The Bermuda Triangle - an area in the Atlantic Ocean bounded by Florida and Bermuda, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas - is famous for the mysterious, mystical disappearances of ships and aircraft. For many years, he brings real horror to the world's population - after all, stories about inexplicable disasters and ghost ships are on everyone's lips.
Numerous researchers are trying to explain the Bermuda Triangle anomaly. These are mainly theories of ship abduction by aliens from outer space or inhabitants of Atlantis, movement through holes in time or rifts in space, and other paranormal reasons. None of these hypotheses have yet been confirmed.
Opponents of "otherworldly" versions argue that reports of mysterious events in the Bermuda Triangle are greatly exaggerated. Ships and aircraft disappear in other parts of the world, sometimes without a trace. A radio malfunction or suddenness of a disaster can prevent the crew from transmitting a distress signal.
In addition, finding wreckage at sea is not an easy task. Also, the area of the Bermuda Triangle is very difficult to navigate: there are a large number of shoals, cyclones and storms often arise.
A hypothesis is proposed that explains the sudden death of ships and aircraft by gas emissions - for example, as a result of the decay of methane hydrate at the bottom of the sea, when the density is lowered so that ships cannot stay afloat. Some speculate that, once released into the air, methane can also cause plane crashes - for example, due to a decrease in air density.
It was believed that the cause of the death of some ships, including in the Bermuda Triangle, could be the so-called wandering waves, which can reach a height of 30 meters. It is also assumed that infrasound can be generated at sea, which affects the crew members of a ship or aircraft, causing panic, as a result of which people leave the ship.
Consider the natural features of this region - really extremely interesting and unusual.
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The area of the Bermuda Triangle is just over a million square kilometers. There are huge shallow waters and deep-sea depressions, a shelf with shallow banks, a continental slope, marginal and middle plateaus, deep straits, abyssal plains, deep-water trenches, a complex system of sea currents and intricate atmospheric circulation.
The Bermuda Triangle has several seamounts and hills. The mountains are covered with powerful coral reefs. Some seamounts rise on the ocean floor alone, others form groups. In the Atlantic Ocean, by the way, there are significantly fewer of them than in the Pacific.
Here is the Puerto Rico Trench - the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean. Its depth is 8742 meters.
The bottom of the Bermuda triangle is mainly sedimentary rocks - limestone, sandstone, clay. Their layer thickness ranges from 1-2 to 5-6 kilometers.
The smaller (southern) part of the triangle belongs to the tropical seas, the larger (northern) to the subtropical ones. The water temperature on the surface here ranges from 22 to 26 ° C, but in shallow water, as well as
in bays and lagoons it can be much higher. The salinity of the waters is only slightly higher than the average - except, again, shallow waters, bays and lagoons, where salinity may increase. The waters here are noticeably warmer than in other parts of the ocean at the same geographical latitudes, since it is here that the warm Gulf Stream flows.
The current in the Bermuda Triangle is fast, making it difficult or slowing down the movement of ships sailing against it; it pulsates, changes speed and location, and changes are absolutely impossible to predict; it creates irregular eddies affecting the weather, some of which are quite powerful. Fogs are frequent on the border of its warm waters with the colder surrounding waters.
Trade winds blow over the triangle - constant winds blowing in the Northern Hemisphere in the southwest direction, at an altitude of 3 kilometers. At high altitudes, anti-trade winds blow in the opposite direction.
In the southern part of the triangle, roughly between Florida and the Bahamas, there are approximately 60 stormy days per year. In fact, there is a storm every fifth to sixth day. If you move north, towards Bermuda, the number of stormy days per year increases, that is, a storm occurs every fourth day. Destructive cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes are very frequent.
All this contributes to the fact that in the Bermuda Triangle many ships and aircraft disappear. Maybe the reason is not so mystical? But this cannot be asserted with certainty, since there are a lot of unexplained mysteries.
In the Bermuda Triangle, a LOT of ships and even aircraft disappear, although the weather is almost always good at the time of the disaster. Ships and aircraft die suddenly, crews do not report malfunctions, and do not send distress signals. The wreckage of aircraft and ships is usually not found, although the search is intense, with the involvement of all relevant services.
