Everyone knows the ill-fated disaster of the TMS Titanic as it distinguished itself by fame of a story around it, too great confidence of the crew and what goes with it, a huge stupidity. But Titanic had only the third one non-military loss of life ever recorded. There were disasters with a greater number of life loss and also with a worst luck than the Titanic had. Curious?
1. Largest Life Loss of All Time
The German ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff, while participated in the evacuation of civilians, military personnel and Nazi officials got hit by 3 torpedon on Baltic Sea. In January 1945 around 9,400 people were killed in less than 45 minutes - it is the time in which the ship sank.
2. Largest Non - Military Life Loss
Dona Paz, Philippine passenger ferry collided with the MT Vector, which was carrying 8,800 barrels of gasoline. At night, 20th of December 1987, while most of the passengers were sleeping, fire spread quickly to Dona Paz and surrounding water and caused death of approximately 4,735 people.
3. The Iconic 18 Minutes
After being hit by a German torpedo during the WW1 on May 7th, 1915, the British Ocean Liner RMS Lusitania sank. It took only 18 minutes for Germany to turn public opinion in many countries against the country and to gain a new great opponent - United States - enter the War. 1,198 of 1,959 passengers were killed in the disaster that became an iconic symbol in military.
4. Fastest Sinking Ship Ever
7 minutes - this is the time estimated for the German transport ship MV Goya to sank and take with itself over 6,000 people. The ship got struck by a Soviet submarine on the Baltic Sea during the WW2, on April 16th, 1945. Almost all the passengers, including women and children, and the whole crew died - Out of 6,100 documented and probably hundreds more undocumented passengers only 183 survived.
5. The Most Famous Disaster of All Times
Finally, it's time for the frosting on the cake. Why was Titanic so famous? The 14th of April, 1912, 11:40 p.m. is a date known for everyone - what makes this catastrophe so special?
1,514 people were killed during this tremendous night and 710 survived. This makes Titanic the third non-military largest life loss maritime tragedy. It is, indeed, a lot, but history has seen bigger numbers.
Is it the confidence and foolishness of the Titanic builders and crew? The ship was considered to be the safest one so far, although there were not enough lifeboats ob board. Even in the hour of a catastrophe, the lifeboats weren't used to their fullest, carrying only the wealthiest people.
Or is it the story that was created around Titanic later on? Is there anyone in the world who hasn't heard about Jack and Rose yet?
We leave this matter open as no one ever answered this question yet, probably no one ever will, but if you would have any ideas - we will be happy to read about them in the comments.
We wish you all sailors a safe voyage!
