What incredible ancient shipwrecks have been discovered recently?
Advanced sonar and deep-sea robots are finding shipwrecks that rewite history - including perfectly preserved vessels from ancient Greece and the deepest wreck ever found.
The answer
In 2022, the Endurance - Ernest Shackleton's ship lost in 1915 - was found 3,008 meters deep in the Weddell Sea, remarkably intact in the frigid Antarctic waters. The USS Samuel B. Roberts, sunk in 1944, was located at 6,895 meters in the Philippine Sea in 2022, becoming the deepest shipwreck ever found. In 2024, archaeologists discovered a 2,400-year-old Greek merchant vessel in the Black Sea at 2,000 meters, perfectly preserved by the anoxic conditions. The Baltic Sea has yielded medieval vessels so well-preserved that food items remain identifiable. Over three million shipwrecks are estimated to lie on the ocean floor worldwide, with fewer than one percent surveyed. Modern AUVs now allow systematic deep-water search at unprecedented scale.
Source: BBC News
- shipwrecks
- underwater discovery
- maritime history
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