8.
WWII Plane Underwater
Could something have cursed a series of fighter planes made famous during WWII?
When you realize how many of the US Air Force’s P-47 airplanes their enemies shot down or
how many went missing, you might think so.
When an underwater recovery team working aboard a French Navy vessel located the wreckage
of an aircraft off the coast of Corsica in 2018, they knew they would have an enormous
job ahead of them to bring the plane up from the ocean floor.
But when they went in for a closer look, they realized the aircraft wasn’t empty.
It still had the body of the fighter pilot, who went down when enemy gunfire hit him.
Working in a 150-square-foot area on the seafloor near the Italian island, the team found human
remains and personal belongings inside the plane.
When they finally identified the pilot, they realized he had been missing since 1944.
Second Lieutenant James R. Lord was only 20-years-old when the air force stationed him with the
66th fighter squadron of the US Air Force.
Lord did his best to defend himself from enemy fighters, but his plane went down, killing
him.
It took over 70 years for the war hero to be located, but it was the type of closure
Lord’s family members needed so they could put him to rest.
The discovery of his body in the wreckage was a stark reminder that of the 400,000 Americans
who served in World War II and died during the conflict, over 70,000 remain missing.
24 other members of Lord’s fighter group also remain missing.
Another P-47 plane crash site has become a popular spot for divers in Raja Ampat, an
archipelago in Indonesia.
The Santa Maria crew also saw action during WWII, this time in the Pacific.
Even though their enemies didn’t shoot them down like Lord’s plane in Italy, the crew
of the Santa Maria met a different fate after trying to protect their base in New Guinea
from an attack.
After chasing away their assailants, the team of seven P-47s headed back to base.
But they soon realized they used more fuel than they expected.
As bad weather set in, it forced the pilots to admit there was no way they’d make it
back to base.
All seven planes headed for an opening in the clouds in preparation to ditch their planes
in the ocean.
Thankfully, all the pilots survived the emergency, but their planes weren’t so lucky and sank
to the bottom of the ocean.
7.
The Zenobia
Although it sank off the coast of Larnaca in 1980, a ferry known as the Zenobia had
a controversial past.
A Swedish ferry that was launched in 1979 and sank on her maiden voyage, MS Zenobia
sits on her side about 137 feet (42m) below the surface of the water.
But it was a group of divers related to infamous explorer Jacques Cousteau who was determined
to figure out if the ferry sank on its own or if it was due to sabotage.
Fabian and Celine Cousteau followed rumored evidence that the ferry was transferring military
equipment for the Palestine Liberation Organization, a nationalist political and militant organization
at the time it sank.
Historians say the Zenobia was carrying tractor-trailers and other cargo from Yugoslavia to Syria where
the PLO was training.
Between Athens and Cyprus, the ship had engine trouble because the crew had pumped too much
water into the ballasts.
After pumping out the excess water, the captain continued on his journey.
When the captain harbored, the ballast problem resurfaced.
While his engineers tried to fix the problem, the captain thought it would be a good idea
to tow the ship out of the harbor.
Five days later, the crew failed in their efforts and the Zenobia sank, taking all of
its cargo with it.
Luckily, there were no casualties from the 150 people on board, but that doesn't make
the mysterious sinking any less suspicious.
Today, the trucks that litter the seabed inside the wreckage, including two still hanging
from chains on the deck, are proof that the Zenobia was carrying military cargo.
But who was it for?
As the ship continues to break down underwater, it has put a ticking clock on uncovering the
truth behind its sinking before we lose all evidence to the ocean floor.
Is it possible someone wanted to sink the ship so the weapons wouldn’t get to their
destination?
As the Cousteau family explored the dive site, they used technology to uncover the secrets
of the 40-year-old mystery of the Zenobia.
Some still find their theory controversial, but in a recent documentary, they shared their
adventure of exploring the $200 million worth of cargo.
6.
The Lost City of Cambay
When a group of divers set out for an adventure in the Gulf of Cambay off Western India, they
were expecting to spend a few hours exploring the underwater habitat.
What they didn't expect was to come across an ancient discovery that would completely
rewrite the region's history.
