Stories of Lost Warships

Ships go missing more often than you'd think, and warships aren’t immune—some left the port and never checked in again. Explanations range from bad weather to bad decisions, but none fill in the blanks completely. Here's a look at 20 warships that managed to exit history without leaving a footprint.

1. USS Cyclops (AC-4)

The USS Cyclops disappeared in March 1918 while en route from Barbados to Baltimore, carrying 306 crew members and a cargo of manganese ore. Despite being one of the largest fuel ships, no wreckage was ever found.

2. USS Proteus (AC-9)

In November 1941, the USS Proteus vanished after departing St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, bound for Maine with a cargo of bauxite. All 58 crew members were lost without a trace. The ship's disappearance has been linked to the Bermuda Triangle, though no definitive cause has been established.

3. USS Nereus (AC-10)

The USS Nereus, a WWI-era collier, disappeared in December 1941 while hauling bauxite from St. Thomas to Halifax. No SOS was sent. No wreckage was found. Its disappearance mirrored that of its sister ship, USS Cyclops, which fueled speculation about enemy attacks or Bermuda Triangle anomalies.

4. HMS Thorn

This warship vanished in August 1942 while operating in the Mediterranean Sea. Believed to have been sunk by an Italian torpedo boat near Crete, she never responded to messages and was declared lost with all hands.

5. HMS Atalanta

Once a frigate, HMS Atalanta had been reassigned as a training ship by the time she departed Bermuda in early 1880. Bound for England, the ship never arrived. At the time, some believed a sudden Atlantic storm took her down, while others blamed her unstable structure, known for being top-heavy.

6. USS Pickering

Commissioned during the Quasi-War with France, the USS Pickering disappeared in late 1800 while sailing to the West Indies. Likely lost in a fierce hurricane, she vanished with 90 crew members aboard. No wreckage was recovered, and no survivors ever returned.

7. USS Insurgent

Originally the French frigate L’Insurgente, she was captured by the U.S. Navy in 1799 and renamed USS Insurgent. In September 1800, while en route to the Caribbean, she vanished during a storm with over 340 aboard. No distress signal or debris was ever found.

8. USS Grampus (SS-207)

The USS Grampus (SS-207) was a Tambor-class submarine of the United States Navy, commissioned in 1941. Known for her stealth and resilience, she operated primarily out of Australian bases. Tragically, Grampus was declared lost in March 1943 after failing to return from her sixth patrol.

9. USS Porpoise

USS Porpoise vanished during a Pacific surveying mission in 1854. The brig sailed out of Hong Kong and never made it back. Unfortunately, storms prowled that stretch of ocean, and many believe she succumbed to typhoon-force winds.

10. U-47 (Kriegsmarine)

U-47 earned infamy by sinking Britain’s HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. But by 1941, this celebrated German submarine vanished without a signal. Allied forces never claimed the deed, and no debris surfaced. Its disappearance remains one of WWII’s most perplexing naval mysteries.

11. ORP Orzeł

Unlike many of the warships on this list, ORP Orzeł, a celebrated Polish submarine, vanished without a trace during a North Sea patrol in June 1940. After an escape from internment in Estonia and several successful missions under British command, the sub departed on what would become its final voyage.

12. HMS Vandal (P64)

HMS Vandal (P64) disappeared just days after commissioning in 1943. The Royal Navy initially searched the wrong area, convinced the submarine had sailed north. The Vandal’s loss remains a sobering reminder that danger haunts even peacetime drills beneath the waves.

13. HMS K5

In January 1921, during a large-scale naval exercise in the Bay of Biscay, K5 dove beneath the waves and was never seen again. She was accompanied by several other vessels and had performed well in previous exercises. But on this day, no one aboard her was left to explain what went wrong.

14. Soviet Submarine S-2

While patrolling the Baltic Sea, this vessel and its crew disappeared without sending distress signals. Naval historians suspect a Swedish minefield or a stealth attack, but no conclusive evidence ever surfaced. Unlike many wartime losses, the Soviet submarine S-2 simply ceased to exist.

15. HMS Elizabeth

Commissioned into the Royal Navy after being captured by the Spanish, the cutter HMS Elizabeth was lost at sea in September 1807 while sailing in the Caribbean. No trace of the ship was ever found, and she's thought to have foundered with all hands aboard.

16. Japanese Cruiser Unebi

The Japanese cruiser Unebi, constructed in France and launched in 1886, was intended to strengthen Japan’s modern naval forces. On its first voyage to Yokosuka, the ship got lost in the South China Sea. Experts believe design flaws and poor stability in stormy conditions likely caused the loss.

17. HMS Sappho

The British brig-sloop HMS Sappho was on a mission to Australia in February 1858 to assist in anti-slavery operations when she unfortunately disappeared. Last seen in the vicinity of the Bass Strait Islands, the ship vanished without sending distress signals, and no sign of her or her crew was ever found.

18. HMS P48

This U-class submarine of the Royal Navy was lost during a WWII patrol off Tunisia. It's thought to have been destroyed by Italian torpedo boats with depth charges. No trace of the vessel or its crew was ever recovered, and her sudden silence following her last radio message implied a sudden, fatal end.

19. HMS Stonehenge

In March 1944, the HMS Stonehenge vanished in the Bay of Bengal. Despite relentless searches, the submarine and her crew disappeared, never to be seen again. Some say a lurking mine sealed her doom; others suggest mechanical secrets gone awry in the deep.

20. HMAS AE1

Disappearing during a routine patrol in 1914, HMAS AE1 became Australia’s first wartime naval mystery. The submarine vanished off Papua New Guinea without a distress call. Even after extensive searches, it remained lost for over a century. Mysteriously, it was later found during the 13th search in 2017.