When satellites and jets make mapping a click‑away task, it’s easy to forget how daring early explorers were. In the age before GPS, 10 expeditions mysteriously slipped into oblivion, leaving behind only fragmentary logs, half‑buried artefacts, and endless speculation. Below we tally ten of the most puzzling vanished journeys, each a reminder of how perilous the quest for uncharted lands truly was.
10 expeditions mysteriously – The Enigmatic Voyages
10 Madoc
Centuries before Columbus set foot in the New World, a Welsh prince named Madoc set sail from his homeland with a fleet of ten ships, driven by a vision of undiscovered lands. Madoc, the son of King Owain Gwynedd—who fathered eighteen sons, many of them illegitimate—was himself a bastard. After Owain’s death in 1169, a bitter civil war erupted among the brothers over succession. Seeking peace, Madoc gathered fellow pacifists and embarked on his own venture. Legend tells that he returned in 1171, regaled with tales of exotic territories, and inspired a second, larger expedition that never came back.
The tale first appears in a Welsh manuscript from the 1500s, its details hazy but intriguing. Some scholars argue Madoc’s party may have touched what is now Mobile, Alabama, pointing to pre‑Columbian stone forts along the Alabama River. Certain Cherokee narratives even claim that “White People” built those structures. Another theory suggests Madoc’s followers merged with the Mandan tribe, citing alleged linguistic parallels between Welsh and Mandan. In 1799, Tennessee’s Governor John Sevier reported finding six skeletons clad in brass armor bearing the Welsh coat of arms—though many suspect this was a hoax. If authentic, these remains would provide the strongest evidence of Madoc’s fate, which otherwise remains shrouded in mystery.
9 Vivaldi Expedition
While Columbus believed he was reaching Asia, two centuries earlier the Vivaldi brothers—Vandino and Ugolino—set out from Genoa in 1291 with a bold aim: to find a maritime route to India by sailing around Africa’s southern tip. Their vessels were stocked for a decade‑long voyage, a clear sign they anticipated a lengthy odyssey. After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar in mid‑1291, the fleet vanished without a trace.
Subsequent rescue attempts began with Lancelotto Malocello in 1312, who established a fort on the Canary Islands and lingered there for over twenty years, yet never uncovered any clue about the brothers. In the early 1300s, Ugolino’s son Sorleone also searched for his missing kin, possibly reaching as far as Mogadishu, but found nothing. Later, in 1455, explorer Antoniotto Uso di Mare claimed to have met a descendant of a survivor who recounted that the Vivaldi brothers had been captured in Senegal, spending the rest of their lives in captivity.
8 Abubakari Expedition
The story of Abu Bakr II, also known as Mansa Qu, ruler of the great Mali Empire, is steeped in controversy. Our primary source comes from Arab historian Shihab al‑Umari, who conversed with Mansa Musa—Abu Bakr’s son—in Cairo during the early 1300s. According to Musa, his father was convinced the ocean had an edge and commissioned a massive fleet of two hundred ships, laden with sailors, provisions, and gold, to locate it. Only a single vessel returned, reporting that the rear‑most ship saw a roaring waterfall mid‑sea, which they believed marked the ocean’s terminus. The rest of the fleet were allegedly sucked into the abyss, and the captain escaped by rowing backward.
Undeterred, Abu Bakr launched a second, even larger expedition of three thousand ships, appointing Mansa Musa as regent. Yet the king never came back. Some historians speculate that his fleet reached the Americas, citing Taino legends of dark‑skinned visitors wielding gold‑alloy weapons before Columbus. Others dismiss the notion, noting the absence of archaeological proof. What remains indisputable is that Abu Bakr never reclaimed his throne.
7 Cabot’s Final Expedition
John Cabot earned fame as the first European to sight North America after the Vikings. His historic 1497 voyage likely touched Bonavista, Newfoundland, in June. In a scene reminiscent of the Moon landing, the crew briefly disembarked, planted a Papal banner, claimed the shore for England, then returned to their ship to explore the coastline by sea. Upon his return, Cabot was celebrated, receiving a £10 reward—equivalent to roughly two years’ wages for a typical laborer—and a yearly pension of £20.
Despite his renown, Cabot’s ultimate fate remains a mystery. Records show he organized a second expedition in 1498, comprising five vessels laden with trade goods, departing Bristol in May. The Spanish envoy in London reported two months later that a storm forced one ship to seek refuge in Ireland, while the remaining fleet pressed on. No further documentation of Cabot or his crew survived, leaving historians uncertain whether he perished at sea or returned to England and lived out his days unnoticed. Some evidence, such as the 1501 London residence of Lancelot Thirkell—who was slated to accompany Cabot—suggests the latter possibility.
6 Franklin’s Lost Expedition
In 1845, British explorer Sir John Franklin set out with a modest crew to chart the final unmapped segment of the Northwest Passage, sailing aboard the HMS Erebus and the aptly named HMS Terror. The ships left England in May, but their fate remained unknown until 2014.
