Sailing remains a dangerous activity in the 21st century. Before the sea element, even a person armed with technology is helpless. History knows a lot of cases when ships, together with the crews, disappeared into the sea without a trace. We have collected the 10 most mysterious shipwrecks, the causes of which remain a mystery to this day.

1. USS Wasp - the missing escort

In fact, there were several ships that were called USS Wasp, but, the strangest was Wasp, which disappeared in 1814. Built in 1813 for the war with England, the Wasp was a fast square-sail sloop with 22 guns and a crew of 170 men. Wasp participated in 13 successful operations. On September 22, 1814, the ship captured the British merchant brig Atalanta. As a rule, the Wasp crew simply burned enemy ships, but Atalanta was deemed too valuable to destroy. As a result, an order was received to escort Atalanta to the allied harbor, and Wasp set off towards the Caribbean Sea. He was never seen again.

2. SS Marine Sulfur Queen - a victim of the Bermuda Triangle

This vessel was a 160m tanker originally used to transport oil during World War II. The ship was later rebuilt to carry molten sulfur. Marine Sulfur Queen was in excellent condition. In February 1963, two days after leaving Texas with a cargo of sulfur, a conventional radio message was received from the ship saying that everything was in order. After that, the ship disappeared. Many assume that it just exploded, while others blame the "magic" of the Bermuda Triangle for the disappearance. The bodies of 39 crew members were not found, although a life jacket was found, and a piece of board with a piece of the inscription "arine SULPH".

3. USS Porpoise - killed in a typhoon

Built in the golden age of sailing, the Porpoise was originally known as the "hermaphrodite brig" because its two masts used two different types of sail. She was later converted to a traditional brigantine with square sails on both masts. At first, the ship was used to pursue pirates, and in 1838 it was sent on an exploratory expedition. The team managed to trip around the world and confirm the existence of Antarctica. After exploring a number of islands in the South Pacific, Porpoise sailed from China in September 1854, after which no one heard from her. It is likely that the crew encountered a typhoon, but there is no evidence of this.

4. FV Andrea Gail - a victim of the "perfect storm"

The fishing trawler Andrea Gai was built in Florida in 1978 and was subsequently acquired by a company in Massachusetts. With a crew of six, Andrea Gail sailed successfully for 13 years and disappeared on a voyage to Newfoundland. The Coast Guard launched a search, but could only find the ship's emergency beacon and a few pieces of wreckage. After a week of searching, the ship and its crew were declared missing. Andrea Gail is believed to have been doomed when a high-pressure front crashed into a massive area of ​​low-pressure air, and then the nascent typhoon merged with the remnants of Hurricane Grace. This rare combination of three separate weather systems eventually became known as the "perfect storm". According to experts, Andrea Gail could have encountered waves with a height of more than 30 meters

5. SS Poet - the ship that did not send a distress signal

At first, this ship was called Omar Bundy and was used to transport troops during the Second World War. It was later used to transport steel. In 1979, the ship was purchased by the Hawaiian Eugenia Corporation of Hawaii, which named it Poet. In 1979, a ship left Philadelphia for Port Said with a cargo of 13,500 tons of corn, but never made it to its destination. The last communication with Poet happened just six hours after leaving the port of Philadelphia, when one of the crew members spoke to his wife. After that, the ship did not reach the scheduled 48-hour communication session, while the ship did not send a distress signal. Eugenia Corporation did not report the loss of the ship for six days, and the Coast Guard did not respond for another 5 days after that. No trace of the ship was ever found.

6. USS Conestoga - the missing minesweeper

USS Conestoga was built in 1917 as a minesweeper. After the end of the First World War, it was converted into a tugboat. In 1921, she was transferred to American Samoa, where she was to become a floating station. March 25, 1921 the ship set sail, and nothing more is known about it.

Source 7Witchcraft - the pleasure boat that went missing on Christmas Day

In December 1967, Miami hotel owner Dan Burak decided to watch the city's Christmas lights from his personal luxurious Boats Witchcraft. Accompanied by his father Patrick Hogan, he went to sea for about 1.5 km. It is known that the boat was in perfect order. Around 9 pm, Burak radioed for a tow back to the pier, reporting that his boat had hit an unknown object. He confirmed his coordinates to the Coast Guard and specified that he would launch a flare. Rescuers got to the scene in 20 minutes, but Witchcraft disappeared. The Coast Guard combed over 3,100 square kilometers of the ocean, but neither Dan Burak, nor Patrick Hogan, nor Witchcraft were ever found.

