Nikole Stewart
When you think of shipwrecks, you most likely think of the ocean. But strangely enough, that’s not always the case. There are some shipwrecks found in unexpected places. From desert sands to rainforests, these disasters not only offered explorers and researchers a look into history, but also raised many into the possibility of finding them there. Let’s dive into these strange shipwrecks found in unexpected places.
5. Eduard Bohlen
The German cargo ship hit a sandbank off Namibia’s coast in 1909. After running into thick fog, the ship ran aground and now lies buried in desert sand near the infamous Skeleton Coast. The ship sits almost a quarter mile inland in a remote desert area after being completely covered in sand. What’s even more bizarre is that the ship is slowly moving more inland, away from the sea, because of the continuation of coast advancement, which pushes dunes toward the ocean.
4. Camargo
In 2024, researchers found one of the strange shipwrecks in unexpected places in the dark past. Apparently, they had come across the lost wreck of the Camargo, a US slave ship that illegally transported and sold enslaved African people into bondage in Brazil in the early 1850s. The Camargo entered Brazilian waters in 1852, and more than 500 individuals were transported aboard.
3. Shackleton’s Endurance
Not only is this one of the strangest shipwrecks found in unexpected places, but it’s also one of the most well-preserved shipwrecks. After 107 years, the Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. The ship was crushed by sea ice and sank in 1915. Even after so many years, the Endurance is in remarkable condition.
2. La Merced
Amongst a flourishing forest sits a stunning treasure. Built in 1917 during the shipbuilding boom of World War I, the schooner La Merced carried petroleum products for Standard Oil and is now part of the flourishing ecosystem of a Washington Forest in Anacortes. The ship is visible from the road and is part of nature, offering researchers a new understanding of how ships decay.
1. Great Lakes
One of the strangest shipwrecks found in unexpected places has been in the Great Lakes. Over the last couple of years, three shipwrecks have been found, including the Margaret A. Muir, which was discovered after 131 years by Wisconsin maritime historians. The same historians discovered the John Evenson, a wooden steam tug built in Milwaukee, which capsized in 1895.