A group of marine archaeologists was on an expedition when they discovered something
strange using their sonar scanning equipment.
The technology sent a beam of sound to the bottom of the sea and returned a reading that
suggested there was something there.
After studying their findings, the group realized they'd identified huge geometrical structures
on the bottom of the Gulf.
Measuring 5 miles long and 2 miles wide (8km by 2km), experts believe the structures predate
the oldest known remains on the subcontinent by over 5000 years.
At the time the buildings would have been above ground, the sea level was 400 feet (122m)
lower.
Water would have overtaken anyone living on the coast, making them vanish beneath the
sea.
As experts continue to study evidence from the seafloor, they found a city the size of
Manhattan with massive walls, a sprawling plaza, and other man-made objects up to 9500
years old.
If the dating was correct, that would mean the ocean would have submerged the civilization
in the gulf at the end of the Ice Age.
Among the discoveries made on the ocean bed, researchers found pottery, beads, sculptures,
and human bones.
They compromised some items when crews recovered the artifacts by dredging or scooping them
up with machinery instead of being recovered during a controlled archaeological excavation.
But that doesn’t make the discoveries any less fascinating, with ties to an ancient
civilization that once thrived in the area.
5.
Italian Underwater Archaeological Park All dive sites aren't entirely about ancient
shipwrecks and mysterious submerged secrets.
In southern Italy, those with a love of diving can have an unforgettable archaeological experience.
Known as the Underwater Archaeological Park of Baia, scuba divers can suit up, dive, and
explore a series of submerged treasures near Naples.
But how did these treasures get to the bottom of the sea?
A seismic phenomenon known as bradyseism moves the ground upward or downward instead of side-to-side,
like an earthquake.
This phenomenon caused an ancient resort that was popular among the rich and famous of the
Roman Empire to plunge below the surface of the water, trapping these ancient treasures
below.
What makes it even more remarkable is that the phenomenon can move the ground upward
the same way it sank the ancient resort, which means the ruins could eventually be on land
again one day.
At the site, there are five different marvels to explore, including a paved road with almost
220 yards (200m) of steam bath foundations where Emperor Claudius used to relax.
People can also visit an ancient Roman villa known as the Villa a Protiro with its large
black-and-white geometric mosaic courtyard.
They are underwater, covered in small marine animals and centuries of sediment that give
them an eerie look when viewed in the murky water.
With its submerged foundations, marble floors, and shattered pottery at the bottom of the
sea, this ancient Roman site is an unexpected underwater marvel that offers a haunting glimpse
into the past of ancient Rome.
Which would you rather explore underwater, a military sight, or a lost city?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
4.
The Nippo Maru At the bottom of Truk Lagoon in the Central
Pacific, the ghostly remains of a ship torpedoed in 1944 are a haunting reminder of the casualties
of war.
Part of the Empire of Japan's main naval base in the South Pacific during World War II,
the area suffered a major attack from the US during an operation in 1944.
During that time, Japan’s enemies destroyed countless ocean liners, airplanes, and other
Japanese vessels and they now make up an eerie graveyard at the bottom of the island chain.
During the attack, their enemies hit one ship known as the Nippo Maru with three 500-pound
(227kg) bombs in the stern.
The 350-foot (107m) transport ship is just one part of what is now one of the biggest
wreck diving destinations in the world.
With so many ravaged vehicles, scuba divers have become addicted to the awe-inspiring
coral, schools of fish, and marine life at the site.
The beautiful underwater scenery is a strange contrast to the over 60 World War II wrecks.
Surrounded by a barrier reef with corals of multiple shapes and colors, it covers many
of the wrecks, making them a haunting and beautiful sight.
Tanks, trucks, torpedoes, and airplane parts litter the lagoon floor, but sea anemones
and reef sharks have made the wreck site their home.
3.
India in the Central Pacific’s Lake of Skeletons Far from the lagoons in the Central Pacific,
a different mystery is hiding in the middle of the Indian Himalayas.
In a remote lake in a snowy valley, hundreds of human skeletons are scattered beneath the
ice of Roopkund Lake.
A British Forces ranger made the gruesome discovery in 1942 when he came upon the spot
on a steep slope of one of India's highest mountains.
