| I’ve listed shipwrecks that caused more than | | | | sank the ship. |
| 23,000 deaths in total. | | | | December 16, 1917: The Mount Blanc, Imo, a French |
| So was the Titanic the most costly in human life? | | | | ammunition ship collided with a Belgium steamer in |
| Some think so. | | | | Halifax Harbor. (1600 deaths) This is one of the most |
| They are wrong. | | | | fascinating events in history. Not only was the ship in |
| Ship Wrecks (over 1000 killed) | | | | danger. Read about it at: Here is an excerpt: |
| April 27, 1865: The Sultana exploded on the Mississippi | | | | “The steel hull burst sky-high, falling in a blizzard |
| River near Memphis. The boilers were faulty which | | | | of red-hot, twisted projectiles on Dartmouth and |
| made steamships dangerous. (1450 deaths) Read | | | | Halifax. Some pieces were tiny; others were huge. |
| about the Sultana at: This site claims that there were | | | | Part of the anchor hit the ground more than 4 |
| over 1700 deaths. | | | | kilometers away on the far side of Northwest Arm. A |
| April 14-15, 1912: The Titanic sunk after hitting an | | | | gun barrel landed in Dartmouth more than 5 kilometers |
| iceberg in the Atlantic. Deaths were caused by the | | | | from the harbor.” |
| shortage of lifeboats, the mishandling of lifeboats, | | | | November 1948: Chinese army evacuation ship |
| waiting too long to drop lifeboats, and the failure of | | | | exploded off Southern Manchuria. (6000 deaths) I |
| certain other ships to quickly respond. The Titanic was | | | | found nothing of interest on this disaster. It is covered in |
| supposed to be unsinkable. If the liner had hit the | | | | some book but I couldn’t find a good web site. If |
| iceberg head-on rather than a side-splitting glancing | | | | you find one, please email me. I learned at that the ship |
| blow, it probably would not have sunk. Lower-class | | | | was carrying Chinese Nationalist Soldiers from |
| passengers suffered the most. (1503 deaths) Read | | | | Manchuria. |
| about and see photos of the Titanic at: You can read | | | | December 3, 1948: Chinese refugee ship exploded |
| the radio transmissions at: [ | | | | south of Shanghai. (1100+ deaths) I found no web site |
| May 17, 1915: The Lusitania was sunk by a German | | | | on this either. At I learned that these were refugees |
| submarine off Ireland. The Germans claimed that the | | | | fleeing Communist China. |
| ship was carrying armaments. Recent dives indicate | | | | September 26, 1954: The Toya Maru, a Japanese |
| that it was. (1198 deaths) Read about the great ship | | | | ferry sank in the Tsugaru Strait. (1172) Some U.S. |
| and the political intrigue at: | | | | military personal died in this disaster. |
| February 26, 1916: The French cruiser, La Provence, | | | | December 20, 1987: The Dona Paz, a Philippine ferry |
| sank in the Mediterranean. (3100 deaths) Don’t | | | | sank after colliding with an oil tanker in Tablas Strait. |
| confuse with the battleship much later. Read about the | | | | (3000+ deaths) Read more at |
| ship at: This site claims that the number of deaths was | | | | Feb. 17, 1993: The Neptune: triple-deck ferry capsized |
| over 900. You can have fun researching that | | | | off southern peninsula of Haiti during a squall. Over |
| discrepancy. It was carrying troops, but many were | | | | 1,000 passengers believed drowned. About 300 |
| saved. Losses were partly caused by rough seas | | | | survived the sinking. |
| hindering the launch of lifeboats. A German submarine | | | | |