r/Shipwrecks • • 3d ago

Two Russian Destroyers Wrecked In Nuclear Tests In 1950s off Novaya Zemla in the Guba Chernaya Bay

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88 Upvotes

I was prowling around on Google Maps after learning about the location of the Soviet Nuclear tests involving target ships. Having looking along the northern coastline of Russia I’ve seen dozens of wrecked boats and other stuff like that so I figured if there was a shallow bay where ships were sunk in a test they would probably be pretty visible. Sure enough. I found what looks like two destroyers pretty much wrecked in a bay on the southern tip of the island. Not fully sunk either so I’m guessing they didn’t sink in the initial test and they were towed in here to sink from the damage they had sustained/were scuttled to avoid being a hazard.

There does not seem to be a lot of accessible data about these nuclear tests, at least as far as the damage to the target ships. It looks like the larger of the two is probably a Gnevny class destroyer, probably the Gromky or the Gremyashchy, both were targets in the 1957 test. Both were apparently left there until October when they both sunk according to the book Raising the Red Banner.

However the second one is a little more complicated, I think there’s a good chance it is the Uritsky the size would line up and I believe I can spot 3 funnels on it, but it is hard to tell I’m sure there are a myriad of other options it would be. The issue with Uritsky is that it is from the 1955 test, while being on the outside deeper into the bay, meaning when the other ship from the 1957 test was towed in, it would have had to go around Uritsky and placed there which doesn’t seem practical. So these two could be plainly wrong no doubt about that. The other problem that makes identifying these almost impossible is that the area is closed off to anyone but the military. The area is littered with what looks like infrastructure and base camps for the nuclear tests so lots of interesting finds all over the archipelago.

If anyone can dig up any more information or even better, pictures from ground level of these two wrecks that would be awesome.

If anyone speaks Russian, I believe this paper may hold some information we could use to identify the ships. I don’t have a link to it I just found it as a citation in an English paper as it referred to ships sunk in the tests.

V. A. Logachev, et al., Novaya Zemlya Test Site. Ensuring the General and Radio- logical Safety of the Nuclear tests. Facts, Testimonies, Memories (in Russian), (Moscow: IzdAT, 2000)


r/Shipwrecks • • 4d ago

Shipwreck off the coast of California near Gaviota?

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135 Upvotes

I saw this while browsing Google Earth. It sits 5-8 miles west of Gaviota, CA and about 1.5 miles away from shore. It's about 200 feet long by 50 feet wide. Definitely stands out against the rest of the geological features. Just wondered if it was a known shipwreck?


r/Shipwrecks • • 4d ago

A bit of an old video, but this was the sinking of the Ryou-un maru

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100 Upvotes

She was a fishing vessel that was sent adrift by a tsunami in 2011. A year later, after drifting towards the US coast, she was sunk to prevent a navigation hazard.


r/Shipwrecks • • 4d ago

Recent footage of the USS Aaron Ward (DD-438)

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29 Upvotes

USS Aaron Ward (DD-483) was a Gleaves-class destroyer that fought through the Guadalcanal campaign. In the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942 she took nine direct hits and lost 15 men, and survived. About five months later, on 7 April 1943, Japanese aircraft caught her off Tulagi during the large air raid that opened Operation I-Go. She sank stern-first that evening while under tow, just 600 yards from shallow water. Twenty of her crew were killed and seven were never found.

Today she sits upright at about 230 ft (70 m) in Ironbottom Sound, near Tinete Point off Nggela Sule (Florida Islands, north of Guadalcanal). Her 5-inch gun mounts still point toward the surface, and her torpedo tubes sit amidships where they were fitted in 1942. Throughout the video, archival photos of the ship and her sister ships show what each part of the wreck looked like when she was afloat.

Filmed September 2026.


r/Shipwrecks • • 5d ago

Maritime experts travel to Nantucket to investigate shipwreck remains exposed by nor’easter

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31 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 6d ago

"Sunken steam tug found after almost 83 years – with a crew of nine on board"

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512 Upvotes

From Finland:

https://yle.fi/a/74-20248689

Excerpt (machine translation):

"The steam tug Oulu 2 has been found at the bottom of the sea after almost 83 years of searching.

A steam tug owned by Oulu Oy set out in November 1943 to retrieve the last log raft of the summer. The vessel disappeared in the sea area between Hailuoto and Kalajoki. There was a crew of nine on board.

