Number 10: El Faro Crew The El Faro was a 790-foot cargo ship in service
for over 40 years.
It was operated by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico and was one of two ships in the company's
fleet that regularly made the trip from Jacksonville to San Juan.
The ship departed Jacksonville on September 29, 2015, with 33 crew members onboard.
The ship carried a cargo of retail goods and vehicles and several containers filled with
hazardous materials.
During the early morning hours of October 1, the El Faro entered the eye of Hurricane
Joaquin, a category 4 hurricane with winds reaching up to 140 miles per hour.
The storm caused the ship to lose power and eventually capsize.
All 33 crew members perished in the disaster.
The bodies of only four crew members were recovered, while the remaining 29 are presumed
to have drowned.
Number 9: Glenn Miller On December 15, 1944, the aircraft carrying
American bandleader and musician Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel while
en route from England to France.
After an extensive search, no trace of the plane or Miller was ever found.
Some believe the plane crashed into the English Channel and was never found.
Others believe that the friendly fire shot the plane down.
The loss of Glenn Miller was a blow to the morale of Americans during World War II.
He was one of the few symbols of hope and joy during a time of war.
Number 8: Harold Holt Harold Holt was an Australian politician who
served as the 17th Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 to 1967.
He led the Country Party in coalition with the Liberal Party from 1965 to 1967.
Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach, near Portsea, Victoria, on December
17, 1967.
His disappearance and presumed death resulted in Australia's greatest search and rescue
operation, involving 100 ships and 20,000 personnel.
Holt's body was never found, and he was officially presumed dead on December 19, 1967, 30 days
after disappearing.
Holt's disappearance sparked several conspiracy theories, including that he had been abducted
by a Chinese submarine or that he faked his death.
However, an official inquiry concluded that Holt had drowned while swimming.
Number 7: John Franklin
John Franklin was one of the most experienced Arctic explorers of his time.
He had served as governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and led several expeditions
to chart the northern coast of Australia.
In 1845, he was given command of the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror and tasked with finding
a Northwest Passage through the Arctic.
The expedition got a bad start when their ships became trapped in ice near Baffin Bay.
They were forced to spend the winter of 1845-1846 stranded in the ice.
The following year, they managed to free themselves and continued sailing southward to find open
water.
But by September 1846, they were once again trapped in ice.
This time, they would remain stranded for over a year.
During this time, the men suffered from hunger, cold, and disease.
By the spring of 1848, Franklin realized there was no hope of rescue and that he would have
to lead his men in a desperate attempt to reach safety.
On April 22, 1848, Franklin died of unknown causes.
He is believed to succumbed to a combination of hunger, cold, and disease.
Number 6: Donald Crowhurst Donald Crowhurst was an Englishman who attempted
to circumnavigate the world in 1968-1969.
He became famous when his yacht, the Teignmouth Electron, was found abandoned and adrift in
the Atlantic Ocean.
His story captured the public imagination.
However, it later emerged that Crowhurst had faked his logs, and people posthumously discredited
him.
Crowhurst set out on his voyage in 1968.
He soon began to fall behind the other competitors, and he became increasingly despondent.
To catch up, he began faking his logs.
It eventually led to him abandoning the ship altogether.
His body was never found, but it is presumed that he drowned.
Despite his eventual downfall, Crowhurst's story remains an intriguing one.
He was a brave man who undertook an ambitious journey, and his tragic end has only added
to the legend.
Number 5: Peter Fibiger Bang Peter Fibiger Bang was a Danish explorer who
lost his life at sea while searching for a new route to China.
Bang was part of an expedition from Denmark in 1831 to find a new route to China.
The expedition failed, and Bang was one of several people who perished during the journey.
His body was never found.
Despite the tragic end to his life, Bang's explorations helped contribute to our understanding
of the world.
He helped map out new areas of the globe and provided valuable information about the cultures
he encountered.
His legacy continues to inspire others to this day.
Number 4: Roald Amundsen Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who
led the first successful expedition to reach the South Pole.
He and his team arrived at the pole on December 14, 1911, more than a month before British
explorer Robert Falcon Scott.
However, Amundsen's triumph was short-lived.
In 1918, he set out on an expedition to find the missing explorer Frederick Cook, who was
last seen in 1908.
Unfortunately, Amundsen and his team also vanished, and their fate remains a mystery.
Some historians believe that Amundsen may have died of starvation or exposure after
his ship became trapped in ice.
Others think that Inuit people may have killed him and his men.
Whatever the case, Amundsen's death is a tragic end to an otherwise incredible life.
Number 3: Richard Byrd In 1928, American explorer Richard Byrd set
out to be the first person to fly over the North Pole.
He was successful in his mission, but on the return trip, his plane ran into trouble and
crashed.
Byrd and his co-pilot, Bernt Balchen, were forced to abandon ship and make their way
across the frozen Arctic tundra.
For weeks, the two men struggled to survive, facing sub-zero temperatures, howling winds
and dangerous predators.
Finally, they were rescued by a search party.
But Byrd never forgot his experience in the Arctic and vowed to return one day.
In 1930, Byrd made another attempt to fly over the North Pole.
This time he was accompanied by three other pilots, including Balchen.
The group made it to the Pole without incident, but their plane ran into a severe storm on
the way back.
The storm damaged the plane and forced the crew to make an emergency landing on an ice
floe.
Once again, Byrd and his companions were stranded in the middle of the Arctic.
This time, however, they were not so lucky.
The ice floe they were on began to break up, and soon, they were adrift in the frigid waters.
Byrd and his men spent hours clinging to the wreckage of their plane before they were finally
rescued by a passing ship.
Sadly, Richard Byrd never made it back to the Arctic.
He died in 1957, still dreaming of making one final flight over the North Pole.
Number 2: Hubert Marcoux In 1859, French mariner Hubert Marcoux was
sailing near the island of Mauritius when his ship was suddenly caught in a violent
storm.
The ship was wrecked, and Marcoux and his crew were cast adrift in a lifeboat.
For weeks they drifted aimlessly, with no food or water.
Finally, they landed on an uninhabited island, where people soon rescued them.
Marcoux and his crew were lucky to have survived their ordeal.
But not all sailors who are lost at sea are so fortunate.
Hundreds of people die while trying to cross the world's oceans.
Most of these deaths occur during bad weather when storms can quickly capsize a boat or
knock it off course.
Sometimes, boats are lost due to mechanical problems, such as engine failure.
And sometimes, sailors get lost and cannot find their way back to land.
Marcoux's disappearance is one of the most mysterious maritime disappearances in history.
Number 1: Steve Fossett On September 3, 2007, American adventurer
Steve Fossett disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean.
The authorities never found his plane, and he was presumed dead.
Fossett was an experienced pilot and had set many aviation records.
He was the first person to fly solo around the world in a hot air balloon, and he also
held the records for the longest non-stop flight in a balloon and the longest distance
flown in a single-engine airplane.
In 2006, Fossett set the world record for the longest non-stop flight in history, flying
around the world in his jetliner.
The flight covered 26,389 miles (42,469 kilometers) and took 67 hours and 2 minutes.
Fossett's disappearance sparked a massive search effort involving dozens of aircraft
and ships.
The authorities eventually called off the search after they found no trace of the plane
or Fossett.
Fossett's death was officially declared in February 2008.
His body has never been found.
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