4. Saint-Philibert Cruise Ship
On 14 June 1931, this small French cruise ship embarked in the port of Nantes filled with workers and their families from the city, some 467 passengers, twice the ship’s capacity. The ship would successfully dock at the L’Herbaudière on the Île de Noirmoutier. Although the journey was smooth in calm seas with equally calm weather, the return journey would see devastating tragedy.
On its return trip to Nante, the weather would change for the worst as a storm rolled in, making navigation incredibly difficult. Exacerbating the problem was the overcapacity, as passengers moved to one side of the ship it caused the ship to heel dangerously when the next large wave struck the ship capsized. Sadly, all but 8 of the people on board survived.
4 thoughts on “Top 6 Maritime Disasters That Weren’t The Titanic”
You left out the Wilhelm Gostloff which was sunk in 1945 by a Soviet Submarine during the closing months of World War Two. The German Passenger Liner was overloaded with German civilians and wounded Soldiers fleeing the oncoming Red Army. The death toll has been estimated between 6000 and 10,000 making it the greatest Maritime disaster.
Excellent point !!
This is not a trajedy but sad. There are many others that really are tragic.
Who came up with this listing of the greatest shipwrecks ?They certainly do not know their history. There was the SS Central America, that sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857. Not the biggest loss of life but the biggest economic loss ever. It even started a recession shortly there after. It is refereed to as the ship of gold. It sank in a hurricane with300,000,000 in gold and silver at todays prices. Most of the coins,gold and artifacts have been recovered.. Want to know more google SS Central America.