The bottom of the seas and oceans has always attracted scientists, historians and just adventurers. Research is associated with great risk, but there are not fewer applicants for understandable reasons. The ocean floor has not been fully explored, it holds many secrets. Scientists are attracted by the possibility of historical research, because the coastline has changed over the millennia. But most are attracted by sunken ships. Sea vessels have been sinking ever since the first man went to sea, and now, according to UN experts, there are more than three million of them.
All attempts to penetrate the secrets of sunken ships are connected with various goals. Scientists and historians are attracted by the archaeological heritage and the investigation of the cause of the disaster, because the ships sank for a variety of reasons. Many attempts to find ships at the bottom of the sea are associated with a banal search for the valuables that were transported on them. Such seekers are especially interested in the times of pirate attacks and various military operations. It was then that gold, silver, ceramics and other valuables fell to the sea and ocean floor.
Search attractiveness
Propertyhuman nature is such that dreams take a long time. Someone even tries to bring them to life. And many people do not want to earn money, but to find a treasure trove. This could not but be reflected in art and culture. Shipwrecks feature in adventure novels and short stories, non-fiction articles and internet blogs, educational television programs, and even games for computers or other digital devices.
Especially modern users are attracted by the opportunity to feel like a treasure hunter, sitting at home in front of the monitor. It is most relevant to look for sunken ships in ArcheAge for those who wake up such qualities as ambition and determination after watching films about the lost treasures of the Spanish squadrons. The game provides all the possibilities for this.
Caribbean Seabed
If we talk about the American coast, the story of the sunken ships will begin in 1492. It was the first voyage of Columbus, in which the flagship Santa Maria sank. The ship has never been found, although the approximate location of its wreck is known. A few years later, the same navigator lost two more of his ships in the Caribbean.
After the discovery of America, the era of the export of gold to the Old World began, and sunken ships began to increasingly cover the bottom of the ocean.
Spanish galleons, accompanied by military escorts, could not always escape from pirates or ships of Spain's enemies. Main opponentswere England, France, Portugal and Holland. The Spaniards did not remain in debt: they tried to sink or capture as many units of the enemy fleet as possible. Many treasures of sunken ships of that era have not yet been found, and therefore are overgrown with legends that only stir up the interest of treasure hunters.
Ship Cemetery - B altic Sea
The bottom of the B altic Sea is sometimes called the graveyard of ships - many ships of various eras of construction sank there. About twenty of them could be found by ordinary divers - sunken ships are so shallow. Many of them are well preserved, according to scientists, due to the low temperature and low salinity of the water. The oldest sunken ship was built in the Middle Ages.
It turned out that interest in the remains of ships resting on the bottom is so great that JSC "Marine Technologies" began compiling a kind of atlas and catalog of sunken ships. These lists also include such types of equipment as airplanes, helicopters, etc. Although research is being carried out throughout the entire territory of the B altic Sea, the most attention is paid to the waters that belong to the territory of the Russian Federation.
Project "Secrets of the sunken ships"
The project started in 2002. It is part of another large-scale idea - "Marine Heritage of Russia". Ilya Kochorov became the executive producer of "Secrets of the Sunken Ships", and Andrey Lukoshkov became the scientific supervisor. The main objects of research are the B altic Sea, the Gulf of Finland, Ladoga, Chudskoe andLake Onega.
Participants find ships for various purposes - both merchant and warships. There is a question about identifying the found skeletons, their nationality, historical and archaeological value, as well as finding out the identities of the people who found their death during the crash.
Expeditions organized by the project have found ships such as marine armored boats from the Finnish war, landing craft, small armored hunting boats.
The sea doesn't like strangers
Naturally, not only surface vessels were used to explore the depths and conduct military operations or reconnaissance operations - submarines of various purposes were built. But the seas and oceans steadfastly guard their secrets, so there are also underwater sunken ships. Only for the period from 1955 to 2014, eight nuclear submarines are known to have been sunk, two of which belonged to Russia. The number of diesel engines is approaching a hundred.
The most famous wrecks and their secrets
The most famous ship (and perhaps the largest) is the Titanic. And although the official version is that the ship collided with an iceberg and sank, not everyone believes it. First of all, because too many ambiguities remained after the investigation of the shipwreck. A peculiar prediction of his death by the author of the novel "Titan" played its role.
If we talk about the largest sunken treasures, then we can name the ship Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which sank in the 17th century. Vesseltransported we alth mined in the New World. At the time of the shipwreck, there were tons of emeralds, gold and silver in the holds. These treasures were necessary for the Spanish monarch not only to replenish the treasury, but also for marriage (his chosen one set the condition - to collect the most beautiful treasures that only exist in the world). And although the crash site was known - reefs off the coast of Florida, they could only find it in the 20th century.
Sunken ships that have not yet been found serve as a kind of bait not only for scientists, but also for fans of quick enrichment. Therefore, perhaps it is for the best that the sea keeps its secrets safely.
