30 sunken ships from the First and Second World Wars (31 photos)

The underwater world is home to many ships, submarines, and aircraft. Many of them were sunk during military operations. During World War II alone, according to some estimates, about 15,000 ships were sunk. And each has its own unique and tragic story.





Divers explore the wreckage of an American F4U-4 Corsair fighter jet off Iriomote Island in March 2019

1. The crash of an aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway



A ship has been discovered in the area of ​​Midway Atoll northwest of the Hawaiian Islands aircraft carrier Kaga, sunk during a battle between Japanese and American forces in June 1942.

2. Dutch submarines near Malaysia





Dutch submarine HNLMS K XVII

Two Dutch submarines disappeared in Malaysian territorial waters during World War II. HNLMS O 16 sank after hitting a mine in the Gulf of Thailand in December 1941. Another, HNLMS K XVII, was destroyed by Japanese aircraft in February 1942.

3. Sammy B in the Philippine Sea



The American destroyer USS Samuel B. Roberts, known as Sammy B, was discovered in the Philippine Sea in 2022 at a depth of 6,985 meters. This is the deepest find of its type. The vessel was sunk by the Japanese Navy during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.

4. USS Johnston in Deep Water



The destroyer USS Johnston also went down during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It rests at a depth of 6,456 m (21,500 ft) off Samar Island in the Philippines.

5. Amphibious Vehicles



LVT-4 Amphibious Tracked Vehicle

On the ocean floor off the Hawaiian island of Maui lie amphibious vehicles that were used to train American troops for large-scale operations to seize the Pacific islands. There are also wrecks of military aircraft, including an F6F Hellcat fighter and an SB2C Helldiver bomber.

6. Discovered off the coast of North Carolina



Sonar image of Bluefields

In 2014, two World War II ships that sank in July 1942 were discovered off the coast of North Carolina. The cargo ship Bluefields was part of a convoy that was sailing from Norfolk to the coast of Florida. The German submarine U-576 attacked Bluefields, and in response, a US Navy Kingfisher aircraft dropped bombs on it. Bluefields and U-576 sank within minutes.

7. Ghost Ships



An underwater volcanic eruption in 2022 raised two dozen "ghost ships" off the coast of Japan. The island was the scene of intense fighting during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. The "ghost ships" are mostly Japanese transport ships that were captured by the US Navy.

8. American destroyer sunk by explosion



The wreckage of the American destroyer USS Abner Read was discovered in 2014 off Kiska Island, part of the Aleutian chain occupied by the Japanese during World War II. In August 1943, the warship hit a mine, losing its stern.

9. Attack of a sea monster?



In 2016, a German submarine from World War I was found off the coast of Scotland. According to the official version, UB-82 was sunk by British patrol ships in April 1918. However, the surviving crew members said that the submarine was attacked by a sea monster.

10. Sunken Treasures



Panels from the 18th-century Amber Room may be hidden among the wreckage of a German steamship that sank in the Baltic Sea at the end of World War II. The Grand Catherine Palace ended up in occupied territories and the "room" was taken away by German troops. Researchers believe that the steamship was carrying stolen treasures when it was sunk by Soviet aircraft in April 1945.

11. Downed combat aircraft



In 2020, divers confirmed the identity of the pilot of a military plane shot down in 1945 off the remote Japanese island of Iriomote. The F4U-4 Corsair was flown by U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant John McGrath.

12. The Sunken American Submarine



The American submarine USS Grenadier was discovered by divers in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca in 2020. It was sunk by Japanese aircraft in 1943.

13. Polluting German Warship



A German warship that sank in 1942 continues to pollute North Sea waters with toxic chemicals from its fuel and ammunition, according to a 2022 study. The patrol ship sank while participating in Operation Cerberus, when it was part of a convoy escorting the cruiser Prinz Eugen and the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau through the English Channel.

14. Virtual Submarine Dive



The Japanese used the I-124 submarine to mine the coast of Darwin Bay. It was sunk by the Australian Navy on January 20, 1942. Due to its protected status, this site can only be explored in virtual reality. Scientists from Flinders University, Australia, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have created a virtual map for digital immersion.

15. A submarine on a secret mission?



The wreckage of the British submarine HMS Urge was found in 2019 near the island of Malta. It disappeared in 1942, which is when the theory emerged that the submarine sank during a secret mission in Libya. But now researchers believe that it hit a sea mine while heading to the Egyptian port of Alexandria.