8. USS Insurgent: the mysterious disappearance of a warship

US Navy frigate Insurgent the Americans captured in battle with the French in 1799. The ship served in the Caribbean, where she had many glorious victories. But on August 8, 1800, the ship sailed out of Virginia Hampton Roads and mysteriously disappeared.

9. SS Awahou: boats did not help

Built in 1912, 44m cargo steamer Awahou passed through many owners before eventually being bought by the Australian Carr Shipping & Trading Company. On September 8, 1952, the ship sailed from Sydney with a crew of 18 and sailed to the private island of Lord Howe. The ship was in good shape when she left Australia, but within 48 hours a fuzzy, "crunchy" radio signal was received from the ship. The speech was almost unintelligible, but it looked like Awahou was caught in bad weather. Although the ship had enough lifeboats for the entire crew, no signs of the wreck or bodies were found.

10. SS Baychimo - arctic ghost ship

Some call it a ghost ship, but in fact Baychimo was a real ship. Built in 1911, Baychimo was a huge steam cargo ship owned by Hudson's Bay Company. It was mainly used to transport furs from northern Canada, and Baychimo's first nine flights were relatively quiet. But during the last voyage of the ship in 1931, winter came very early. Completely unprepared for bad weather, the ship was trapped in the ice. Most of the crew were rescued by plane, but the captain and a few Baychimo crew members decided to wait out the bad weather by camping on the ship. A severe snowstorm began, which completely hid the ship from sight. When the storm subsided, Baychimo disappeared. However, for several decades, Baychimo has allegedly been seen drifting aimlessly in Arctic waters more than once.

In the Philippines, fishermen found the mummified body of a 59-year-old man who had lain for several days in a half-flooded yacht. Writes about it on Tuesday The Independent.

According to the publication, a German navigator named Manfred Fritz Bayorath, who operated the yacht Sajo, died a non-violent death. According to the police, who conducted the examination, the cause of death, most likely, was a heart attack. The sailor's body was turned into a mummy due to the salty ocean air and dry weather.

The identity of the man was established thanks to the documents and numerous photographs that law enforcement officers found on board the yacht, which, according to the newspaper, drifted for several months in pacific ocean before fishermen discovered it.

It should be noted that in the world it has happened quite often before and there are still situations when ships without a crew were found on the high seas. Such ships are called "ghost ships". This term is most often used in legends and fiction, but it can also refer to a real ship that had previously disappeared, and then after some time was found at sea without a crew or with a dead crew on board. In most cases, many meetings with such ships are fiction, however, real cases are known that are documented - thanks to entries in the logbook, for example. "MIR 24" recalled the most famous "ghost ships" in the history of navigation.

(George Grie. "Sunrise full moon". From the Ghost Ship series.)

In 1775, a merchant ship from England called the Octavius ​​was discovered off the coast of Greenland, carrying dozens of bodies of frozen crew members. The ship's log showed that this ship was returning to the UK from China. The ship set sail in 1762 and attempted to navigate the rough Northwest Passage, which was only successfully crossed in 1906. The ship and the frozen bodies of its crew drifted through the pack ice for 13 years.

Almost a century later, in 1850, on the shores of Rhode Island, a mysterious sailboat called the Seabird was stuck in shallow water, carrying wood and coffee from the island of Honduras. On board, in one of the cabins, only a dog was found, which was shaking with fear. No people were found on the ship, despite the fact that fragrant coffee was boiling on the galley stove, there was a map and a logbook on the table. The last entry in it read: "We went abeam the reef of Brenton." Based on the results of the incident, a thorough investigation was carried out, which, nevertheless, could not answer the question of where the crew of the sailboat had gone.