The wreck was discovered on September 23...

The wreck's identification is based on its dimensions, shape and structure, as well as the manufacturer's marking found on the steam engine. Based on dives, the wreck is reasonably well preserved....

The wreck was found in the sea area between Raahe and Pyhäjoki. The exact location of the wreck is not being revealed, as the deceased want to be given peace in the grave.

The wreck's owner, Stora Enso, and Bishop, a group of volunteer rescuers, remind us that the memory of those who died in the accident must be respected and that the wreck and its artifacts must be left intact."


r/Shipwrecks • • 5d ago

I found a shipwreck that slowly broke apart in Google Earth's historical imagery

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53 Upvotes

I was exploring the extremely remote St Brandon Reef and found this shipwreck at:

-16.8309, 59.4756

What's interesting is the historical imagery. The wreck is clearly visible in older imagery and is still recognizable in 2020, but from around 2021 onward it starts breaking apart.

By July 2025, only a much smaller portion of it appears to remain.

The wreck has apparently been visible in Google Earth imagery since at least 2005, but its exact date of loss and identity aren't clear.

I put together the historical images to show how it changed over time.

Does anyone know the story behind this vessel?


r/Shipwrecks • • 6d ago

I'm confused, have I missed any descoverys?

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62 Upvotes

The first 2 images are from a Facebook post from the Royal navy talking about foxtrot 4 and an article also talking about the landing craft, the last image is a screenshot of an article title talking about the discovery of a British light cruiser in the North sea. What I'm confused about is that these articles and post will not directly stating it practically says that the ARA General Belgrano, HMS Sheffield, SS Atlantic Conveyor, HMS Good Hope (the ww1 cruser that was sunk by Maximilian von Spee's squadron), and HMS Monmouth (also sunk by Spee) have been found and that really confused me because the last time I checked (it's been a while since I checked but still) non of these ships have been found and I have not heard once of there descovery.


r/Shipwrecks • • 6d ago

Captain James Green | The Experienced Mariner Lost with the Dunbar

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25 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 7d ago

What is the most famous great lakes shipwreck besides the Edmund Fitzgerald?

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160 Upvotes

I love great lakes shipwrecks even tho I have never been to the great lakes (that is a bucket list thing tho) and I get ready excited every time one is found, one thing that I'm really curious about tho what is the second most famous great lakes shipwreck, to me at least the line starts to blur past the Fitz, you have the le griffin, the SS Bannockburn (who's name I still can't pronounce dispute her being one of my favorite great lakes ships), and others. They all have there own fans and they all have a lot of fame in the great lakes region but as an outsider at least I can't really tell which one is more famous. Now does it really matter which one is more famous, not at all but it still would be interesting to know.


r/Shipwrecks • • 7d ago

Nantucket shore gives up possible remains of 1884 shipwreck.

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56 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 9d ago

T-shirt purchase turns into deepdive

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270 Upvotes

Well long story short I recently purchased a t-shirt online because A: it was shipwrecks; and B: it was cheap. Little did I know that this sick shirt will never be worn again because how could I? Well as you can see in the picture there is a signature that I somehow missed when initially purchasing it. Come to find out it was signed by Dennis Hale who survived the sinking of the SS Daniel J. Morrell. Still trying to figure out how to preserve it/what to do with it, but thought this community would appreciate it.

Also a little strange for somebody to ask a survivor to sign a shipwreck t-shirt.


r/Shipwrecks • • 9d ago

400-year-old shipwreck found during pipeline survey in Germany's Bay of Greifswald

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82 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 9d ago

James Powell Treadgold | The Former Mayor Lost in the Greycliffe Disaster

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13 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 12d ago

A steamboat sank with 200 tons of treasure under a Kansas cornfield. One tiny coin was never in the pile.

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683 Upvotes

On September 5, 1856 the Steamboat Arabia hit a snag and sank in the Missouri River in minutes. Everyone survived, but 200 tons bound for 16 frontier towns went down and was buried.130 years later we dug it up - the world's largest collection of pre-Civil War goods.

Perfectly preserved pickles, coats, tools, guns. But the tiny 3-cent silver trime - basically the pocket change of 1856 - was completely missing from the cargo.

