The first Mahratta steamship was launched in 1891, and it served as a troopship for the Boer War in 1900. It ran aground after it was found out that the captain failed to take the right course, not recognizing the Gull Light, and was stuck in the Goodwin Sands.
Fortunately, the weather permitted its passengers to be transferred. Some were even allowed the right of salvage, but eventually, the ship was torn in two by bad weather. A second ship was made in 1917, but it was also wrecked similarly in 1939. Search operations found it on top of the first Mahratta, as if they had long sought each other across the seas.
The Mahabalipuram Pagoda
A cluster of monuments can be found by the shore at the Bay of Bengal. When Europeans first reached it, a legend already existed at the time, which said that these monuments, along with the Shore Temple, used to have 6 other temples erected within the vicinity. The south Indian city of Mahabalipuram was, therefore, nicknamed “Seven Pagodas” after the legend.
But these myths were only revealed by a tsunami in 2004. As the water receded to signal the building up of huge waves, layers of sand were drawn out revealing the many relics of the ancient temples. Many witnesses saw the columns of the buried temple rise, which confirmed their existence without a doubt.
Fields of Manganese Balls
In 2015, a group of German scientists embarked on a routinary expedition in the Atlantic Ocean to collect biological samples underwater, and to take deep-sea images for various scientific studies, using an epibenthic sled. Exploring the ocean floor, they instead found a vast deposit of metal balls.
These nodules are heavy, and although they can be found mostly in the Pacific, never have they stumbled upon such concentration in the Atlantic. Some could be as round and large as a bowling ball, and scientists say this could be key to finding rare metals, which are normally used in electronic devices.
The Baltic Sea Anomaly
You’ll never know what you might encounter while probing the deep. A marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ocean X company embarked on a treasure-hunting mission around the area, armed with high-tech equipment to scan the bottom of the sea with sonar imagery.
Expecting to find some clues of ancient treasures, they stumble upon an oddly shaped image of what looks like an alien spaceship on the floor of the northern Baltic Sea. The discovery was made in 2011, and they scampered to get a sample of the structure, which turned out to be made of stone. Scientists are still unsure of its origin, but speculate that it might be a product of glacial and volcanic processes.
The HMVS Cerberus
While not necessarily discovered, the HMVS Cerberus is a stunning historic warship that has remained submerged off the coast of Victoria for many years now. It was originally built for the colony of Victoria back in the 1800s.
Although it had all of the components to be a formidable war vessel, it never actually saw battle and remained in the Philip Bay port during its operational years – which lasted about half a century. When it was deemed obsolete, the vessel was intentionally sunk in 1926 to serve as a breakwater. Since then, it has been clearly visible for locals and tourists alike to see.