Last year, a flotilla of joy hoisted it’s mast for shipwreck enthusiasts worldwide.
Not ONE but TWO long-sought-after maritime discoveries were unearthed within weeks of each other.
Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton’s (1874 – 1922) ship ENDURANCE was discovered 3 km beneath the Southern Ocean in Antarctica.
In the same month of February, British Sea Captain James Cook’s (he’s the guy Aussie school kids back in the 70’s were taught ‘discovered’ Australia) ship ENDEAVOUR was positively identified in the Atlantic Ocean near Rhode Island (U.S.) at a depth of just 14 meters.
I love a good shipwreck story. The one I’m about to share with you is as ‘curious’ as any.
Five years ago, the world’s oldest ‘intact’ shipwreck was discovered 2 km beneath the waves of the Black Sea of the Atlantic Ocean near Bulgaria.
By ‘intact’ what is meant is more or less the whole ship was still present. By comparison, only 15% of the ENDEAVOUR was still remaining when that discovery was made in 2022.
The famous DOKUS SHIPWRECK, the world’s oldest (dated 2700–2200 BC), had even less. Nothing from the original sea-going vessel remained apart from hundreds of clay pots and urns. 
A team of researchers found the 23 meter long Ancient Greek ship, named Odysseus, while surveying 2000sq km of seabed. A small piece of wood was taken for tests and carbon dated to 400BC, making it the oldest intact shipwreck known to mankind.
Its original shape had not been destroyed despite thousands of years at the bottom of the sea, with a mast, rudder and rowing benches still clearly visible. The shipwreck is well preserved because below a certain depth there is no oxygen in the water in the Black Sea.
The Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project spent three years combing the depths of the Black Sea using remote-controlled deepwater camera systems. Their exploration unearthed more than 60 shipwrecks.
PART 1 HERE ME HEARTIES
PART 2 HERE ME HEARTIES
PART 3 HERE ME HEARTIES
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Amazing!
I love these stories of old things–shipwrecks and cities buried under the dirt. The video of the Endurance is crazy! I also looked up more on Odysseus and…wow. Oxygen. Oxygen’s a destroyer, isn’t it? Nuts to think lacking it would lead to preservation. Admittedly, I didn’t pay super close attention during science classes at school… but when you just think about it, it makes sense. Without oxygen, bacteria can’t operate. So there you go. Hel-lo Odysseus! I can see where your rowers were!
A good shipwreck story sustains my interest every time. I reckon there’s something almost mystical about them – like maybe ghosts or graveyards – that makes them pretty much inherently interesting.
I’m on the same page. And what about a couple of those stories where the ship is discovered still floating… but everyone on board is gone? *shiver*