29. The Caesarea Treasure
Est. Value Today: $240,000*
Year Disappeared: Over 1,000 years ago
Year Discovered: 2015
Not every amazing discovery found under the waves is made by professional divers searching for a long-lost shipwreck. Sometimes, it’s purely happenstance. In 2015 one member belonging to a diving club was casually enjoying their hobby when something glittering caught their eye in the harbor of Caesarea, Israel.
The Caesarea Treasure @DarlingtonMicah / Pinterest
It turned out to be an ancient stash of coins, totaling over 2,000 pieces. In today’s currency, the treasure is worth an estimated $240,000. However, some might argue that the significance of the find makes this one totally priceless. After all, it’s not every day you find something over 1,000 years old.
30. The Queen Anne’s Revenge
Est. Value Today: Unknown
Year Disappeared: 1718
Year Discovered: 1996
Not every treasure found at the bottom of the ocean is necessarily valuable in monetary terms. Sometimes, it can be just as precious to historians as a bar of gold. Infamous pirate Blackbeard captained The Queen Anne’s Revenge, but the ship went down in 1718.
The Queen Anne’s Revenge ©Juha Flinkman, SubZone OY / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Although it was found somewhere off the coast of North Carolina in 1996, the discovery wasn’t authenticated until many years later in 2011. The type of treasure found includes a sword that many speculate could have belonged to Blackbeard himself, which is quite impressive when you think about it – even if it isn’t ladened with emeralds.
31. The Santa Margarita
Est. Value Today: $16 million+*
Year Disappeared: 1622
Year Discovered: Various
Hurricanes still aren’t good news for sailors today, but at least ships are much better equipped to deal with them now than they were in the 1600s. The Santa Margarita was sailing just past Key West in 1622 when it encountered trouble. Unfortunately for Spain, she wasn’t just carrying people, but tons of treasure, including over 166,000 pieces of eight.
The Santa Margarita @pirategoldcoins / Pinterest
The wreck was discovered just a few years later in 1626 by the Spanish who successfully recovered some of the valuables from the depths. However, in more modern times expeditions continue to find stray bits of gold and other artifacts from the vessel.
32. The Flor de la Mar
Est. Value Today: Unknown
Year Disappeared: 1511
Year Discovered: Undiscovered
Unlike some other ships that perished on their maiden voyages, The Flor de la Mar managed to stay in service for over 9 years before meeting a grizzly end. Interestingly, the ship was on somewhat of a royal mission at the time, taking treasures from the conquest of Malacca back to Portugal to present to the king.
The Flor de la Mar @rootstravelapp / Facebook.com
When the ship sank off the coast of Sumatra, she took the cargo with her. Unfortunately, the exact whereabouts of the ship remains unknown. Somewhere out there, festering under the waves, lies an astonishing amount of treasure waiting to be discovered.
33. The HMS Pandora
Est. Value Today: Unknown ($10,000 Reward for Finding It)
Year Disappeared: 1791
Year Discovered: 1978
HMS Pandora was yet another ship on this list to meet a watery fate. The Royal Navy launched the ship in May of 1779, and it quickly became a feared sight for many who glimpsed it. HMS Pandora hunted down Bounty mutineers, capturing fourteen of them.
The HMS Pandora @rafaelarmada20 / Pinterest
On its return voyage from Tahiti, it is thought that a cyclone wrecked the ship, sinking it to the bottom of the ocean. Prisoners and crew alike went down the ship. It would take centuries before independent searchers John Heyer and Ben Cropp hunted down the wreck after hearing of the legend of the Pandora.
34. The Cuerdale Hoard
Est. Value Today: $3.2 million*
Year Disappeared: 903-910
Year Discovered: 1840s
The Cuerdale Hoard was discovered on May 15, 1840 by a group of workmen digging into the embankment of a river. Buried under the water was a lead box, and, inside the box, were several parcels and packages. The men opened the chest, finding over 8,600 pieces of treasure.
The Cuerdale Hoard ©Tony Baggett / Shutterstock
The Hoard, valued at $3.2 million, consisted of ingots, hacksilver, Carolingian and English jewelry, and silver coins. It was one of the largest hoards of Viking silver ever found. Most of the coins came from the Vikings of Eastern England, and it is believed the Vikings sank the treasure between 903 and 910, after they’d been kicked out of Dublin.
35. The SS Islander
Est. Value Today: $186.972 million*
Year Disappeared: 1901
Year Discovered: N/A (Salvage Attempts Began Immediately)
The SS Islander measured 240 feet long, and she was built in Scotland in the late 1800s. She was built to travel the Inside Passage to Alaska, and she was, reportedly, the most luxurious steamer around. She was a favorite ship of many businessmen and wealthy tycoons. In 1901, she left Alaska for British Columbia.