It was a shocking discovery, but it gets even more macabre when the lake expands and contracts
in mild weather, exposing some skeletons that still had the skin attached.
To make things even more gruesome, there are about 800 bodies at Roopkund Lake.
For more than half a century, anthropologists have been studying the remains, trying to
figure out who the victims were and how they ended up there.
One strange theory is that an Indian King, his wife, and their attendees died there in
a blizzard 870 years ago and their remains were scattered across the bed.
Others think the remains belong to Indian soldiers who tried to invade Tibet in 1841
and died when they tried to find their way home over the Himalayas.
But the most chilling theory surrounds a popular folk song sung in nearby villages that talks
about a goddess who created a hailstorm that killed people winding their way past the lake.
As experts continued to study the skeletons, they found that most of the people who died
were more than average height with most of the middle-aged adults between 35 and 40.
Researchers found no babies or children and most of the bodies belonged to people in relatively
good health.
Studies concluded that most of the skeletons came from a single group of people who all
died at once in a single event during the Ninth century, making it that much more shocking
that there are so many bodies there.
Genetic testing had dated the remains of some bodies to around 1200 years ago, with others
separated in time by as much as 1000 years, making the discovery of the bodies that much
more frustrating and mysterious.
With no weapons or goods found at the site, it's a mystery trying to figure out where
the victims came from.
2.
Christ of the Abyss What makes someone deliberately sink a statue
of Christ in the waters off the coast of Italy?
There are multiple statues known as Christ of the Abyss statues found all over the world,
but someone buried this one deep beneath the waves close to the city of Portofino.
But why?
Did someone think that the world’s most famous hamlets needed protection?
An Italian diver named Duilio Marcante positioned the bronze statue on the bed of the sea in
1954 because he wanted to install the monument to honor his friend and colleague Dario Gonzatti,
who died during descent at the site a few years earlier.
Sculpted by artist Guido Galletti, the statue is 8 feet (2.5m) tall and weighs almost 575
pounds (260kg).
After Marcante died, a plaque was placed at the foot of the monument in his honor.
Another bronze sculpture produced from the same mold is in a port in Trinidad to commemorate
the disaster of the Bianca C, a luxury cruise liner nicknamed the Titanic of the Caribbean
that sank after a blast in the boiler room in 1961.
Other Christ of the Abyss statues includes one in Key Largo that was originally revealed
at The Palmer House in Chicago before crews transported it to the Florida Keys in search
of its final destination.
But before crews could move the statue to the bottom of the ocean, Hurricane Betsy struck
in 1965, hitting the statue and putting it at risk.
Luckily, the statue survived, and like the Italian Christ of the Abyss, it remains underwater
where visitors can dive and see its breathtaking display.
1.
The Sunken Crosses of Spain There's nothing more unsettling for scuba
divers when they come across something unexpected underwater.
For divers who headed out to a popular spot in La Palma, Spain, the discovery of 40 crosses
65 feet (20m) below the sea might give them pause.
But these aren’t just simple art installations like the Christ of the Abyss statues around
the world.
These crosses mark a graveyard that goes back over 400 years.
The Canary Islands were originally under Spanish control because they were a valuable trading
hub.
But pirates had the same idea, and they flocked to the area to attack ships for their riches.
Many years ago, 39 Jesuit missionaries were on board a ship with Portuguese missionary
Ignacio De Azevedo when a crew of French pirates who wanted the cargo they were hauling boarded
their ship.
Led by a pirate known as Jacques de Sores, the pirates attacked the crew of the ship
and threw them into the sea.
There, they slowly drowned and sank to the bottom just within reach of the island's safety.
There they lay until 1742, Pope Benedict the XIV declared the men martyrs.
But it had taken almost 300 years for them to receive a memorial cemetery.
The pope had 40 crosses to honor the men dropped into the sea and there they remain to this
day as a tribute to their sudden deaths.
If you want to visit the area but don't want to dive where these unfortunate souls died,
you can visit an honorary large stone cross at a nearby lighthouse with the names of the
victims of this tragic clash with pirates.
Thanks for watching!
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