(Abandoned by the crew of the Mary Celeste)

On December 4, 1872, 400 miles from Gibraltar, the ship "Dei Gracia" discovered the brigantine "Mary Celeste" without a single crew member on board. The ship was quite good, strong, without damage, but, according to legend, during the entire time of its voyage it very often got into unpleasant situations, which is why it received a bad name. The captain with his team of 7 people, as well as his wife and daughter, who were also on the ship at the time of the cargo transportation, among which was, in particular, alcohol, disappeared without a trace.

Many "ghost ships" were found by sailors and fishermen in the last millennium. So, at the end of January 1921, the lighthouse keeper of Cape Hatteras noticed the five-masted schooner "Carroll A. Dearing" on the outer edge of the Diamond Shoals shoal. All the sails of the ship were removed, there was no one on board, except for the ship's cat. No one touched the cargo, food and personal belongings of the crew members. The only things missing were the lifeboats, the chronometer, the sextants, and the logbook. The steering control of the schooner did not function, in addition, the ship's compass and part of the navigational instruments were broken. Why and where the Carroll A. Dearing team disappeared, it was not possible to find out.

(The SS Valencia in 1904)

In 1906, the passenger steamer SS Valencia sank off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island. 27 years after the disaster, in 1933, sailors found a lifeboat from this ship that was sailing in the area in good condition. Moreover, the sailors claimed to have observed the Valencia itself, following down the coast. But it turned out to be just a vision.

In February 1948, according to legend, merchant ships located in the Malacca Strait near Sumatra received a radio signal from the Dutch ship Orang Medan: “SOS! Motor ship "Orang Medan". The ship continues to follow its course. Maybe all the members of our crew have already died.” This was followed by rambling dots and dashes. At the end of the radiogram it said: "I'm dying." The ship was found by English sailors. The entire crew of the ship was dead. The faces of the crew members were frozen in horror. Suddenly, a fire broke out in the hold of the ship, and soon the ship exploded. A powerful explosion broke the ship in half, after which the Orang Medan sank. The most popular theory for the death of the crew is that the ship was carrying nitroglycerin without special packaging.

At the beginning of 1953, the cargo ship "Kholchu" with a cargo of rice was discovered by the sailors of the English vessel "Rani". Due to the elements, the ship was significantly damaged, but the lifeboats were not touched. In addition, there was a full supply of fuel and water on board. Five crew members disappeared without a trace.

"Ghost ships" met in the new century. So, in 2003, the Indonesian fishing schooner "High AM 6" was found drifting without a crew near New Zealand. Large-scale searches were organized, which nevertheless did not give a result - 14 team members could not be found.

In 2007, in Australia, there was a story with the ghost yacht Kaz II. The ship left Airlie Beach on April 15, and a few days later was found off the coast of Queensland. Rescuers boarded the yacht and saw the engine, radio, and GPS laptop running. In addition, dinner was prepared and the table laid, but the crew, which consisted of three people, was not on board. The sails of the yacht were in place, but badly damaged. Life jackets and other life-saving equipment were not used. On April 25, it was decided to stop the search, since hardly anyone could survive for such a time period.

(Trawler Maru before sinking. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis)

The Japanese fishing boat Maru (Luck) drifted and crossed the Pacific Ocean after the devastating March 11, 2011 struck the country. The ship was first spotted at the end of March 2012 by a Canadian Air Force patrol. The Japanese side, after receiving notification of the discovery of the trawler, managed to establish the shipowner. However, he did not express a desire to return the ship. On board the "Luck" there was a minimum amount of fuel and there was no cargo, since before the earthquake in Japan the ship was intended for disposal. Nothing was reported about the fate of the Luck crew. Due to the fact that the vessel posed a threat to navigation, the US Coast Guard fired on it in April 2012, after which the trawler sank.

(Russian ghost ship "Lyubov Orlova" is drifting in the waters of Ireland, TASS)

On January 23, 2013, a double-deck cruise ship built back in Soviet years, left the Canadian port of St. John's for towing for scrapping in the Dominican Republic. However, in the afternoon of the next day, the towing cable burst at the Charlene Hunt tug pulling the ship. As a result, the ship drifted. Attempts to take him in tow again proved fruitless. Thus, since January 24, 2013, it has been in free drift in the Atlantic Ocean without a crew and identification lights. In March, the Irish media reported that signals had been recorded from the Lyubov Orlova emergency beacon 700 miles off the coast of Ireland. This may indicate that the ship has sunk, as the emergency beacon is activated when it enters the water. Searches were made in the area from which the signals were received, but nothing was found. In early 2014, there were rumors that a drifting ship inhabited by cannibal rats could allegedly wash up on the coast of Ireland. However, there is still no reliable information about the fate of the ship. Most likely, it sank in February 2013.

