Sunk into the abyss. The mysterious disappearance of ships
MOSCOW, 9 Dec — RIA Novosti, Nikolai Protopopov. Hundreds and thousands of missing sailors, the search and the eternal stigma of “Ghost ship” — in the history of sailing the World’s oceans took many lives. With the development of communications and radar to find and to assist in distress became easier. But the disappearance happen in our time, and some ships are only detected after years.
Upstairs
RIA Novosti presents a selection of five ships, gone nowhere.
The submarine “San Juan”
The relationship with the Argentinean diesel submarine “San Juan” ended on 15 November 2017, four days after the release to the exercises. At this point, she was 430 miles from the coast. During the last radio session aboard submarines reported about the problems with batteries that are flooded with water through the ventilation system. On Board there was a fire, and the boat began to sink into the depths. More in the air the crew of the “San Juan” does not appear.
To search for the missing submarine has attracted dozens of ships and aircraft, including Oceanographic ship of the Russian Navy, “Yantar”. The Argentine government even has a reward of 3.5 million dollars for information about the sunken boat.
However, the “San Juan” found only a year at a depth of over 900 meters in 500 kilometers from the coast. The exact cause of the crash is still not installed.
On Board were 44 seaman, including the first ever Argentinean woman-submariner Eliana Maria Krawczyk. Now the issue, to raise the submarine from the bottom or announce the place of her death military burial.
Bark Copenhagen
Pyatimetrovy Danish training barque “Copenhagen” was built in 1921 in Scotland. The story of a missing ship and his entire team managed to acquire numerous legends. “Copenhagen” was considered one of the largest and most reliable sailboats. Like the characteristics of ships in the world was built in just six. Case “Copenhagen” made of high quality steel in its construction were used the latest achievements of shipbuilding at that time. Onboard there is electricity and radio, and deck winches were powered by electric motors.
The ship was used not only as a cargo freighter but also as a study. And in the last voyage of the majority of the members of the team consisted of 61 people, were cadets. In December 1928, the bark left the port of Buenos Aires, never to return again. “Copenhagen” was heading to Melbourne in Australia. The hike was supposed to last a month and a half at the well known and most difficult route. But after a week the ship stopped communicating. His remains were searched for the whole year. To no avail.
The sailboat disappeared. Commission for the investigation of the incident concluded that the ship was lost as a result of irresistible forces of nature and unforeseen accidents.
But it remains unclear why the crash happened so quickly that the crew was unable to transmit a distress signal, having on Board all necessary equipment.
Submarine s-117
The death of the Soviet submarine s-117 “Pike” in December 1952, called the most mysterious incident in the history of Russian submarine fleet. The submarine served in the Pacific fleet since the mid-1930s (when, according to the old classification, it was called U-117). During the great Patriotic war “Pike” was not involved in direct clashes with the enemy ships and made only one battle out in August of 1945. In mid-December 1952 was in the teachings of the brigade of submarines in the Okhotsk sea and performed the role of “scout”. The boat went to sea without an escort, before the other ships. The last radio message from the Board came on December 15.
Worked out several versions of the shipwreck. One of them is collision with the steam-ship “Moscow”. But after examination of the bottom of the vessel and questioning the crew have not confirmed.
Studied version of a technical malfunction and the mine explosion. However, explosions in the navigation area “Pike” were recorded as not detected wreckage or traces of fuel. In addition, the considered version of the attack “Pike” submarine of the U.S. Navy, as incidents involving weapons between the Soviet and American military at that time were a regular occurrence. But this version of the Board later rejected. S-117 and 52 of a sailor is still missing.
Ship “Lyubov Orlova”
The Soviet cruise ship “Lyubov Orlova” was built in 1976 in Yugoslavia, and until 1999, it was listed as part of the far Eastern shipping company. The ship was made passenger flights to Sakhalin, Kamchatka, along the coast of Primorsky region and in Japan. After the vessel was sold to foreign shipping companies, it has several times passed from hand to hand and even been arrested for debt. As a result, in 2012, another firm bought the Soviet ship and was planning to tow it from Canada to the Dominican Republic for cutting on scrap metal.
But during the transition due to the strong storm in the Atlantic snapped the tow rope.
24 January 2013 “Lyubov Orlova” has turned into an uncontrolled Ghost ship and came under the command of the winds and currents.
Since then, the media periodically there are messages on the whereabouts of the ship, but none of them confirmed. In November 2018 the remains of the airliner allegedly found off the coast of California. And some Western media talked about the hordes of rats cannibals on Board the ship. But experts have denied these reports, referring to the fact that the vessel could not for a few years to rot to the core. Apparently, if the “Lyubov Orlova” is not sunk, naporovshis on the reefs or the shore, it still continues to surf the World’s oceans.
USS “Cyclops”
The largest military transport U.S. Navy, USS “Cyclops”, in March of 1918 disappeared in the Bermuda triangle. Aboard the 170-metre vessel, loaded eleven thousand tons of manganese were more than three hundred people. Most of the passengers were vacationers and retired military personnel. After unloading in Argentina “Cyclops” came from the intermediate port of Barbados and headed for Baltimore. According to the latest reports, emergency situations on Board did not arise, and the weather on the way did not foretell anything bad.
However “Cyclops” on the link will not come out. Rescuers failed to find any wreckage or signs of fuel, no boats or bodies of the dead sailors.
The biggest mystery — why the crew didn’t even try to ask for help and to give signals of distress. The main reason for the death of “the Cyclops” was first called the torpedoing by a German submarine. However, this was deemed untenable after studying the German archives — in this district there were no submarines or ships in Germany. Among other versions — the mutiny of the crew and hijack the vessel, a blast of manganese, killer wave, and even the diversion of the captain, who allegedly allowed German submarines to sink the ship. But none of them found an exact confirmation, and the disappearance of “Cyclops” remains the most mysterious loss of a ship in American naval history.