Often the Bermuda Triangle is credited with catastrophes that actually happened far beyond its borders. We have selected the most famous confirmed ship victims of the Bermuda Triangle.
Rosalie
In August 1840, the French ship "Rosalie" was discovered near the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau, drifting with her sails raised without a crew. The vessel had no damage and was quite sailable. It looked as if the team had left Rosalie a few hours ago.
Atalanta
On January 31, 1880, the British training sailing ship Atalanta departed from Bermuda, with 290 officers and cadets on board. On the way to England, it disappeared without leaving a trace.
"Atalanta"
This case was in the center of public attention, the Times wrote about it every day, and even many months after the disappearance of the sailboat.
The Times (London), April 20, 1880, p. 12: “The gunboat Avon arrived in Portsmouth yesterday. The captain said that near the Azores, he noticed a huge amount of floating debris … The sea was literally swarming with them. Faial Island's harbor was filled with ships that had lost their masts. And during all five days, while "Avon" remained on the roadstead of Fayal, the debris became more and more.
However, there was no evidence that any ship sank or was destroyed by a storm … Some Avon officers believe the Atalanta may have hit an iceberg, but they strongly deny that the ship could capsize."
Lawrence D. Couchet published in his book excerpts from newspaper articles, official reports from the British Admiralty and even testimonies of two sailors, according to which the Atalanta was a very unstable vessel and with its 109 tons of water and 43 tons of ballast on board could easily turn over and drown even during a light storm.
It was rumored that there were only two more or less experienced officers in the crew, who were forced to stay in Barbados as they contracted yellow fever. Consequently, there were 288 inexperienced sailors on board.
Analysis of meteorological data has confirmed that severe storms have raged in the Atlantic Ocean region between Bermuda and Europe since early February. Perhaps the ship was lost somewhere very far from the Bermuda Triangle, since of the 3000 miles waiting for it, only 500 passed through the "triangle". And yet, Atalanta is considered one of the confirmed victims of the Triangle.
Unidentified abandoned schooner
In 1881, the English ship "Ellen Austin" met an abandoned schooner in the open ocean, completely retaining its seaworthiness and only slightly damaged. Several sailors got on the schooner, and both ships headed for St. John's, located on the island of Newfoundland.
Soon the fog fell and the ships lost sight of each other. A few days later they met again, and again there was not a single living soul on the schooner. Captain "Ellen Austin" wanted to land another small rescue crew on the schooner, but the sailors flatly refused, claiming that the schooner was cursed.
This story has two sequels with different versions. In the first version, the captain of the "Ellen Austin" tried to transfer another rescue crew to the schooner, but the sailors did not want to risk any more, and the schooner was left in the ocean.
According to another version, the second rescue crew was nevertheless transferred to the schooner, but then a squall struck, the ships parted a considerable distance from each other, and no one ever saw the schooner or her second crew anymore.
Joshua Slokum and his yacht
Joshua Slokam, who was the first in the history of mankind to sail alone around the globe, disappeared without a trace in November 1909, making a relatively short transition from Martha's Vineyard Island to the shores of South America - through the Bermuda Triangle.
Sailing yacht "Spray"
On November 14, 1909, he departed from Martha's Vineyard and from that day there was no news of him. For those who knew Captain Slokum, he was too good a sailor and the Spray too good a yacht for them not to cope with any of the usual difficulties the ocean might have in store.
No one knows for sure what happened to him, although there was no shortage of guesses and versions. There are "reliable" testimonies of some sailors who, even after the fateful date, saw Slocam alive and well in various ports of the world.
Over the years, many hypotheses have been proposed to explain its disappearance. In the end, a hurricane of such force could have sank that it sank his yacht. The spray could burn. He could go to the bottom, colliding at night with some ship.
In coastal waters, a collision between a small boat and a large ship is not uncommon. Lights on a sailing yacht are usually quite dim, sometimes not visible due to her own sails. A large ship could easily smash a 37-foot floor into chips without even feeling a jolt.
Edward Rowe Snow, in his book "Mysterious Events off the Shores of New England", assures that a mail steamer with a displacement of about 500 tons hit the yacht. Even the court, which examined a variety of evidence, was involved in the Slokam "case". According to the testimony of the son of Viktor Slokam, the father was in brilliant shape, and the yacht was practically unsinkable.