Ivan Rakovich.

They died without a fight. Catastrophes of Russian ships of the 18th–20th centuries. Chernyshev Alexander Alekseevich

Missing

Missing

It is hard to imagine that a warship or a submarine with a crew of tens or hundreds of people can disappear without a trace. But such cases, though rare, in history Russian fleet happened. Of course, the reasons for the disappearance of ships are rocks, waves, typhoons, mines. But the disappeared ships took with them the secret of their death. There were no witnesses to their disappearance. There was no documentary evidence of death either in the archives of Russia or in the archives of other countries (including former opponents).

Buer "Lustikh" BF. Participated in the Northern War of 1700–1721. In 1704–1715 delivered food and cargo to seaside fortresses, shipyards and ships of the squadron. In 1716 he sailed with the fleet to Copenhagen (he was loaded with gunpowder). On the way back he went missing.

Gekboat "Astrabad" CFL. In 1731 he went missing in the Caspian Sea.

The deck boat of the Black Sea Fleet (Lieutenant Maltsov) in September 1772 was sent from Kafa (Feodosia) to Kerch and went missing.

Ship "Asia" BF (captain of the 1st rank N. V. Tolbuzin). Participated in the war with Turkey 1768-1774. In 1770, as part of the 3rd Archipelago squadron of Rear Admiral I.N. Harp, "Asia" moved from Revel to the port of Ausa on the island of Paros. In 1771 and 1772 the ship was cruising in the Archipelago, blockading the Dardanelles. On February 7, 1773, he left the island of Mikono for the island of Imbro, and on February 9 he went missing. 439 people died. A few days later, they found only a mizzen mast nailed to the island of Mikono and several other shipwrecks.

Brigantine "Hope of Prosperity" OFL. In 1782 she left Okhotsk with a cargo to Nizhnekamchatsk and went missing in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Two years later, it became known that the brigantine was thrown onto one of Kuril Islands. The entire crew was killed.

Boat "Mius" AzFl (Captain? Lieutenant Ya. I. Lavrov). July 22 - September 9, 1782 moved from Kherson to Smyrna, taking the Russian consul I. I. Khemnitserov there. Returning to his homeland, on October 22, the bot left Constantinople, but did not arrive in Kherson. Lost in the Black Sea.

Frigate "Crimea" Black Sea Fleet (N. F. Seliverstov). On August 31, 1787, as part of the squadron of Rear Admiral Count M. I. Voinovich, he left Sevastopol to the coast of Bulgaria in search of Turkish ships. On September 8, near Cape Kaliakra, the squadron got into a strong storm that lasted five days. On the night of September 9, the frigate went missing.

In 1790 (during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790) 8 gunboats. These were small sailing and rowing vessels about 20 m long, armed with two guns, the crew of each boat consisted of 70 people, including 60 rowers.

Transport No. 3. Black Sea Fleet (Lieutenant K. T. Alekseev). Former Turkish, taken by the brig "Orpheus" from Sizopol on May 4, 1829. On September 28, 1829, as part of a rowing flotilla detachment, he left Sizopol for Nikolaev. On October 6, during a strong storm, he fell behind the detachment and went missing.

Schooner "Strela" BF (lieutenant M. E. Shalukhin). As part of a detachment of small vessels under the command of Rear Admiral A.P. Lazarev, on the way from the Gulf of Bothnia to Cape Dagerort on a stormy night of August 20, 1831, near Cape Dagerort, she parted with the detachment during a storm at night and went missing. The Phoenix and Zeal brigs sent to search for the schooner found no trace of her. Died: commander, 3 officers, 3 cadets and 47 lower ranks.

Brig "Kuril" OFL (Captain? Lieutenant A. I. Grigoriev). In 1850, he participated in the transfer of the military port from Okhotsk to the port of Petropavlovsk. On July 5, 1850, he left Okhotsk with cargo and 38 passengers and went missing.

