List of maritime disasters in the 20th century
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A maritime disaster is an event which usually involves a ship or ships and can involve military action. Because of the nature of maritime travel, there is often a substantial loss of life. The term maritime disaster can refer to both commercial ships and military naval ships. A maritime disaster can result in one or more of the following simultaneously; *Loss of life *Pollution of marine environment (in case of oil spill, foul discharge of materials, sulphur emitted from fuels, etc.) *Degradation of the aquatic ecosystem *Economical loss at a grand scale *Destruction of onshore properties (accidents at harbor are not only limited to the vessels but also damage the nearest lands) There are countless incidents reported on marine disasters. The sinking of the British ocean liner in 1912, with over 1,500 fatalities, is probably the most famous
shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
, but not the biggest in terms of lives lost. The wartime sinking of the German 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 have devastated
Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
's fleets in his
invasions of Japan An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
. The 1987 loss of the Philippine ferry , with an estimated 4,386 dead, is the largest peacetime loss recorded.


Peacetime

Many maritime disasters happen outside the realms of war. All ships, including those of the military, are vulnerable to problems from weather conditions, faulty design or human error. Some of the disasters below occurred in periods of conflict, although their losses were unrelated to any military action. The table listings are in descending order with respect to the number of casualties suffered.


Wartime

Disasters A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
with high losses of life can occur in times of armed conflict. Shown below are some of the known events with major losses.


Russo-Japanese War


World War I

* See
List of maritime disasters in World War I A maritime disaster is an event which usually involves a ship or ships and can involve military action. Because of the nature of maritime travel, there is often a substantial loss of life. This list covers those disasters in which 30 or more live ...


Spanish Civil War


World War II

* See
List of maritime disasters in World War II This is a list of naval vessels sunk or otherwise severely damaged with loss of life during the Second World War. See also * List of maritime disasters * List of maritime disasters in the 18th century * List of maritime disasters in the 19th ...
There are at least eight maritime disasters during WWII, each of which has a greater death toll than any other maritime disaster.


Second Chinese Civil War


Indo-Pakistani War of 1971


Falklands War


See also

* List of maritime disasters *
List of maritime disasters in the 18th century A ''maritime disaster'' is a disaster that occurs at sea, such as a ship sinking or foundering to the point of causing the death of many of its occupants. Many maritime disasters happen other than as a result of war. All ships, including those ...
*
List of maritime disasters in the 19th century A maritime disaster is an event which usually involves a ship or ships and can involve military action. Because of the nature of maritime travel, there is often a substantial loss of life. This list covers those disasters where 30 or more lives we ...
*
List of maritime disasters in World War I A maritime disaster is an event which usually involves a ship or ships and can involve military action. Because of the nature of maritime travel, there is often a substantial loss of life. This list covers those disasters in which 30 or more live ...
*
List of maritime disasters in World War II This is a list of naval vessels sunk or otherwise severely damaged with loss of life during the Second World War. See also * List of maritime disasters * List of maritime disasters in the 18th century * List of maritime disasters in the 19th ...
* List of maritime disasters in the 21st century *
Shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
*
Lists of shipwrecks This is an index of lists of shipwrecks, sorted by different criteria. By location * List of shipwrecks of Africa * List of shipwrecks of Asia * List of shipwrecks of Europe ** List of shipwrecks of France ** List of shipwrecks of the United ...
*
List of disasters The following are lists of disasters. Natural disasters A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the earth. These lists are of disasters caused by natural phenomenon, forces of nature. * List of av ...
* List of accidents and disasters by death toll * List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines *
List of RORO vessel accidents This is a list of roll-on/roll-off vessels involved in maritime incidents and accidents. References {{Reflist RORO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, se ...


References


External links


WRECKSITE
Worldwide free database of + 65.000 ships wrecked with history, maritime charts and GPS positions
Titanic Facts
The life and loss of the RMS Titanic, in numbers





{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritime Disasters 20th century-related lists Lists of shipwrecks *