SOUNDINGS
2864285926321633192433248728033128622382159118671588280523342645245023951196143321074165271818882428156562525731234256627674253226252270129792654158220927961547133611622755168921153234011218173226262926332262170141201049191119157812942657158516381303191224062093208414652819532237130927302683204111334270815642570239017472024391393411522222876273413942942215170319228912617891214872084244328071916254526331240178322662813262219452685268981678155420042518220930269423572056283714141549195415592027212314653422019133715048261148157112472319208811721883522251722422237617171943241516551477250318511265211039928071214207727241939235941168812101943287821842292117828021194277213126101649162824957512732195365205223081949315231723372190916492895181872251530187616001104250512001317181201227027990179424011103168114681925261749285625662611291479274522172137274382292539167811289212828072447246120072146188623002612257119807218822598292572050169430242525681277194726262121423281621518561944280711321731134025081877191241613801856155817072717187128112431881643290017142181277224431955261924615661408288414169920922821205425412060270521412666135921532734102155022182286NORTH ATLANTIC OCEANSOUTH ATLANTIC OCEANINDIAN OCEANNORTH PACIFICARCTIC OCEANSOUTHERN OCEANMediterranean SeaBalticLabrador SeaWeddell Sea000030060090120150180210240270300330N120°W90°W60°W30°W0°E30°E60°E90°E120°E150°E60°S30°S0°N30°N60°NAntikythera wreckc. 70–60 BCMary Rose1545Vasa1628Batavia1629HMS Erebus1848RMS Titanic1912RMS Empress of Ireland1914RMS Lusitania1915Endurance1915Bismarck1941SS Andrea Doria1956SS Edmund Fitzgerald1975

Whyarium · Chart No. 41

Soundings

An atlas of shipwrecks

Each wreck mark is a ship that did not come home. Choose one and follow her through her last hours, then down through darkening water to where she lies.

Notices to mariners

Register of wrecks

Twelve ships across two thousand years, in the order they were lost. Figures that historians still argue over are given as ranges.

  1. 01 Antikythera wreckRoman-era merchant ship Lostc. 70–60 BC WatersAegean Sea Lies at45–55 m Lives lostUnknown
  2. 02 Mary RoseTudor carrack, warship of Henry VIII Lost19 July 1545 WatersThe Solent, English Channel Lies at11–14 m Lives lostabout 365–500
  3. 03 VasaSwedish warship, 64 guns Lost10 August 1628 WatersStockholm harbour, Baltic Lies at32 m Lives lostabout 30
  4. 04 BataviaDutch East Indiaman Lost4 June 1629 WatersIndian Ocean Lies at4–7 m Lives lostabout 40 drowned; at least 110 later murdered on the islands
  5. 05 HMS ErebusBomb vessel fitted for the Arctic LostAbandoned 22 April 1848 WatersQueen Maud Gulf, Arctic Canada Lies atabout 11 m Lives lostall 129
  6. 06 RMS TitanicOlympic-class ocean liner Lost15 April 1912 WatersNorth Atlantic Lies atabout 3,800 m Lives lostabout 1,500
  7. 07 RMS Empress of IrelandOcean liner Lost29 May 1914 WatersSt Lawrence River Lies at40–45 m Lives lost1,012
  8. 08 RMS LusitaniaOcean liner Lost7 May 1915 WatersCeltic Sea Lies at90–93 m Lives lostabout 1,197–1,201
  9. 09 EndurancePolar ship, barquentine with steam Lost21 November 1915 WatersWeddell Sea Lies at3,008 m Lives lostnone
  10. 10 BismarckBattleship Lost27 May 1941 WatersNorth Atlantic Lies atabout 4,700–4,800 m Lives lostmore than 2,000
  11. 11 SS Andrea DoriaItalian ocean liner Lost26 July 1956 WatersNorth Atlantic Lies atabout 75 m Lives lost46, and 5 crew of the Stockholm
  12. 12 SS Edmund FitzgeraldGreat Lakes ore freighter Lost10 November 1975 WatersLake Superior Lies atabout 160 m Lives lost29

All twelve, sounded

How deep they lie

Five of these ships settled in water shallower than they were tall. The deepest lies nearly five kilometres down: turn Mont Blanc upside down and hang it from the surface, and its summit would only just reach her.

Mont Blanc, about 4,800 m, hung upside down0 m · 0 fm1,000 m · 547 fm2,000 m · 1,094 fm3,000 m · 1,640 fm4,000 m · 2,187 fm5,000 m · 2,734 fmBatavia4–7 mErebus11 mMary Rose11–14 mVasa32 mEmpress of Ireland40–45 mAntikythera45–55 mAndrea Doria75 mLusitania90–93 mEdmund Fitzgerald160 mEndurance3,008 mTitanic3,800 mBismarck4,700–4,800 m

Most of these wrecks are graves. Several are protected by law, and some may not be dived at all. The drawings on these pages show ships and the places where they lie, never the people lost with them.