Found in the following year, the wreckage on the island of Akhta, apparently belonging to a military ship, allows us to guess the place of the wreck of the brig on this island or near it.

Tender "Kamchadal" OFL (navigator Kuzmin). In 1850–1858 maintained communication between the ports of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. On October 11, 1858, he left Nikolaevsk-on-Amur with provisions for Udsk. The air temperature in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk is -11°С. The tender did not arrive at its destination. The exact place and time of the death of "Kamchadal" is unknown.

Clipper "Oprichnik" BF. On June 24, 1858, as part of the 2nd Amur detachment of captain 1st rank A.A. Popov, he left Kronstadt for Far East. In Nikolaevsk? on? Amur, the detachment joined the Far Eastern Squadron. Clipper explored the coasts of the Japanese and Korean Islands.

In 1861, the Oprichnik, under the command of Captain? Lieutenant P. A. Selivanov, set off on his way back to the Baltic. He left Shanghai on 31 October. After refueling in the port of Batavia (Jakarta), on November 26, 1861, the clipper entered the Indian Ocean and went missing.

In June 1862, the Naval Ministry issued an order to search for the Oprichnik clipper, Russian naval agents in different countries were instructed to find out if there was any information about the ship in foreign ports. It turned out that on the night of December 13-14 in the center of the Indian Ocean, on the way of ships from Batavia to the Cape of Good Hope, a severe hurricane raged. According to the records in the logbook of the Dutch barque Zvan, the wind reached 11 points. The same barque was seen by an unknown ship, the course of which passed to the center of the hurricane. In this area, 6 different ships were lost, and several were saved and corrected at the Cape of Good Hope and on the island of Mauritius.

The search for the crew of the "Oprichnik" did not bring results. According to the conclusion of the Naval Ministry, based on the evidence of ships that were at that time in the Indian Ocean, the clipper probably died on the night of December 13-14, 1861 at a point at latitude about 22 ° south, longitude about 67? hurricane.

However, later Russian sailors concluded that the death of the Oprichnik in a hurricane is possible and to some extent probable, but far from proven.

Died: commander, 7 officers, 14 non-commissioned officers and 73 lower ranks.

In memory of the crew of the "Oprichnik" in 1873, a monument was erected in Kronstadt, built at the expense of relatives and colleagues of the dead sailors.

The auxiliary cruiser (security cruiser) "Lieutenant Dydymov" Sibfl (Senior Lieutenant B. I. Semenets) as part of Rear Admiral G. K. Stark's White Siberian Flotilla left Vladivostok on October 24, 1922. "Lieutenant Dydymov" - the flagship of the 3rd division sailed under the flag of captain 1st rank A.V. Solovyov. On November 23, 1922, the flotilla arrived at the port of Fuzan, and then headed for Shanghai. On the morning of December 4, when the ships were 150-180 miles from Shanghai, a squall suddenly came up from the northeast, which turned into a storm with a force of 8-9 points. Lieutenant Dydymov did not arrive in Shanghai. He was last seen on the evening of December 4 from the minesweeper Paris. The cruiser had almost no progress, it turned either along the wave or against it. The minesweeper himself was damaged, so he could not provide assistance. The circumstances of the death of "Lieutenant Dydymov" remained unclear. On the ship, 11 officers, 3 midshipmen, 34 crew members and 29 passengers were killed.

The submarine "S? 2" of the KBF (Captain? Lieutenant I. A. Sokolov) participated in the Soviet? Finnish War of 1939–1940. January 1, 1940 the boat went to a position in the Gulf of Bothnia. In the evening of the next day, she reached the Aland Islands and received permission to cross the South Kvarken. More connection the boat was not. On January 18, an order was transmitted to C? 2 to leave the position and return to the base. There was no answer, the boat was missing. The Minsk leader, sent to search for "C? 2", did not find the boat. The Finns also did not find the boat. Either she was blown up by a mine, or she became a victim of ice. Tana of the death of "C? 2" has not been disclosed to date.

