Hundreds of people set sail each day, whether for fishing, warfare, or a host of other motives. Yet, not every mariner who embarks on the great blue ever makes it back. Here are ten hapless sailors who mysteriously disappeared at sea.
10 Hapless Sailors: The Lost Legends
10 John Cabot
Giovanni Caboto, an Italian-born navigator circa 1450, only turned his sights toward exploration around 1495. Unable to secure Spanish backing, he Anglicized his name to John Cabot and petitioned the English crown for support.
King Henry VII agreed to fund his ventures, and Cabot launched a successful voyage that took a more northerly route than Columbus five years earlier. After twenty days at sea he sighted land, mistakenly believing it to be Asia, and christened it “New Found Land”—today’s Newfoundland. Though he found no gold, he noted abundant cod, claimed the territory for England, and soon returned home.
A year later, on a second expedition, Cabot’s fortunes changed. Around 1498 he set out again, aiming to chart a westward passage to Asia, sailing with five ships. After that departure, records fall silent.
Historians still debate whether Cabot perished on the ocean or reached an unknown shore without chronicling his journey. For now, his final expedition is considered a loss at sea.
9 Vasco de Ataíde
Vasco de Ataíde, a Portuguese sailor, joined Pedro Cabral’s 1500 expedition to India. While the overall venture succeeded, Ataíde never reached his intended destination.
He captained one of Cabral’s vessels, which set sail from Cape Verde along Africa’s western coastline in late March 1500. That departure marked the last sighting of his ship.
Neither Ataíde nor his crew of roughly 150 men were ever seen again. Curiously, contemporary logs record no storms or strong winds that might explain the disappearance, leaving his fate shrouded in mystery.
8 Real
Born around 1450 in Portugal, Gaspar Corte-Real was driven by the era’s spirit of adventure. In 1500 he embarked on a westward voyage under the Portuguese crown, seeking new lands.
His first foray took him to Greenland, but icy conditions prevented a safe landing, forcing a return to Portugal. Undeterred, he raised funds for a second expedition the following year.
Again thwarted by Greenland’s ice, he pressed farther south to Labrador, where he captured several Indigenous individuals to transport back to Portugal. While two of his three ships later reached London, the third—carrying Gaspar—never arrived, and his disappearance remains unresolved.
7 Real
Miguel Corte-Real, brother of Gaspar, was spurred into action after his sibling’s 1501 disappearance. Determined to locate Gaspar, Miguel assembled three vessels and a crew for a rescue mission in 1502.
The expedition initially succeeded, reaching the area where Gaspar had been sighted. The fleet then split to increase search coverage, agreeing to reconvene on August 20th to share findings.
When the rendezvous date arrived, Miguel’s ship was nowhere in sight. With no trace of his vessel or crew, he was eventually declared lost at sea.
6 Diego de Nicuesa
Diego de Nicuesa, a Spanish explorer, earned royal commissions that sent him to Santo Domingo in 1502 and later to Panama and Costa Rica, where he governed colonies.
By 1510, unrest sparked by famine and disease prompted Nicuesa to quell a rebellion. Upon arrival, the colonists detained him and seventeen crew members, loading them onto a vessel bound for Santo Domingo.
The craft never reached its destination; it vanished somewhere in the open sea, and neither Diego nor his men were ever seen again.
5 Francisco de Hoces
Francisco de Hoces, a Spanish military officer, joined the 1526 Loaísa Expedition to the Spice Islands, commanding the ship San Lesmes among seven vessels.
The fleet initially made good progress into the Pacific, but powerful gales soon battered them. During one such storm, the San Lesmes disappeared without a trace.
Scholars speculate the vessel may have been blown eastward toward Easter Island or even New Zealand, but evidence is scant. The waters where the ship vanished are now known as the Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces, cementing his loss at sea.
4 Roche Braziliano
Roche Braziliano, a fearsome pirate active from 1654, earned a reputation for cruelty, even threatening to shoot anyone who refused a drink.
After a relatively successful piratical career, his story ends abruptly in 1671 when he and his entire crew vanished without a trace.
No contemporary records explain the disappearance—whether the ship capsized, was captured, or succumbed to another fate remains speculation. To this day, Braziliano is counted among the lost at sea.
3 Dirk de Lange
Dirk de Lange captained the merchant vessel Ridderschap van Holland, a ship built for East Indies trade. While most voyages were successful, a fateful 1694 expedition ended in mystery.
Departing for Indonesia on the ship’s fifth journey, de Lange stopped briefly at the Cape of Good Hope before pressing onward. After leaving the cape, the vessel vanished without a trace.
Historians debate the cause: some suggest pirate capture, others propose a capsizing off Western Australia. Regardless, the ship and its crew remain unrecovered.
2 John Coxon
John Coxon, a buccaneer who terrorized Santa Marta, Colombia, began his pirating career around 1677, raiding Caribbean settlements for years.
In 1688, after receiving a pardon from Jamaican authorities, Coxon disappeared. Despite extensive searching, no definitive clues emerged about his fate.
Some crew testimonies noted his ship was unusually heavy, hinting that the overloaded vessel may have sunk, sealing his mysterious end.
1 Michel de Grammont
Michel de Grammont, born circa 1645 in Paris, started as a nobleman before a fatal duel forced him into piracy. He set sail in 1670 aboard the ship Hardi.
His raids spanned numerous Spanish forts—including Trujillo, Gibraltar, La Guaira, Cumana, Veracruz, and Puerto Cabello—earning a reputation for daring assaults.
In April 1686, Grammont joined fellow French pirate Nicolas Briguat on a rescue mission. When Briguat was captured, Grammont set out to free him, but a violent storm intercepted his fleet, and he and his crew vanished forever.