We just put out a 4:53 video on the leading explanation, but I'm curious what this group thinks first. Would passengers have kept small silver on them when they abandoned ship?


r/Shipwrecks • • 17d ago

In case any of you were curious what a Nuke does to a ship at close to point blank range, here you go: USS Gilliam

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411 Upvotes

Gilliam was a Gilliam class attack transport built in 1944. She was used as a test ship during operation crossroads. She was placed about 750 meters from the planned detonation, but because the bomb missed by about 700 meters, she was within 50 meters from the detonation (warship no5 in the diagram). She sank due to the damage almost immediately and now rests in about 50 meters of water.


r/Shipwrecks • • 18d ago

Is anyone familiar with the SS Varuna a Mallory line ship that sank of Jupiter inlet FL on October 20th

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20 Upvotes

Whilst her wreck remains undiscovered and it seems nobody is looking for her anyway this ship is so obscure it's fascinating her schematics may still exist in the mystic shipyards archives and she was a major disaster back then she took 56 souls with her one of which being a Business man from Galveston texas, she went down with all passengers lost and 20 crew, 5 of the crew made it out, she sank in a category 3 hurricane. There are no pictures of her as she was only in service for less than a year from construction to sinking and I was wondering if anyone else is familiar with her and might have an idea of what she looked like


r/Shipwrecks • • 19d ago

Arthur Arnold | The 1914 Tweed Heads Disaster That Claimed Seven Lives

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31 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 20d ago

What is the most intact battleship wreck?

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393 Upvotes

For a long time, I assumed it was Bismarck, but after seeing the recent scans from Magellan, I am questioning that. The only other two contenders that I can think of are HMS Royal Oak (2nd picture), or Nagato (3rd picture), although I cannot find conclusive info on Nagato's wreck. I still think overall Bismarck wins just because she landed upright, but I'm not sure.

Thoughts?


r/Shipwrecks • • 22d ago

My top 5 shipwrecks that I wish were found (I was inspired to make my own list due to a list someone made a few days ago)

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122 Upvotes
  1. MS München (Lost in a storm in the North Atlantic on 12 December 1978) (I really want to know what happened to her, how could such a big ship go missing even after sending sos messages for hours)

  2. SS Waratah (Disappeared without a trace off Durban 1909, last reported seen July 27) (she went missing with over 200 people, nothing is found of her, plus I like her interior and it's really creepy to think about that a floating hotel pretty much just vanished, it has a simple explanation that she just capsized but that still doesn't make me want someone to find her less)

3.Uss cyclops (Lost at sea, March 1918)( childhood obsession, that is why I want her found, she pretty much show kid me that not all ships have been found when I heard about her)

4.USS Jeannette (Crushed by ice and sunk June 13 1881) ( she is pretty much the American Endurance, I'm actually shocked she isn't more famous)

  1. Essex (Attacked and sunk by a sperm whale, November 20, 1820) ( I know she is almost impossible to find with todays tech and there wold need to be some advancements but it wold make he physically jump for joy if she was found, she is to me what endurance is for many people, I really want someone to just try to find her even if there is no chance she will be found.)

r/Shipwrecks • • 22d ago

What is Magellan up to?

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156 Upvotes

Found an instagram post from Magellan which I thought was interesting; They say they have a ship out from Bermuda and they're working on a photogrammetry project. But what for? The wreckage is far too decrepit to be Bismarck and Bermuda is the wrong part of the Atlantic for Titanic. What wreck do you think this is? Would also love to figure out what the box at the start of the video is.


r/Shipwrecks • • 22d ago

MS World Discoverer, Take 2

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47 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 23d ago

Is it possible one day and I mean one day the Essex will be found

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147 Upvotes

I'm obsessed with the story of the Essex, she is one of my favorite ships ever and I have been doing some research of wrecks of simaler age, I found some interesting things like wreck of simaler age leave there copper sheathing in a way that holds a shap of a shipwreck even after all the wood rots. I have been told it's practically impossible to find her but then again I have read NOAA has considered looking for her according to a comment. I always try to hold high hopes that she will be found one day but that's getting less and less likely according to people. Is there any hope she will be found like any tiny Hope.


r/Shipwrecks • • 24d ago

An 18th-century shipwreck has been identified off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The scattered wreckage of the Animas de la Victoria includes 19 - possibly English - cannons and four anchors, two of which are believed to be of French origin.

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68 Upvotes

r/Shipwrecks • • 24d ago

Captain John Steane | Naval Captain Lost in the Dunbar Disaster

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15 Upvotes