The Soviet naval base, located on the Khanko (Gangut) peninsula at the end of August 1941, found itself deep behind enemy lines. Its defenders lacked ammunition, gasoline, medicines, food. The command of the Baltic Fleet attempted to deliver goods to Hanko by submarine.

Submarine "P? 1" BF (captain? Lieutenant I. I. Loginov) on September 9, 1941 at 8.00 left Kronstadt for Hanko, having on board 19.6 tons of cargo (154 boxes of canned food; 200 100? mm, 100 76 mm and 100 45 mm shells; up to 2 tons of medicines and other cargo). The boat was accompanied by the base minesweeper "BTSH? 211" and a patrol boat. In the evening, in the area of ​​Gogland Island, the escort parted ways with "P? 1". It was planned that the boat would make a further transition on the surface at a speed of 18 knots.

During the campaign, the boat did not get in touch and did not reach the rendezvous point with the boats and minesweepers of the Hanko naval base either at regular time (06:00 on September 11, 1941) or at the reserve time (02:00 the next day it did not arrive. Already on September 17, it was officially announced “Missing in action while performing a combat mission.” 54 crew members were killed.

Possible reasons for the death of the boat: undermining the Yuminda or Corbetta obstacles on a mine, personnel error or equipment failure.

The submarine "Shch? 211" of the Black Sea Fleet (captain? Lieutenant A. D. Devyatko) on November 16, 1941 went on another military campaign in the Varna region. She did not get in touch and did not return to the base at the appointed time.

In September 2000, in the area of ​​​​Cape St. Atanas (during the war years it was called Cape Akbupnu), south of Varna, a skeleton of a "pike" "X" series was accidentally discovered with the first and partially second compartments destroyed. Other submarines of this type, except for the Shch? 211, did not disappear in this area. At the same time, it is not clear what could have led to such extensive damage to the hull, since the nearby Romanian barrier consisted of mines with an explosive weight of 30 kg, the impact of which could not have had such an effect. The same can be said about the depth charges used by the enemy in 1941, and there is not even information about a similar attack at that time and place. So the mystery of the death of "Shch? 211" has not yet been fully disclosed.

The submarine "K? 3" of the Northern Fleet (Captain? Lieutenant K. I. Malofeev) on March 14, 1943 went on the next (eighth) military campaign. She never got in touch and did not return to the base at the appointed time. But unlike most cases when the boats went missing, the enemy recorded her presence in position for a long time. On March 17, "K? 3" unsuccessfully attacked one convoy, on the 21st - another. And if in the first case the boat remained undetected after the volley, then in the second, the three hunters established clear hydroacoustic contact with it and dropped a hundred bombs. A large release of oil and solarium, air bubbles and wood chips were observed on the surface. Since the depth of the sea at the alleged place of her death was 215 m, a diving survey and a lot search were not carried out. And yet, on March 28, another convoy going to Kirkines was subjected to a new attack within the K? 3 position, during which the Germans recorded the passage of three torpedoes. The enemy guards found nothing and dropped 19 bombs only to thwart a second attack. To this day, it is not possible to establish the true cause of the death of the Katyusha, the most effective in terms of torpedo and artillery attacks.

The guards submarine "K? 22" of the Northern Fleet (captain of the 3rd rank V. F. Kulbakin) went to sea on February 3, 1943 as part of a tactical group together with the "K? 3". On February 6, a meeting with the enemy took place, but K? 22 could not go on the attack - the target was obscured by the flagship K? 3. During the attack, the boats lost each other and met only in the afternoon. They then returned to shore and continued their surface search. With the onset of dawn on February 7, the submarines sank, but for another seven and a half hours they spoke using sound underwater communications. At 19.37, "K? 22" was called from the flagship with an order to move to the surface position, but she did not answer him. "K? 22" did not show up later, and she did not arrive at the base. Since there were no enemy anti-submarine ships nearby at the time of the loss of communication, the command considered a mine explosion to be the cause of death. After the war, it turned out that a minefield had indeed been in this area since May 1942. It was located at a distance of 6–7.5 miles from the coast in an area that was considered dangerous, and it was recommended to swim in it at a working diving depth (75 m).

