(Oct. 25) - Researchers have found a British naval submarine that sank more than 90 years ago during World War I in the Baltic Sea, BBC News reported Friday.
The HMS E18, which had 31 crew members on board, is believed to have struck a German mine and sunk in May 1916 while on routine patrol. There were no survivors. The operation was authorized by Winston Churchill, who was then the First Lord of the Admiralty, to disrupt German shipments of iron ore from Sweden.
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Sunken Ships
On April 2, ocean researchers working off the southeastern coast of Australia said they found the first American vessel that was sunk during World War II. The MV City of Rayville, a cargo ship seen above in an undated photo, went down in the Bass Strait after hitting a German mine on Nov. 8, 1940.
A Swedish marine survey company discovered the wreckage last weekend off the coast of Estonia, BBC News reported.
An Australian descendant of one of the crew members provided information that helped lead to the discovery. Airline engineer Darren Brown's great-grandfather escaped the tragedy because he became sick shortly before its last patrol and couldn't leave his bed. Brown has spent almost a decade studying the sub's history.
The sub was reported to have engaged and torpedoed a German ship a few days before it went down. According to BBC News, photographs from the seabed show the submarine with its hatch open, suggesting that it was sailing on the surface when it hit the mine.
Read more about this story on BBC News.
