Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region of the Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared in what are said to be circumstances that fall beyond the boundaries of human error or acts of nature. Some of these disappearances have been attributed to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings by popular culture.[1] Although a substantial documentation exists showing numerous incidents to have been inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, several others remain unexplained.




The Triangle area


The boundaries of the Triangle vary with the author; some stating its shape is akin to a trapezium covering the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas, and the entire Caribbean island area east to the Azores; others add to it the Gulf of Mexico. The more familiar, triangular boundary in most written works has as its points Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.The area is one of the most heavily-sailed shipping lanes in the world, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas and Europe, as well as the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are also plentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida and the islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean, and South America from points north.The Gulf Stream ocean current flows through the Triangle after leaving the Gulf of Mexico; its current of five to six knots may have played a part in a number of disappearances. Sudden storms can and do appear, and in the summer to late fall the occasional hurricane strikes the area. The combination of heavy maritime traffic and tempestuous weather makes it inevitable that vessels could founder in storms and be lost without a trace — especially before improved telecommunications, radar, and satellite technology arrived late in the 20th century.[2]

History of the Triangle story

According to the Triangle authors, Christopher Columbus was the first person to document something strange in the Triangle, reporting that he and his crew observed "strange dancing lights on the horizon", flames in the sky, and at another point he wrote in his log about bizarre compass bearings in the area. From his log book, dated October 11, 1492 he wrote:
"The land was first seen by a sailor (Rodrigo de Triana), although the Admiral at ten o'clock that evening standing on the quarter-deck saw a light, but so small a body that he could not affirm it to be land; calling to Pero Gutiérrez, groom of the King's wardrobe, he told him he saw a light, and bid him look that way, which he did and saw it; he did the same to Rodrigo Sánchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with the squadron as comptroller, but he was unable to see it from his situation. The Admiral again perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of land. But the Admiral held it for certain that land was near..."
Modern scholars checking the original log books have surmised that the lights he saw were the cooking fires of Taino natives in their canoes or on the beach; the compass problems were the result of a false reading based on the movement of a star. The flames in the sky were undoubtedly falling meteors, which are easily seen while at sea.[3]
The first article of any kind in which the legend of the Triangle began appeared in newspapers by E.V.W. Jones on September 16, 1950, through the Associated Press. Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery At Our Back Door", a short article by George X. Sand in the October 1952 issue covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand's article was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered in the April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine. The article was titled "The Lost Patrol", by Allen W. Eckert, and in his story it was claimed that the flight leader had been heard saying "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." It was also claimed that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes "flew off to Mars." "The Lost Patrol" was the first to connect the supernatural to Flight 19, but it would take another author, Vincent Gaddis, writing in the February 1964 Argosy Magazine to take Flight 19 together with other mysterious disappearances and place it under the umbrella of a new catchy name: "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle";[4] he would build on that article with a more detailed book, Invisible Horizons, the next year. Others would follow with their own works: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969); Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974); Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974), and many others, all keeping to some of the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.[5]

Kusche's explanation

Lawrence David Kusche, a research librarian from Arizona State University and author of The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved (1975) has challenged this trend. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved in the initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another example was the ore-carrier Berlitz recounted as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents which have sparked the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research was surprisingly simple: he would go over period newspapers and see items like weather reports that were never mentioned in the stories.
Kusche came to several conclusions:
The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.
In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious; furthermore, Berlitz and other writers would often fail to mention such storms.
The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed as missing would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may not be reported.
Some disappearances had in fact, never happened. One plane crash was said to have taken place in 1937 off Daytona Beach, Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses; a check of the local papers revealed nothing.
Kusche concluded that:
"The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery... perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism." (Epilogue, p. 277)
In recent years, however, several authors, most notably Gian J. Quasar, have raised several questions as to the veracity of Kusche's findings, including, but not limited to, why Kusche so often brought up as evidence for his claims cases that were already well-known before the writing of his work as not being Triangle incidents; his misidentification and mislocation of several ship and aircraft incidents that are well-documented, but then using that inability to properly identify the craft as "proof" that they never existed; and in other examples openly claiming possibilities for foul weather for certain disappearances where it can be verified that none existed.[6]

Other responses

The marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the Triangle to be no more dangerous than any other area of ocean, and does not charge unusual rates for passage through the region. United States Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft which pass through on a regular basis.
The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle, noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, much documentation[7] contradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangle authors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of the tanker V.A. Fogg in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard photographed the wreck and recovered several bodies[8] despite one Triangle author stating that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception of the captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffee cup (Limbo of the Lost by John Wallace Spencer, 1973 edition).
Skeptical researchers, such as Ernest Taves and Barry Singer, have noted how mysteries and the paranormal are very popular and profitable. This has led to the production of vast amounts of material on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle. They were able to show that some of the pro-paranormal material is often misleading or not accurate, but its producers continue to market it. They have therefore claimed that the market is biased in favour of books, TV specials, etc. which support the Triangle mystery and against well-researched material if it espouses a skeptical viewpoint.[9]

