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SS Mont-Blanc was a French freighter built in Middlesbrough, England, and requisitioned by the French government to transport munitions during World War I. On December 6, 1917, the ship collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. The impact ignited the cargo of...
K-141 Kursk was a Russian Navy Oscar II-class nuclear-powered cruise-missile submarine. It sank in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000 after explosions involving its torpedoes during a naval exercise, killing all 118 people aboard. The wreck was later raised in a major salvage operation, while its dam...
SS Sultana was a wooden side-wheel steamboat operating on the Mississippi River during the final weeks of the American Civil War. On 27 April 1865, overloaded with passengers, including many recently released Union prisoners of war, it suffered a catastrophic boiler explosion north of Memphis and bu...
SS Grandcamp was a French cargo ship destroyed in the Texas City disaster on April 16, 1947. While docked at Texas City, Texas, a fire aboard the vessel reached its cargo of ammonium nitrate and caused a massive explosion, which triggered further fires and explosions in the industrial port. The disa...
SS Kiangya was a Chinese passenger steamship operated by the Shanghai Merchants Steam Navigation Company. In December 1948, as the Chinese Civil War raged, she suffered a massive internal explosion—likely caused by a mine left by retreating forces—and broke in two near the mouth of the Huangpu River...
SS Fort Stikine was a British cargo ship destroyed in Bombay Harbour, now Mumbai Harbour, on 14 April 1944. Its cargo included explosives, ammunition, cotton, and gold bullion; a fire aboard the vessel led to two major explosions that killed hundreds of people and caused extensive damage to ships, d...
HMS Vanguard was a St Vincent-class dreadnought battleship of the British Royal Navy. While anchored at Scapa Flow on 9 July 1917, she was destroyed by an internal explosion, probably involving overheated cordite charges in a magazine; more than 800 people died, with only a few survivors. The protec...
SS Principessa Mafalda was an Italian passenger liner operated by Navigazione Generale Italiana on service between Italy and South America. On 25 October 1927, she sank off the coast of Brazil after a propeller shaft failure damaged the hull and admitted water. Approximately 314 people died, althoug...