It was even suggested, unconditionally accepted by some "experts", that Joshua Slokam was allegedly not happy in marriage and therefore faked a disaster in order to hide and spend the rest of his days in seclusion.
March 1918 "Cyclops"
On March 4, 1918, the Cyclops cargo ship with a displacement of 19,600 tons departed from the island of Barbados, carrying 309 people and a cargo of manganese ore. The vessel was 180 meters long and was one of the largest in the US Navy.
Cyclops on the Hudson River, 1911
It was on its way to Baltimore, but it never arrived. It never sent an SOS signal and left no trace. Initially, it was assumed that the ship could be torpedoed by a German submarine, but at that time the German submarines were not there. According to another version, the ship ran into a mine. However, there were no minefields here either.
The US Department of the Navy, after a thorough investigation, issued a statement: “The disappearance of the Cyclops is one of the largest and most intractable cases in the annals of the Navy. Even the place of the disaster has not been established exactly, the causes of the accident are unknown, not the slightest traces of the ship have been found.
None of the proposed versions of the catastrophe gives a satisfactory explanation under what circumstances it disappeared. " President Woodrow Wilson said that "only God and the sea know what happened to the ship." And one magazine wrote an article about how a huge squid emerged from the sea and carried the ship into the depths of the sea.
In 1968, a naval diver, Dean Haves, who was part of a team searching for the missing nuclear submarine Scorpion, discovered a shipwreck at a depth of 60 meters, 100 kilometers east of Norfolk. Later examining the photograph of the Cyclops, he assured that it was this ship that lay at the bottom.
"Cyclops" still appears in print and not only as one of the characters in the Legend of the Bermuda Triangle. It was the first large vessel equipped with a radio transmitter to disappear without sending an SOS signal, and the largest vessel in the US Navy to disappear without leaving any trace.
Every year, in March, when the next anniversary of his disappearance is celebrated, articles about this mysterious event are written again, old theories are updated and new theories are put forward, and, probably for the hundredth time, the famous photograph of "Cyclops" is published. His disappearance to this day continues to be called, not without reason, "the most insoluble riddle in the annals of the navy."
Carroll A. Deering
The five-masted schooner Carroll A. Deering was discovered in January 1921 on the Diamond Shoals. She had no damage, the sails were raised, food was on the tables, but there was not a single living soul on board, except for two cats.
The Deering crew consisted of 12 people. None of them were found, and it is still unknown what happened to them. On June 21, 1921, a bottle with a note was caught at sea, which, presumably, could have been thrown by one of the crew members:
“We are in captivity, in the hold and handcuffed. Notify the board of the company as soon as possible."
Passions flared even more when the captain's wife allegedly recognized the handwriting of the ship's engineer Henry Bates, and the graphologists confirmed the identity of the handwriting on the note and on his papers. But after a while it turned out that the note was forged, and the author himself even admitted this.
The forensic investigation, however, revealed important circumstances: on January 29, the schooner passed the lighthouse at Cape Lookout, North Carolina, and gave signals that it was in a dangerous situation, as it had lost both ship's anchors.
Then the schooner was seen north of the lighthouse from another ship, while she behaved rather strangely. Meteorological reports for early February indicate a strong storm off the coast of North Carolina, with winds reaching 130 kilometers per hour.
Cotopaxi
On November 29, 1925, the Cotopaxi left Charleston with a cargo of coal and headed for Havana. Passing through the center of the Bermuda Triangle, it disappeared without leaving the slightest trace and without having time to send an SOS signal. Neither the wreckage of the ship nor the crew were found.
Suduffko
The freighter Suduffko left Port Newark, New Jersey, and heading south, disappeared without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle. A company spokesman stated that it disappeared as if swallowed by a giant sea monster.
The ship sailed from Port Newark on March 13, 1926 and headed for the Panama Canal. His port of destination was Los Angeles. It carried a crew of 29 people and a cargo weighing about 4,000 tons, including a large batch of steel pipes.