Natural explanations



An explanation for some of the disappearances has focused on the presence of vast fields of methane hydrates on the continental shelves. Laboratory experiments carried out in Australia have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water[10]; any wreckage consequently rising to the surface would be rapidly dispersed by the Gulf Stream. It has been hypothesized that periodic methane eruptions (sometimes called "mud volcanoes") may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning.


Airplanes may also be susceptible to any freak methane releases. Methane also has the ability to cause a piston engine to stall when released into the atmosphere, even at an atmospheric concentration as low as 1%[citation needed]. But although methane is lighter than air, the altimeter of an airplane traveling through it would not, contrary to popular belief, read that the airplane is higher than it really is, causing navigational problems. (Altimeters measure pressure, not the density of air.)
A white paper was published in 1981 by the United States Geological Survey about the appearance of hydrates in the Blake Ridge area, off the southeastern United States coast.[11] However, according to a USGS web page, no large releases of gas hydrates are believed to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle for the past 15,000 years.[12]

Compass variations

Compass problems are one of the cited phrases in many Triangle incidents. The North Magnetic Pole is not the North Pole; rather it is the north end of the earth's magnetic field. The North Magnetic Pole does wander, but so slowly that the wandering would not be noticeable on time scale of a sea or air voyage. In general, the compass does not point exactly the direction of the North Magnetic Pole, but rather the compass needle aligns itself to the local geomagnetic field, which can vary in a complex manner over the Earth's surface, as well as over time.


The angular difference between magnetic north and true north (defined in reference to the Geographic North Pole), at any particular location on the Earth's surface, is called the magnetic declination. Most map coordinate systems are based on true north, and magnetic declination is often shown on map legends so that the direction of true north can be determined from north as indicated by a compass. The line of zero declination in the U.S. runs from the North Magnetic Pole through Lake Superior and across the western panhandle of Florida. Along this line, true north is the same as magnetic north. West of the line of zero declination, a compass will give a reading that is east of true north. Conversely, east of the line of zero declination, a compass reading will be west of true north. Since the North Magnetic Pole has been slowly migrating toward the northwest, some twenty or more years ago the line of zero declination went through the Triangle, giving sailors and airmen a compass reading of true north instead of magnetic north.[13] A sailor not knowing the difference could inadvertently sail off course [citation needed].
Some have theorized the possibility of unusual local magnetic anomalies in the area, however these have not been shown to exist.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are extremely powerful storms which are spawned in the Atlantic near the equator, and have historically been responsible for thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of Francisco de Bobadilla's Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert, one of the most powerful hurricanes in history, set back Jamaica's economy by three years. These storms have in the past caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle.

Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream is an ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Straits of Florida, into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and like a river, it can and does carry floating objects. A small plane making a water landing or a boat having engine trouble will be carried away from its reported position by the current, as happened to the cabin cruiser Witchcraft on December 22, 1967, when it reported engine trouble near the Miami buoy marker one mile from shore, but was not there when a Coast Guard cutter arrived.

Freak waves


Main article: Rogue wave (oceanography)
Extremely large waves can appear seemingly at random, even in calm seas. One such rogue wave wrecked the cruiser USS Memphis (CA-10) off the Dominican Republic on August 29, 1916, killing 40 men. There is, however, no particular reason to believe rogue waves are more common in the Bermuda region, and this could not explain loss of airplanes.

Acts of Man

Human error
One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to the loss of any aircraft or vessel is human error. Whether deliberate or accidental, humans have been known to make mistakes resulting in catastrophe, and losses within the Bermuda Triangle are no exception. For example, the Coast Guard cited a lack of proper training for the cleaning of volatile benzene residue as a reason for the loss of the tanker V.A. Fogg in 1972. Human stubbornness may have caused businessman Harvey Conover to lose his sailing yacht, the Revonoc, as he sailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on January 1, 1958. It should be noted that many losses remain inconclusive due to the lack of wreckage which could be studied, a fact cited on many official reports.