Submarine "K? 1" SF. (Captain of the 2nd rank M.F. Khomyakov) September 5, 1943 headed for a position to the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya. After September 9, she did not get in touch and did not return to the base at the set time - on September 28 she did not return.

A post-war study of enemy documents does not give grounds to assert that K? 1 was the victim of an attack by an aircraft, surface or submarine. Most probable cause death seems to be an explosion on a floating mine, which was carried by the Gulf Stream to Novaya Zemlya from the entire water area of ​​the North Atlantic, the Norwegian and Barents Seas. However, one cannot completely exclude crew errors in an emergency situation (M. F. Khomyakov had never sailed on K-type submarines before) or undermining mine banks exposed by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper off the northern coast of the archipelago a year earlier.

Submarine "Shch? 208" of the Black Sea Fleet (Captain? Lieutenant N. M. Belanov). On the night of August 23, 1941, she entered the area of ​​the Portitsky arm of the Danube, where she was ordered to act against convoys sailing between Constanta and Sulina. To protect this route, the Romanians already in the spring of 1942 set up four anti-submarine minefields parallel to the coast. Since there were no attacks by enemy PLO forces in this area at that time, it remains to be assumed that mines turned out to be the reason for the disappearance of Shch? 208.

Submarine "Shch? 213" of the Black Sea Fleet (Captain? Lieutenant N. V. Isaev). On the night of September 28, 1942, the boat set off on the sixth and last campaign against enemy communications, N.V. Isaev was supposed to get in touch only before leaving the position at the Portitsky arm of the Danube on the evening of October 14. But that did not happen. Most likely, the “pike” fell victim to the same Romanian minefields on which the Shch? 208 had previously died. However, another version cannot be ruled out. On the last day of the Shch? 213 patrol, 5.5 miles east of the Portitsky raid, the signalmen of the German big hunter Xanten discovered a torpedo trail stretching to the stern of the ship. The hunter dodged the torpedo, detected an underwater object with hydroacoustics, bombed and allegedly even observed evidence of the target sinking. Only a diving examination will help to finally reveal the cause of the death of Shch? 213 - after its skeleton is discovered.

Submarine "S? 12" BF (captain of the 3rd rank A. A. Bashchenko). On July 26, 1943, she left Kronstadt for the base minesweepers. Having made a stop at Lavensari on the 30th, the boat began to force the Gogland anti-submarine position. On August 1, she charged the battery off Keri Island without interference and headed for the deep-water passage off Nargen Island, blocked by enemy anti-submarine nets and mines. After that, "S? 12" did not get in touch anymore and did not return to the base at the appointed time.

Submarine "V? 1" SF (captain of the 2nd rank I. I. Fisanovich). British submarine "Sunfish", handed over to the Soviet fleet in 1944

On April 10, 1944, she was enrolled in the Soviet Navy under the designation "B? 1" and on May 30, the Naval flag of the USSR was raised on it. After being accepted by the Soviet crew, the boat under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Hero of the Soviet Union I. I. Fisanovich left Rosyt on July 25 and headed for the Kola Bay, but did not arrive at the base. The boat sailed alone without an escort. There are several versions of her death. According to one of them, "B? 1" was mistakenly sunk by a British aircraft, it may have blown up on a floating mine, but the most likely cause of death is an accident.

Submarine "S? 117" (until 1949 "Sch? 117" "Mackerel") Pacific Fleet (captain of the 2nd rank V. A. Krasnikov). On the night of December 15, 1952, she left Sovetskaya Gavan to participate in joint exercises of the 90th submarine brigade of the 7th Navy. Soon the boat commander reported about the failure of one diesel engine and about the continuation of the campaign under the second one that remained in service. At 03.15 a message was received from the boat that the diesel engine had been put into operation. This was the last radio message.

According to the plan of the exercise, from 16:00 to 17:00, the boat was supposed to report the discovery of the exit from the port of Kholmsk of the ship? target TsL? 27, representing the enemy. However, neither in these terms, nor later, the boat did not get in touch and did not respond to requests. The search for S? 117 in the Tatar Strait did not give any results: the depths on the route of passage from Sovetskaya Gavan to Kholmsk range from 100 to 1150 m. There were 52 people on board S? 117: 12 officers, 5 foremen and 35 sailors.