For centuries, crossing the globe meant hopping aboard a vessel and trusting the endless blue to carry you safely from port to port. Water may look placid on the surface, but when something goes wrong it can turn a leisurely cruise into a chilling plunge. In short, sinking is a nightmare: you’re plunged into cold, you lose breathable air, crushing pressure can crush you, and the deep is full of creatures that would love a snack. So, if you ever get the chance, steer clear of any situation that could end with a ship disappearing beneath the waves. 10 baffling tales of maritime mishaps prove that even the most advanced or mundane vessels can meet an untimely watery fate.
10 Baffling Tales Of Unusual Sinkings
10 The USS Bowfin Is the Only Submarine That Ever Sank a Bus
Submarines were the silent predators of World War II, responsible for sinking thousands of enemy ships across the world’s oceans. The American fleet’s USS Bowfin earned a peculiar distinction in 1944 that still makes historians grin. After a refit at Pearl Harbor, the Bowfin slipped into the Pacific and chased a Japanese convoy toward a cluster of islands near Okinawa. There, three Japanese vessels were moored beside a pier that also held a crane and, oddly enough, a bus parked on the dock.
Seizing the chance, the Bowfin launched three torpedoes, then quickly shifted position and fired another three. The onslaught obliterated several Japanese ships and also shattered the pier structure. In the chaos, the torpedoes struck the bus, sending it to the ocean floor. This incident remains the sole recorded case of a submarine taking down a piece of public transportation, making the Bowfin the only sub ever to sink a bus.
While the primary mission was to cripple enemy shipping, the incidental destruction of a bus has become a quirky footnote in naval history, illustrating how war can produce the most unexpected collateral damage.
9 L Ron Hubbard Claimed to Have Sank Two Mystery Submarines During WWII
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was a man of many stories, and the sea featured prominently in his personal mythology. According to Hubbard’s own accounts, he served as a naval officer in 1943 and performed heroic feats worthy of a comic‑book captain. He claimed that, while patrolling off the Oregon coast in May of that year, his crew sank two Japanese vessels, a tale that would have bolstered his larger‑than‑life persona.
However, official Navy records could find no trace of any such enemy submarines, and the only documented “engagement” involved his crew opening fire on a floating log. Hubbard later suggested that the Navy deliberately covered up the truth because the Japanese had ventured uncomfortably close to the American shoreline, a claim that has never been substantiated.
Hubbard’s naval career ended in further embarrassment when he mistakenly entered Mexican waters and fired upon an island for no apparent reason, leading to the loss of his command. Whether fact or fiction, his maritime anecdotes add a surreal layer to his already colorful legacy.
8 North Korea Claimed to Sink a US Vessel That Was Already Decommissioned
War stories often get tangled in fog, and the Korean peninsula is no exception. In 1950, North Korean officials announced that they had sunk the American heavy cruiser USS Baltimore. If true, the sinking would have represented a significant victory for the fledgling navy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Historical records, however, tell a different tale. The USS Baltimore was officially decommissioned in 1947, three years before the Korean War erupted. There is no evidence of the ship being reactivated or present in the Pacific theater at the time of the alleged attack. The claim appears to be a propaganda effort rather than an account of an actual naval engagement.
North Korea’s boast underscores how wartime narratives can be manipulated, especially when a nation seeks to amplify its military prowess on the world stage.
7 The US Military Sank a Radioactive Aircraft Carrier Near San Francisco
When a vessel is deliberately sunk, the act is called scuttling, and the practice can serve ecological or strategic purposes. The USS Independence, a World II‑era aircraft carrier, met this fate in a rather radioactive fashion. After participating in nuclear bomb tests, the ship absorbed a significant amount of radiation, making it a prime candidate for disposal.
Following its return to the United States for decontamination studies, the Navy decided to use the vessel as a target at Bikini Atoll before bringing it back to the West Coast. In 1951, the ship was towed 30 miles offshore from San Francisco and deliberately sunk. Experts argued that the ocean would act as a massive buffer, diluting any residual radioactivity and posing minimal risk to marine life or human consumers of seafood.
While the ocean’s capacity to absorb radiation is substantial, the sinking of a radioactive carrier remains a striking example of how militaries repurpose outdated assets, even when they carry lingering hazards.
6 Titanic’s Sister Ship Sank a U‑Boat
The RMS Olympic, the elder sibling of the ill‑fated Titanic, earned its own place in naval legend by taking down an enemy submarine. Launched in 1910 as the world’s largest ocean liner, the Olympic later served as a troopship during World I, undergoing a camouflage makeover that included a gray paint scheme and covered portholes to evade enemy sight.
In 1918, while navigating the English Channel, the Olympic’s crew spotted a German U‑boat threatening Allied shipping. Rather than merely evading, the ship’s armed crew engaged the enemy, ramming the submarine and sinking it outright. This bold maneuver demonstrated the vessel’s versatility, transitioning from luxury liner to wartime combatant.