The vessel moved along the coast, but on the second day after sailing, communication with it was lost. The search for the ship continued for a month, but not the slightest trace was found. True, the meteorological reports and the testimony of the captain of the "Aquitaine" liner, who was sailing the same course towards the "Suduffko", confirm that a tropical cyclone passed through this area on March 14-15.
John & Mary
In April 1932, the Greek schooner Embirkos sighted the two-masted John and Mary 50 miles south of Bermuda. The ship turned out to be abandoned, its crew mysteriously disappeared.
Proteus and Nereus
"Proteus"
At the end of November 1941, the Proteus departed from the Virgin Islands, and a few weeks later, the Nereus. Both ships were heading to Norfolk, but neither of them arrived at their destination, both disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
The US was preoccupied with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war on Japan, so the disappearance of the ships did not resonate. A post-war study of the archives of the German navy showed that the Proteus and Nereus could not have been sunk by submarines.
Rubicon
On October 22, 1944, a ship without a crew was found off the coast of Florida. The only living thing on board was the dog. The ship was in excellent condition, except for the missing lifeboats and a torn towing line hanging from the bow of the ship.
The personal belongings of the crew members also remained on board. The last entry in the logbook was made on September 26, when the ship was still in the port of Havana. The Rubicon appeared to be sailing along the coast of Cuba.
City Bell
On December 5, 1946, a schooner without a crew was discovered at sea. She followed a course from the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau, to one of the islands of the archipelago - Grand Turk. Everything was in order on the ship, the lifeboats were in their places, only the crew disappeared without a trace.
Sandra
In June 1950, the 120-meter freighter Sandra, loaded with 300 tons of insecticides, sailed from Savannah, Georgia, to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, and disappeared without a trace. The search operation began only after it was established that he was six days late to the place of arrival.
By the way, an article about this case, written by journalist E. Jones and published on September 16, 1950, aroused great interest in the Bermuda Triangle. Jones noted that the Sandra is not the only vessel to have disappeared here. The legend of the death triangle began to spread with incredible speed.
Southern District
In December 1954 in the Florida Strait, the tank landing ship "Southern District", converted into a cargo ship for the transport of sulfur, disappeared. No distress signals were detected by ships at sea or by coastal stations. Only a life preserver was found.
The 3,337 tonne Southern District vessel was sailing from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, carrying sulfur to Bucksport, Maine. The destination was Portland.
The captain got in touch on the 3rd, and then on December 5th, already off the coast of Florida. Everything was in order on the ship. On December 7, he was seen in storm surges off Charleston.
The commission of inquiry determined that the ship apparently sank in a northeasterly wind. In an area dominated by the Gulf Stream, this wind has a poor reputation, as it blows directly against the current, turning the Gulf Stream into a turbulent stream, and even large ships are in a hurry to get out of its way.
Snow Boy
In July 1963, a 20-meter fishing vessel disappeared, making the transition from Kingston (Jamaica) to the Pedro Keys in clear weather. There were forty people on the ship, no one else heard of them. It was reported that wreckage and items belonging to the crew were found.
Witchcraft
The mysterious disappearance occurred during the 1967 Christmas break. Two people on a small yacht left Miami Beach for a cruise along the coast. They say they wanted to admire the city's festive illumination from the sea.
Soon they reported on the radio that they came across a reef and damaged the propeller, they are not in danger, but they asked to be towed to the pier, and indicated their coordinates: at buoy number 7.
The rescue boat arrived at this location 15 minutes later, but did not find anyone. An alarm was announced, but the search yielded no result, no people, no yacht, no wreckage were found - everything disappeared without a trace.
El Carib
On 15 October 1971, the captain of the cargo ship El Carib, sailing from Colombia to the Dominican Republic, announced that they would arrive at the port of destination at 7 am the next day. After that, the ship disappeared. It was a fairly large dry cargo ship, the flagship of the Dominican merchant fleet, its length was 113 meters.
The ship was sailing to the port of Santo Domingo with a crew of thirty people. It was equipped with an automatic signaling system that, in the event of an accident, automatically sends a distress signal over the air. According to the latest report, the vessel at the time of disappearance was in the Caribbean Sea, a considerable distance from Santo Domingo.
