Emergencies and Natural Disasters

The Trawler That Vanished: 11 Men, One Empty Lifeboat, No Answers

The Trawler That Vanished: 11 Men, One Empty Lifeboat, No Answers Fear of unresolved violence: a neutral Irish trawler was struck by a single cannon shell in dark Atlant

When the Sea Gave Back Only Bodies: The Vanishing of HMS Viknor

When the Sea Gave Back Only Bodies: The Vanishing of HMS Viknor The cold North Atlantic returned only wreckage and corpses after a ship vanished without a distress call,

The Door That Kept Floating: 791 Lives Lost at Sea

The Door That Kept Floating: 791 Lives Lost at Sea Fear of being abandoned at sea-seven hundred and ninety-one refugees trapped on a 74-year-old cattle ship off Istanbul

Frozen Engines, Fateful Choices: The Potomac Miracle and the Man Who Gave It Up

Frozen Engines, Fateful Choices: The Potomac Miracle and the Man Who Gave It Up A tail stuck out of the Potomac at 4:04 p.m. on January 13, 1982, with seventy-nine peopl

Propeller Hammered into Rock: The Night the Regulus Vanished

Propeller Hammered into Rock: The Night the Regulus Vanished A ship's propeller was hammered into solid cliff rock as if by an enormous force, yet the men who did it van

When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23

When the Switch Lied: The Pasadena Plant That Killed 23 The control room switch read "closed" while the valve was open, and no alarm existed to warn the 1,500 people on

The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor

The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor An iron anchor was pulled from Georgian Bay eighty years after the paddle steamer Waubuno vanished with twen

Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita

Bloodied Bandages, Stopped Clocks: The Vanishing of MV Joyita A drifting ship found with lights on, clocks stopped at 10:25, a doctor's bag intact and four blood-stained

The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany

The Last Letter: The Disappearance of USS Albany Fear that the sea swallowed certainty: a decorated sloop, a careful commander, and a signed letter dated September 28, 1

The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid?

The Two-Kilo Bomb That Sank the SS Patria-Who Paid? Fear that a small action could spiral into mass death: an 11,885-ton liner sank in 16 minutes after a two-kilogram ex

The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana

The Forgotten Inferno: How 1,164 Men Died on the Sultana Everyone thought they were finally going home: a photo taken April 26, 1865 shows a steamboat built for 376 men

When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished

When Film Ignited Itself: The Night 40,000 Reels Vanished Heat, sealed vaults, and a material that carries its own oxygen: a July heat wave and forty-eight brick-and-ste

The Day the Sky Over West Virginia Exploded Thirteen Times

The Day the Sky Over West Virginia Exploded Thirteen Times The sky above West Virginia burned for four days with thirteen separate fireballs after a train derailed on Fe

The Day an American Warship Vanished: 86 Men, No Trace

The Day an American Warship Vanished: 86 Men, No Trace The Atlantic swallowed an eighteen-gun sloop and 86 souls in December 1781 with no wreck, no bodies, and no distre

A lifeboat launched in a full storm - yet only one man made it inside

A lifeboat launched in a full storm - yet only one man made it inside Fear of a sudden, inexplicable disaster: a nearly century-old tug sank intact in 38 feet of water o

The men who built that unfinished shelter, and kicked out those fires, were still alive

The men who built that unfinished shelter, and kicked out those fires, were still alive A half-built lean-to, warm food left on cold cookers, and cigarette cartons scatt

Seconds to Silence: How the Sewol's Course Changed Forever

Seconds to Silence: How the Sewol's Course Changed Forever Fear that routine choices can become fatal: the MV Sewol made a five-degree course change at 08:46 on April 16

Burned to Bone, Shoes Intact: The Sarah Dixon Midnight Blast

Burned to Bone, Shoes Intact: The Sarah Dixon Midnight Blast The Columbia River returned a body five days after a boiler tore apart the sternwheeler Sarah Dixon on the n

The Day a Missing Line Turned a Neighborhood into an Inferno

The Day a Missing Line Turned a Neighborhood into an Inferno Fear and disbelief: a routine pipe upgrade sent 150 times the normal gas pressure into a residential network

Locked Exit, 25 Dead: The Plant That Became a Coffin

Locked Exit, 25 Dead: The Plant That Became a Coffin A locked exit and a padlock on a door that read "Fire Exit - Do Not Block" turned a routine shift into a mass fatali