16. HMS Warrior under artillery fire



The British cruiser HMS Warrior took part in the Battle of Jutland during World War I. It was discovered off the coast of Norway in 2016. More than 250 warships took part in the battles on May 31 and June 1, 1916. HMS Warrior came under artillery fire from the German cruiser SMS Derfflinger.

17. The Cruiser Taken by Surprise



In 2019, the wreckage of the World War I battle cruiser Scharnhorst was discovered near the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The German squadron was taken by surprise and destroyed by the British.

18. Foggy Collision



The three-masted cruiser USS McCulloch was built in 1896 and saw action in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. In 1917, she collided with a passenger steamer in thick fog and sank off the coast of California.

19. Australia's First Loss in World War I



In 2017, the wreckage of an Australian submarine that went missing in 1914 was discovered off the coast of Papua New Guinea. HMAS AE1 was the first loss of the Australian Navy. It is believed that the submarine submerged with an open ventilation valve, and its engine room flooded.

20. From Hunting to Rescue



In 2021, one of the most famous US ships, the Bear, was discovered in the ocean southeast of Boston, having sunk while being towed to Philadelphia for its final voyage. In 1874, the Bear was a commercial seal-hunting vessel, and in the 1880s, it was involved in rescuing sailors trapped in the Arctic ice. In 1918, it served as a rescue vessel during the Spanish flu pandemic, and it patrolled the Arctic during World War I and World War II.

21. Torpedo Attack



In 2014, U.S. and Indonesian Navy divers conducted research at the wreck of the heavy cruiser USS Houston. It sank in February 1942 during the Battle of the Sunda Strait. The ship was hit by several torpedoes. As a result, more than 700 people died, 368 survivors were captured by the Japanese, but 77 of them died soon after.

22. Ghost boat in the lake



In July 2022, the wreckage of a World War II vessel known as the Higgins boat was discovered in the receding waters of Lake Mead near Las Vegas. The circumstances of the sinking remain a mystery. The number on the gangway indicates that the vessel was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Monrovia, which served as General George Patton's headquarters during the occupation of Sicily in 1943.

23. British bombers spot a submarine



During the wars, German engineers created increasingly sophisticated versions of submarines - U-boats. These submarines played a decisive role in the fight for control of the oceans.

U-3523 left Denmark a few days before the end of World War II. According to experts, she was heading to a safe place. However, in May 1945, British bombers discovered her in the North Sea and sank her.

24. The warship retained the Nazi symbol



In 2020, a Norwegian power grid operator discovered the wreckage of the German warship Karlsruhe in the North Sea. In 1940, the cruiser took part in the capture of the ports of Kristiansand and Arendal, it was sunk by a British submarine. Nazi symbols are still visible on the hull of the 174-meter ship.

25. Five brothers on a cruiser



In 2018, the wreckage of the American light cruiser USS Juneau was found near Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo in November 1942. Among the 682 dead were the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa.

26. Sunken Cargo Ship in Virtual Reality



One of the world's most famous dive sites, the sunken British cargo ship SS Thistlegorm in the Red Sea, can now be seen in virtual reality. German bombers sank the ship in 1941 while it was carrying cargo to Alexandria, Egypt, including tanks, engines, trucks, and motorcycles.

27. Six warships looted



3D scan of the wreck of the British ship HMS Electra

At least six warships from World War II that sank in the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia have been looted and broken up for scrap metal. Among them are three Dutch East Indies warships, two British vessels, and the American submarine USS Perch, which was sunk by the Japanese in March 1942.

28. Sunken Battleships



A legendary Japanese battleship that sank during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 was found in 2015 in the Sibuyan Sea in the Philippines. The Musashi was one of the most powerful battleships, like the famous Yamato. Both ships did not survive World War II.

29. The target went to the bottom



A German submarine from World War I was found off the coast of Virginia in 2022. The SM U-111 submarine crossed the Atlantic after participating in World War I and became an object of study. And already in 1921, it was sunk by American military aircraft that were practicing target shooting.

30. Scapa Flow Ship Graveyard



After the end of World War I, the German fleet was interned in Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, Scotland. In anticipation of the end of the armistice and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the German sailors scuttled their ships. Today, three battleships and four light cruisers remain at the bottom of Scapa Flow, which were mapped in 2017.