The SS Islander @ella777111 / @eiteljorgmuseum / Pinterest
On board, she had gold bullion worth over $6 million in 1901 money (nearly $187 million, when adjusted for inflation). She struck an iceberg, which caused a huge hole in her forward port. She sank within twenty minutes. Though excavation attempts began immediately, the Canadian government was only able to salvage a tiny fraction of the gold bullion on board.
36. The Capitana
Est. Value Today: $1 million* (1938 Haul)
Year Disappeared: 1733
Year Discovered: 1938 (Re-Salvaging)
The Capitana was one of three ships found from the West Indies Fleet. The Capitana’s convoy traveled from 1566 to 1790 from Spain to colonies across the Atlantic. The Capitana and her sister ships carried precious metals, sugar, silk, tobacco, spices, pearls, and Spanish exports.
The Capitana @Shipwreckhunter / Facebook.com
In 1733, The Capitana (also called El Rubi) got caught in a hurricane. It ran aground near Upper Matecumbe Key, sinking quickly. The crew died, but divers were able to recover the treasure onboard. In 1938, salvage workers went back for the remaining treasure in an excavation that took more than ten years. They found fifty-two gold coins, forty feet of gold chains, and one-hundred-ten silver buttons and coins.
37. The Saturn V Rocket Engines
Est. Value Today: $75 million*
Year Disappeared: 1969
Year Discovered: 2014
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire former-CEO of Amazon, financed his own personal rescue mission back in 2014. He sought to drag up the Rocketdyne F-1 engines from the Saturn V rockets from the sea floor. The F-1 engines were part of the Apollo 11 mission, which started the journey to landing humans on the moon.
The Saturn V Rocket Engines @VideoFromSpace / Youtube.com
The five engines powered the Saturn V rocket’s first stages. After they were discarded from the rocket, they fell into the Atlantic Ocean and immediately sank to the seafloor. They were expected to remain there forever until Bezos, seeking to dig up these “testament[s] to the Apollo program” brought them back up from the depths.
38. The HL Hunley
Est. Value Today: $253,067* (Cost to Build)
Year Disappeared: 1864
Year Discovered: 1995 (Raised in 2000)
The H.L. Hunley, a submarine, was the first combat sub to destroy a warship. She played a small role during the Civil War, unfortunately, she was on the side of the Confederacy. The Hunley successfully sank the USS Housatonic in 1864, but she did not make it back to base.
The HL Hunley @Stacey Bowen / Facebook.com
The forty-foot submarine, built in Mobile, Alabama, sank three times. She sank during a test run in 1863, killing three crew members. She was resurrected and sank again a few months later, killing eight people. In 1864, she didn’t survive her final attack, killing eight Confederate soldiers when her torpedo exploded. She was located in 1995 and dredged up in 2000.
39. The SS City of Cairo
Est. Value Today: Unknown
Year Disappeared: 1942
Year Discovered: 2011
The British passenger steamship, SS City of Cairo, sank during WWII, causing a heavy loss of life, even though rescue boats were deployed immediately. All in all, one-third of the souls onboard the City of Cairo died. The City of Cairo sank after a German submarine, U-68, accidentally torpedoed the passenger ship.
The SS City of Cairo @Shipwreckhunter / Facebook.com
The commander of the U-68 left the City of Cairo crew with a message: “Goodnight, and I’m sorry for sinking you.” Though lifeboats deployed from the City of Cairo immediately, the lifeboats were lost, suffering damage. Occupants also couldn’t survive the tropical heat, as the nearest land was five-hundred miles away. The Cairo wreck was rediscovered in 2011.
40. El Salvador
Est. Value Today: $601,271*
Year Disappeared: 1750
Year Discovered: 2015
El Salvador was a Spanish treasure ship that was carrying over $600,000 (adjusted for inflation) worth of Spanish Treasury and commercial funds when she sank. The funds consisted of sixteen chests of silver and four chests of gold, along with a hefty amount of pesos. The shipwreck was caused by a hurricane.
El Salvador @csmonitor / Pinterest
The hurricane hit El Salvador and six of her sister ships off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. She ran aground at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Only four crew members survived the wreck, and most of the treasure onboard has never been recovered. Though the shipwreck was rediscovered in 2015, there is an ongoing dispute between the North Carolina government and a private, Floridian company as to who can dig it up.
41. The Doggerland Bridge
Est. Value Today: Unknown
Year Disappeared: 6500-6200 B.C.
Year Discovered: 1931
Doggerland was a huge area of land that acted as a bridge between continental Europe and Great Britain. It was flooded when sea levels rose, submerging the “Bridge” between 6,500 and 6,200 B.C. The Doggerland Bridge stretched from Great Britain’s eastern coast to the Netherlands.
The Doggerland Bridge @Teresawilsonartist / Pinterest
The Doggerland Bridge was a rich habitat during the Mesolithic Period, though humans left the area when it became flooded. It was first reduced to islands before a huge tsunami sank it into the sea. Doggerland was rediscovered in the early twentieth century, when a fishing trawler scouring the area dredged up prehistoric fossils of lions and mammoths, as well as Mesolithic weapons and tools.