With Titanic Belfast drawing the crowds and Titanic 3D on the silver screen, see some amazing shipwrecks for real. We show you where to get wrecked with 7 of the world’s best.
1. The Titanic, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Celebrate the centenary year of the launching of the legendary liner by visiting the £100 million Titanic Belfast exhibition which opened on 31 March. Discover the story of the most famous ship in history in the place where it was built, from its birth in boomtown Belfast to its resting place on the seabed.
2. The Mary Rose, Portsmouth,England
The Mary Rose, somewhat bizarrely, sank accidently while doing battle with the dastardly French fleet in 1545. Dramatically raised from the depths in 1982, the Rose went on display in Portsmouth, but it is currently under wraps. You’ll be able to see her again later this year when a new Mary Rose museum opens. Apparently you can meet the crew – presumably not the original crew?
3. The Eduard Bohlen, Namibia
The 1600km-long Namib Desert in southern Africa is the world’s oldest desert. Fascinating! It’s also a pretty weird place. One of its weirdest features is the wreck of the Eduard Bohlen, which thanks to shifting sands now lies in dunes a quarter of a mile inland. In 1909 it ran aground in the thick fog that has been the cause of many shipwrecks, hence the appropriate name of this part of the world – the Skeleton Coast.
4. USS Arizona, Hawaii, USA
For fans of military history, and Ben Affleck’s finest hour but for Armageddon, a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, Oahu, Hawaii, is a must. Built on the water over the wreck of the battleship USS Arizona, scuppered in the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, the site is a poignant memorial to that fateful day in history.
5. Shipwreck Bay, Greece
It’s got several names – Navagio, Shipwreck Bay or Smugglers’ Cove (which sounds like a pirate ship-themed kids’ adventure playground in Disneyland… and actually, it is), but whatever it’s called, it’s a proper stunning beach on the island of Zakynthos. The beach boasts an unusual feature – the wreck of a drug smugglers’ boat abandoned when they fled the Greek navy. Fans of Greek drug boats should also check da wreck at Laconia in the Peloponnese.
6. Zenobia, Larnaca, Cyprus
Some might say that the only way to get completely wrecked is to go diving – as in scuba diving. The Zenobia is up there in any wreck divers’ top 10. Close to Larnaca in Cyprus, it’s easily accessible. Why not combine it with a family holiday? The kids can splash about in the shallows while you explore the Zenobia, which sank on her first voyage in 1980 with 104 articulated lorries on board.
7. Moynaq, Uzbekistan
There’s not just one wreck, but many in Moynaq – the name of a once-thriving fishing port on the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. What was once the fourth-largest inland sea, shrank by 90% when two rivers that fed the sea were diverted for irrigation and the water evaporated, leaving boats quite literally, high and dry.
