10 Fabled Shipwrecks That Have Yet to Be Found

MSY Titanic it is one of the most famous and terrible shipwrecks that has ever occurred, and thanks to modern technology, we have been able to recover a number of lost treasures in its bowls. However, not all shipwrecks have left as many traces. Here are ten legendary shipwrecks that have yet to be found.

Related: 10 Fascinating Finds And Stories Involving Ancient Ships

10 the royal merchant

He royal merchant she was a British merchant ship that had been used to trade in the West Indies. The ship was launched in 1627, but just over a decade later, she made her last voyage.

In 1641, the royal merchant he was on his way back to London after a successful trading session when it started leaking. Unfortunately, due to the general poor condition of the ship, the leak was enough to sink the ship off the Cornish coast.

Despite the ship’s last location being known, no one has been able to find the ship. The (probable) anchor turned up in a search in 2019, but the rest of the ship remains missing to this day.^[1]

9 The Five Chagas

He five chagas She was a nau, or Portuguese sailing ship, built in Goa, much like the ship from which she took her name, the Five Chagas. This particular ship took off on her maiden voyage in 1593 from Goa.

However, just a year later, she was caught up in the Action of Faial, a battle near the island of Faial during the Anglo-Spanish War. He five chagas and its cargo, said to be worth around $20 billion dollars, sank to the bottom of the ocean floor.

Although the ship and its treasure have never been found, the wreck is believed to lie somewhere between the island of Pico and Faial. Still, the ship has yet to be discovered, as has all of its treasure.^[2]

8 Santa Maria

He Santa Maria it is one of Christopher Columbus’ famous ships, which he used for his initial voyage to the Americas in 1492. It was one of three ships he took with him on his expedition.

Unfortunately, however, this ship, unlike its two siblings, would never make it to the Americas. In 1492, on Christmas Eve, a cabin boy took over the helm while the more experienced members of the crew got some sleep.

Not knowing how to navigate a ship properly, the cabin boy steered the boat toward a coral reef off the coast of Haiti. Although the crew managed to get on board with their cargo, the ship sank and was never seen again.

Today, the ship is believed to be buried under enough layers of sand that it will most likely never be recovered.^[3]

7 the tap

the tap it was a French ship that, unlike many of the other wrecks, operated in the Great Lakes of the United States rather than the ocean. This ship began operating in the 1670s and was the first sailing ship to operate on the Great Lakes.

Despite several years of successful sailing, the ship made its last voyage in September 1679, when it set out on a voyage across Lake Michigan toward Mackinac Island. At the time, she was carrying a cargo of furs to trade.

However, somewhere along the way, something happened and the ship disappeared. To this day, we still do not know where the ship is located or what happened to it and its cargo. Although treasure hunters have attempted to find the wreck, as of 2023, their efforts have been in vain.^[4]

6 the flower of the sea

He flower of the sea it was built in Portugal around 1502 and was used for both trade and battle. The ship had a relatively successful career until she made a fated voyage to Malacca in 1511.

The problem was that, at the time, the ship was nine years old and was already beginning to show signs of leaks that needed regular repairs. Still, the ship managed to reach Malacca without incident, where it is rumored that she picked up a cargo hold full of gold, diamonds, and other treasures.

Before leaving port, the ship was deemed unsafe. However, that did not stop the crew. Determined to return their riches to Lisbon, the ship set out again for Portugal. Tragically, a storm blew up as the ship was sailing through the Straits of Malacca, and the ship and its wealth sank.

Of course, since the ship was laden with so much riches, search efforts were undertaken to find the ship. Despite this, the ship was never found, and even today, eager treasure hunters have had no luck in retrieving the missing ship.^[5]

5 The MS Munich

MS Munich it was a German light ship aboard, or LASH ship, of the Hapag-Lloyd company. She was built in 1972 and normally sailed between Bremerhaven, Germany and Georgia, USA.

On December 7, 1978, the ship embarked on her 62nd voyage on her regular route, carrying cargo of steel and 28 crew members. However, the trip did not go as usual this time. Sometime in the early morning of December 12, the ship put out a distress call due to bad weather. The signals continued until around 7:00 a.m. and later that night, a search party was launched.

Despite receiving periodic emergency messages over the next few days, the search party was unable to find the ship. After eight days of hunting by 13 aircraft and 80 merchant ships, the search party was called off.

Although the wreck was never found and the reason for the wreck has never been explained, two months after the disaster, one of the MS munchen lifeboats appeared. However, the ship was empty, and to this day no one knows where the ship is or the final resting place of the crew.^[6]

4 Bonhomme Richard

He Bonhomme Richard was a frigate built in 1766 by a French company for the Continental Navy and was used during the American Revolution to fight the British. She is named after Benjamin Franklin, who had published writings in Paris under the title The Maxims of Bonhomme Ricardo.

In general, the Bonhomme Richard He had a successful career, managing to capture a total of 16 British ships. However, the ship’s victory was short-lived. On September 23, 1766, the ship was hit by enemy fire and the ship began to burn. After 36 hours of trying to salvage the boat, the ship finally sank.

Although the ship itself has never been found, there is a model of the ship at the National Museum of the US Navy. So if you are curious what this ship would look like, you can take a trip to Washington, DC, for see him.^[7]

3 The Queen SS Marine Sulfur

the SS marine brimstone queen was a T2 tanker that was built in Pennsylvania in 1944 to transport oil. However, in 1960, the ship was converted to a vessel that could carry molten sulfur.

Unfortunately, it turns out that this was not the best decision. On February 2, 1963, just three years after becoming a sulfur transporter, he set out on his last voyage. However, what is particularly strange is that the ship did not send any distress signals, she just disappeared.

After giving a location report on February 4, the ship disappeared from all communication radars while somewhere off the south Florida coast. During her disappearance, the ship took the lives of 39 crew members with it.

Although there was a report of the ship’s wreckage washing up in a Libyan desert, this has not been verified, and the location of the wreck remains a mystery to this day.^[8]

2 USS Cyclops

the USS Cyclops He was a miner who aided the US war efforts in European waters, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic coast. It was built in 1910 in Philadelphia and operated successfully until early March 1918.

It was then that the ship made a trip to Brazil. On her way back to the US from the South American country, the ship and all of her crew disappeared without a trace. Because this was during World War I, the US Navy suspected that a German submarine had sunk the ship.

Multiple search efforts were launched to recover the ship, but it was never recovered. To this day, we still have no information as to why the ship sank or where it is located, although there are several theories that have been put forward.

In addition to being sunk by a German submarine, some believe the captain got drunk and ran the ship aground. Other theorists believe that the ship became overloaded and sank due to her weight. In any case, we probably won’t know until we find the wreck.^[9]

1 The General Scholarship

He General Scholarship She was a three-masted sailing ship built in Maine in 1864. She was named for Confederate General Ulysses S. Grant.

On May 14, 1866, the General Scholarship he made a fateful journey from Melbourne to London. Passing through the Auckland Islands off the coast of New Zealand, she struck the cliffs along the coast of one of the islands and sank.

At the time, there were 83 people on board the ship, although only 15 people made it to shore. The fifteen castaways faced strong subarctic winds and had to use what few resources they had to make fire and survive. After nine months of being stranded on the islands, four of the castaways took a small boat to try to escape. They were never seen again.

The remaining castaways, plus one who died of illness, were rescued by a whaling ship in November 1867, meaning they had survived 18 months on the islands. Interestingly, although the castaways were found, the wreck never was, and it remains lost to this day.^[10]