellers, brave warriors and merchants have found their final resting place on the bottom of oceans, rivers and lakes across the world. Resting undisturbed in the darkness of our waters, these shipwrecks not only excites the history buffs, but any common person.

A rough estimate of United Nations shows at least 3 million shipwrecks are lying across ocean floors around the planet. In addition to being important sites of cultural interest, these historical monuments contribute significantly to a healthy marine ecosystem, and also support the growing recreational dive tourism industry.

In this article we take you through the pages of history to find some of the precious maritime treasures that have been lying at the ocean’s floor.

1. The fleet of Kublai Khan

Kublai Khan’s lost fleet is one of the most famous shipwrecks of old times. Two Mongolian invasion fleet attempting to attack Japan was wrecked in storms 1274 and 1281, killing tens of thousands of troops.
Several artefacts belonging to these vessels were found centuries later from the seabed of the Imari Gulf. In October 2001, an entire shipwreck claimed to originate from Fujian in south China, was discovered by the archaeologists. Recently in 2015, archaeologists located a Mongolian ship in a bay close to the city of Matsuura, near the island of Kyushu.

2. The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships on a mission to invade England in 1588 was disrupted by storms and a large number of the Armada’s ships were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, killing around 5000 soldiers. Among the drowned were most of the soldiers and crewmembers of 32-gun warship La Juliana, built near Barcelona in 1570.  In 1985, local divers discovered the wreckage of three vessels of the fleet, including La Lavia and the La Santa Maria de Vison and La Juliana. In 2015, several cannons from La Juliana were found in sands off Streedagh in Co Sligo

3. RMS Titanic


Marine Insight


MI News Network in Maritime HistoryOn March 15, 2019
15 Famous Shipwrecks in the World

Shipwrecking is not a good thing to happen always. Indeed, several maritime accidents in the past have shown us how bad they are, and the uncountable loss they make. However, for the generations to come, shipwrecks act as a window to their own long history. The histories of conflict, survival, and of course, the history of destinies. Shipwrecks are important discoveries that tell us stories of the past, helping us connects the dots in our own history. Those are the testimonies to the trade and cultural exchanges our predecessors.

Over countless centuries, there have been many ships that have fallen prey to accidents – natural as well as caused by human interference. Many enthusiastic travellers, brave warriors and merchants have found their final resting place on the bottom of oceans, rivers and lakes across the world. Resting undisturbed in the darkness of our waters, these shipwrecks not only excites the history buffs, but any common person.

A rough estimate of United Nations shows at least 3 million shipwrecks are lying across ocean floors around the planet. In addition to being important sites of cultural interest, these historical monuments contribute significantly to a healthy marine ecosystem, and also support the growing recreational dive tourism industry.


In this article we take you through the pages of history to find some of the precious maritime treasures that have been lying at the ocean’s floor.

1. The fleet of Kublai Khan

Kublai Khan’s lost fleet is one of the most famous shipwrecks of old times. Two Mongolian invasion fleet attempting to attack Japan was wrecked in storms 1274 and 1281, killing tens of thousands of troops.


Several artefacts belonging to these vessels were found centuries later from the seabed of the Imari Gulf. In October 2001, an entire shipwreck claimed to originate from Fujian in south China, was discovered by the archaeologists. Recently in 2015, archaeologists located a Mongolian ship in a bay close to the city of Matsuura, near the island of Kyushu.

2. The Spanish Armada

The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships on a mission to invade England in 1588 was disrupted by storms and a large number of the Armada’s ships were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, killing around 5000 soldiers. Among the drowned were most of the soldiers and crewmembers of 32-gun warship La Juliana, built near Barcelona in 1570.  In 1985, local divers discovered the wreckage of three vessels of the fleet, including La Lavia and the La Santa Maria de Vison and La Juliana. In 2015, several cannons from La Juliana were found in sands off Streedagh in Co Sligo.


Spanish Armada
Image Credits: Wikimedia

3. RMS Titanic


RMS Titanic, the most famous ship for never making her destination, was the largest cruise ship of its time. The Titanic was built in Ireland at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. It was considered to be the most developed ship of that era.

However, the Titanic, which was famously described as ‘unsinkable,’ unfortunately sank after colliding against an iceberg in its maiden voyage- from Southampton to New York City- on 14 April 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean.  Around 1, 517 people lost their lives in one of the biggest marine tragedies in history

After many unsuccessful expeditions, the wreck was finally located by a joint French–American expedition in 1985. Quite a number of artefacts have been removed from the shipwreck and they are displayed in the National Maritime Museum, in England. Many schemes were proposed to raise the ship, but the fragile condition of the vessel prevented such plans.  The wreck of RMS Titanic is now protected by the 2001UNESCO Convention.

4. RMS Empress of Ireland

Canadian ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River on 29 May 1914 after colliding with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad due to thick fog, killing 1012 people.  The vessel was en route from Quebec City to Liverpool, with 1057 passengers and a crew of 420 abroad when the vessel went down in one of the worst disasters in Canadian maritime history. At present the wreck of Empress of Ireland lies in a shallow 130 ft of water. At several occasions after the incident, several divers have successfully recovered many valuables including silver bars, a brass bell and a stern telemeter etc from the ship.

5. MS Estonia

The Estonia ship casualty in the Baltic Sea is one of the biggest maritime incidents to have occurred in the recent past. The cruise ferry MS Estonia, built in the German shipyard Meyer Werft, was en route to Stockholm from the Estonian province of Tallinn when it sank on 28 September 1994. Over 800 people lost their lives in this horrifying incident and the majority of the bodies were never recovered.

The cause of the accident remains controversial as there are many theories about the cause of the sinking. The most commonly known reason for the accident is said to be the rough weather conditions that the ship encountered. However, certain other sources disregarded this reason and stated that because of the ship’s military involvement, bombs were planted by rival countries to destroy the ship.

After the accident, there were demands from the relatives of the deceased to raise the vessel in order to give a land burial. And, at the same time, there were discussions to raise the ship for a detailed inspection to know the cause of the accident. However, the Swedish government decided to bury the vessel and thousands of tons of pebbles were dropped on the site. As per the Estonia Agreement 1995, the burial site has been designated as a sea grave and prohibited the exploration of the wreckage.

6. The Andrea Doria

The Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria sank after colliding against Swedish ship MS Stockholm on the night of July 1956, killing 46 people. The vessel, which had 1,134 passengers and 572 crewmembers onboard, was en route to New York City when it met with one of the most infamous maritime disasters in history. However, in spite of the severity of the incident, not many lives were lost thanks to the timely communication by the ship’s authorities and commendable rescue efforts.




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