The mystery sparked a massive public and governmental response. The Admiralty launched three search missions in 1848—one overland and two by sea—yet all failed. Further expeditions persisted, culminating in a public‑backed search in 1857, by which time the government had officially declared the entire party deceased. Inuit testimonies, bearing artifacts belonging to the crew, revealed that the vessels had become ice‑bound. Franklin himself died in 1847; the remaining men abandoned the ships, wintered on King William Island, and embarked on a desperate trek toward the Canadian mainland, a journey that ended in total loss, with evidence suggesting cannibalism among the survivors.
It wasn’t until Canadian researchers located the HMS Terror in 2014 that the truth emerged. The wreck was astonishingly preserved, indicating an orderly abandonment. The crew likely transferred to the Erebus, attempted a final escape, became trapped again, and were forced to continue on foot.
5 Eudoxus Of Cyzicus
The ancient world was far more interconnected than many assume. Long before Rome’s dominance, Greeks traded with India, often meeting at Yemeni ports to exchange aromatics and luxury goods. In 118 BC, an Indian sailor shipwrecked in the Red Sea was rescued by the Ptolemaic court in Egypt. With the sailor’s assistance, the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus completed the first recorded direct voyage from Egypt to India.
Two years later, in 116 BC, Eudoxus repeated the journey without Indian aid, a milestone that boosted Indo‑Greek trade dramatically. During this second expedition, a storm blew his fleet off course along the African shoreline, where he discovered a wreck he identified—based on local tales and construction—as Spanish, implying it had circumnavigated Africa. Inspired, Eudoxus resolved to attempt the same feat. After trekking overland to Spain, his first attempt faltered on the Moroccan coast, forcing a retreat. Undeterred, he launched a second effort shortly thereafter and vanished forever, marking the earliest known attempt to sail around Africa—an endeavour not repeated for over a millennium.
4 Peter Tessem And Paul Knutsen
In 1919, famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was charting Russia’s frigid northern coast when crewman Peter Tessem began suffering persistent headaches. Consequently, Amundsen left Tessem at Cape Chelyuskin alongside veteran explorer Paul Knutsen, confident that the duo could reach the nearby settlement of Dikson—a month‑long trek—thanks to Knutsen’s knowledge of pre‑placed supply caches.
By 1920, the pair had not arrived. The Norwegian government dispatched a search party, which yielded nothing. The Soviets mounted their own expedition in 1921, uncovering a Norwegian sled and a letter stating the men were in good health but otherwise silent. In 1922, a Soviet research team stumbled upon the scientific equipment and data entrusted to Tessem and Knutsen. Later, they recovered a body wearing a gold watch engraved with Tessem’s name, found within sight of Dikson. The remains were re‑interred further up the slope, and today a granite monument bearing Tessem’s name marks the site.
3 The Corte‑Real Brothers
Gaspar Corte‑Real hailed from a prominent Portuguese line of explorers; his father is believed to have discovered parts of North America in 1473. By 1500, King Manuel of Portugal tasked Gaspar with finding a Northwest Passage to Asia. Mistaking Greenland for Asia, Gaspar turned back without landing, then assembled a larger crew for a second attempt, this time accompanied by his elder brother Miguel.
The brothers navigated toward Greenland, but ice forced them southward, likely bringing them to Newfoundland, where they seized 57 Indigenous people for slavery. Gaspar dispatched Miguel with two ships to return the captives to Portugal, while he pressed on alone—only to disappear. A year later, Miguel set sail back to Newfoundland in search of his brother, only to vanish as well. Their expeditions sparked Portuguese interest in North America, prompting further voyages around Newfoundland before French and English colonists eventually displaced them.
2 George Bass
George Bass, a surgeon‑turned‑navigator, played a pivotal role in charting Australia’s coastline. Serving aboard HMS Reliance from 1795 to 1798, he documented flora and fauna, confirmed coal deposits near Sydney, and identified the strait separating New South Wales from Tasmania—later bearing his name. His scientific contributions earned him election to the Linnean Society of London in 1799, the world’s oldest natural‑history organization.
Later, Bass turned to commercial ventures. In 1803, he planned a daring expedition to sail from Australia to South America. His surviving letters hinted at a covert operation—likely smuggling—since Britain and Spain (and thus Spanish South America) were at odds. Bass departed in February 1803 and vanished without a trace. Theories of Spanish capture have been dismissed; his name never appears in Spanish or Peruvian archives, nor among prisoners released by Spain years later. His ultimate fate remains unresolved.
1 USS Sea Gull
In August 1839, the United States Navy bought a former New York pilot boat, renaming it the USS Sea Gull. Paired with the newly acquired Flying Fish, the vessel joined the U.S. Exploring Expedition tasked with charting Antarctic and Pacific waters. Upon reaching Cape Horn, the fleet endured months of fierce winds, choppy seas, and snow, delaying progress until April 1840.
When the supply ship finally arrived, the Flying Fish and Sea Gull were left to await provisions. However, the gale persisted. On the night of April 28, the Flying Fish’s crew managed to return to port, waiting out the storm. They last sighted the Sea Gull at midnight, but it never followed. The vessel was never seen again and remains listed among the U.S. Naval Institute’s “Missing and Presumed Lost” ships.