The incident remains a proud footnote in the Olympic’s storied career, highlighting how even the most glamorous ships can become formidable war machines when the tide turns.
5 There Are Over a Half Dozen Nuclear Subs Sunk at Sea
Nuclear‑powered submarines have prowled the depths since the mid‑1950s, representing the pinnacle of underwater technology. Yet, not all of these marvels have returned safely to port. At least eight nuclear‑powered subs have vanished beneath the waves, taking their reactors and, in some cases, nuclear weapons with them.
The loss of these vessels raises concerns about long‑term environmental impacts. Fortunately, their reactors are heavily shielded, and the radioactive material is expected to decay over centuries, reducing immediate danger. Russia has announced plans to retrieve two of its missing subs—K‑159, lost in 1963, and K‑27, scuttled in 1982 after a brief period of mild radioactivity—but no concrete recovery efforts have materialized yet.
These underwater graves serve as stark reminders that even the most advanced technology can succumb to the unforgiving ocean, leaving mysteries that may never be fully resolved.
4 Garfield Phones From a Sunken Shipping Container Have Washed Ashore for Decades
For roughly four decades, residents along the coast of Brittany, France, have been puzzling over a recurring oddity: vintage Garfield‑themed rotary phones inexplicably washing up on their beaches. The mystery deepened until 2019, when investigators traced the source to a sunken cargo container that had sunk in the 1980s.
The container, filled with hundreds of these quirky phones, had settled in an underwater cave that only becomes accessible during low tide. As the sea’s currents shift, the container’s contents gradually escape, delivering nostalgic telephones to the shore line year after year.
While the phones themselves are harmless relics, their long‑term journey from a forgotten wreck to modern beaches underscores the ocean’s ability to preserve and eventually release human artifacts in the most unexpected ways.
3 An Overflowing Toilet Sank a U‑Boat
U‑boats were the terror of the Atlantic, responsible for sinking up to 3,000 Allied vessels during World II. Yet, one of the most bizarre incidents involved a simple, everyday piece of equipment: a toilet. The German U‑boat U‑1206, a late‑war model, was fitted with a compromised septic system designed to save interior space by venting waste directly into the sea.
When the crew tried to operate the system, a malfunction caused a valve to open, flooding the submarine’s bathroom and, crucially, the battery compartment located just beneath it. The seawater mixed with battery acid, producing poisonous gases that forced the crew to surface quickly. In a desperate bid for buoyancy, they fired torpedoes, which propelled the sub to the surface directly in front of Allied forces.
The resulting attack led to the capture of most of the crew and the sinking of U‑1206. This episode illustrates how a seemingly minor engineering oversight—a faulty toilet—can cascade into a catastrophic failure, sinking an entire warship.
2 The Eastland Sinking Killed More People Than the Titanic
The Eastland disaster remains one of the most tragic and overlooked maritime catastrophes in American history. Unlike the Titanic, which sank in the open Atlantic, the Eastland met its fate on the calm waters of Lake Michigan. On a crisp morning in 1915, the passenger liner set out from Chicago with 2,573 people aboard for a day‑trip picnic on a nearby park.
The vessel had a notorious reputation for instability, having nearly capsized on previous voyages. On the day of the tragedy, the ship was already listing while still docked, even before the passengers had boarded. Rather than cancel the excursion, the crew attempted to correct the tilt by adjusting ballast, only to cause the ship to list in the opposite direction.
At 7:25 a.m., the Eastland was leaning 25 degrees to port and taking on water. Five minutes later, it pushed off the dock and rapidly rolled onto its side. Though the incident occurred at the harbor where onlookers could see the disaster unfold, the sheer number of passengers—844 casualties—made rescue efforts near impossible. The over‑loaded lifeboats, installed after the Titanic disaster, contributed to the vessel’s top‑heavy condition, sealing its fate.
1 The Whaling Ship Essex Was Sunk By a Sperm Whale
The American whaling ship Essex embarked on a two‑and‑a‑half‑year voyage in 1820, hunting sperm whales in the Pacific. The crew’s routine involved sending out smaller boats to harpoon their quarry, a practice that was both lucrative and perilous. During one such hunt, a massive sperm whale, estimated at 85 feet—well above the average 65 feet—broke away from its pod and charged the Essex.
The colossal creature rammed the ship’s hull with such force that the 238‑ton vessel’s wooden sides buckled and water poured in. Within minutes, the whaler began to sink, forcing the crew to abandon ship and endure a harrowing ordeal at sea. The tragedy of the Essex captured the public imagination and later inspired Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby‑Dick, cementing the event’s place in literary and maritime history.
Survivors endured weeks of starvation, dehydration, and even resorted to cannibalism before rescue arrived, making the Essex’s story one of the darkest chapters in whaling lore.