Battleships: The most famous ships lost in wartime

There are over 3 million ships resting on the ocean floor. Many of these are cargo or passenger ships, but many others are battleships lost during conflicts. These sunken ships extend throughout history. Here are 8 that stand out.

Many ships were lost in the Battle of Salamis, a naval battle in 480 B.C. between Greek states and the Persian empire. The triumph of the Greeks was a turning point in the advancement of the Persian empire. Arguably history would have been very different had Persian forces won.

Two entire Mongolian fleets led by Kublai Khan were lost attempting to attack Japan in 1274 and 1281 Tens of thousands of soldiers died. Over the centuries many artifacts have been found from the wreckage. As recently as 2015, an entire ship was located off Kyushu.

Many of the 130 ships in the Spanish Armada sank in 1588 en route to invade England. 5,000 sailors were killed. The defeat marked the beginning of England as a world power and the start of the British Empire. Imagine an alternate history without the British Empire! Whoa!

In 1781, British forces were besieged at Yorktown. They needed reinforcement from the navy. Their backup was blocked by a French fleet at the Battle of the Virginia Capes. Thus Washington was able to win Yorktown and secure American victory against Britain.

Though not sunk by the enemy, the Sultana is the deadliest sinking in U.S. history. She was a steamboat on the Mississippi carrying recently freed Union POWs at the end of the Civil War. An explosion occurred, killing over 1,800 men.

The Lusitania was a galvanizing factor in America entering WWI. She was a British passenger ship carrying munitions as well as civilian travelers. German submarines fired on her just 11 miles from the Irish coast, killing 1,000+ and shifting public opinion in the U.S.

Built cir. 1910, the Arizona was basically retired when she was sent to Pearl Harbor as a deterrent for Japan. On 7 December 1941, it was hit by Japanese torpedo bombers during the attack on Pearl Harbor marking the beginning of U.S. involvement in WWII.

The Moskva was a Russian missile cruiser sunk by Ukrainian forces on April 22, 2022 with two R-360 Neptune anti-ship missiles. We are still unsure of the extent of the tragedy. Around 500 sailors were on board, but Russian propaganda has made the toll opaque.

There are many more naval battles and ships to add to this list. These are a snapshot of only a few. But what we see is that sea waged battles have been important from our earliest recorded history, and they continue to be important to this day.