Deliberate acts of destruction
This can fall into two categories: acts of war, and acts of piracy. Records in enemy files have been checked for numerous losses; while many sinkings have been attributed to surface raiders or submarines during the World Wars and documented in the various command log books, many others which have been suspected as falling in that category have not been proven; it is suspected that the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918, as well as her sister ships Proteus and Nereus in World War II, were attributed to submarines, but no such link has been found in the German records.
Piracy, as defined by the taking of a ship or small boat on the high seas, is an act which continues to this day. While piracy for cargo theft is more common in the western Pacific and Indian oceans, drug smugglers do steal pleasure boats for smuggling operations, and may have been involved in crew and yacht disappearances in the Caribbean. Historically famous pirates of the Caribbean (where piracy was common from about 1560 to the 1760s) include Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Jean Lafitte. Lafitte is sometimes said to be a Triangle victim himself.
Another form of pirate operated on dry land. Bankers or wreckers would shine a light on shore to misdirect ships, which would then founder on the shore; the wreckers would then help themselves to the cargo. It is possible that these wreckers also killed any crew who protested. Nags Head, North Carolina, was named for the wreckers' practice of hanging a lantern on the head of a hobbled horse as it walked along the beach.

Popular theories

The following theories have been used in the past by the Triangle writers to explain a myriad of incidents:

Atlantis

An explanation for some of the disappearances pinned the blame on left-over technology from Atlantis. Reputed psychic Edgar Cayce claimed that evidence for Atlantis would be discovered just off Bimini in 1968. New Agers view the Bimini Road as either a road, wall, or pier meant to service ships bound for Atlantis from Central and South America, or a breakwater built to protect fishing boats. The wall may also have a natural origin.[14][15][16]

UFOs

Some theorists claim extraterrestrials are the reason of disappearances by abducting ships and aircraft. [citation needed] This was given a boost when topics like ESP, telekinesis, clairvoyance, and the like flowered in the middle-to-late 1960s, and was used as storylines for popular films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The UFO Incident.

Time warp

The proponents of this theory state that the many ships and planes entered a time warp to a different time or dimension on the other side, meaning that their crews could still be alive there, living new lives in another time period of the past or the future – or even possibly in a parallel universe. [citation needed] Usually, the ship or aircraft in the story enters this dimension by way of a cloud. This has been a popular subject in science fiction.


Anomalous phenomena

Charles Berlitz, grandson of a distinguished linguist and author of various additional books on anomalous phenomena, has kept in line with this extraordinary explanation, and attributed the losses in the Triangle to anomalous or unexplained forces.

Famous incidents


Main article: List of Bermuda Triangle incidents

Flight 19




Main article: Flight 19
Flight 19 was a training flight of TBM Avenger bombers that went missing on December 5, 1945 while over the Atlantic. The impression is given that the flight encountered unusual phenomena and anomalous compass readings, and that the flight took place on a calm day under the leadership of an experienced pilot, Lt. Charles Carroll Taylor. Adding to the intrigue is that the Navy's report of the accident was ascribed to "causes or reasons unknown." It is believed that Charles Taylor's mother wanted to save Charles's reputation, so she made them write "reasons unknown" when actually Charles was 50 km NW from where he thought he was. [17]
While the basic facts of this version of the story are essentially accurate, some important details are missing. The weather was becoming stormy by the end of the incident; only Lt. Taylor had any significant flying time, but he was not familiar with the south Florida area and had a history of getting lost in flight, having done so three times during World War II, and being forced to ditch his planes twice into the water; and naval reports and written recordings of the conversations between Lt. Taylor and the other pilots of Flight 19 do not indicate magnetic problems.[17]

Mary Celeste

The mysterious abandonment in 1872 of the Mary Celeste is often but inaccurately connected to the Triangle, the ship having been abandoned off the coast of Portugal. Many theories have been put forth over the years to explain the abandonment, including alcohol fumes from the cargo and insurance fraud. The event is possibly confused with the sinking of a ship with a similar name, the Mari Celeste, off the coast of Bermuda on September 13, 1864, which is mentioned in the book Bermuda Shipwrecks by Dan Berg.

Ellen Austin

The Ellen Austin supposedly came across an abandoned derelict, placed on board a prize crew, and attempted to sail with it to New York in 1881. According to the stories, the derelict disappeared; others elaborating further that the derelict reappeared minus the prize crew, then disappeared again with a second prize crew on board. A check of Lloyd's of London records proved the existence of the Meta, built in 1854; in 1880 the Meta was renamed Ellen Austin. There are no casualty listings for this vessel, or any vessel at that time, that would suggest a large number of missing men placed on board a derelict which later disappeared.[18]

Teignmouth Electron

Main article: Donald Crowhurst

Donald Crowhurst was a sailor competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race of 1968-69. His boat, a trimaran named Teignmouth Electron, left England on October 31, 1968; it was found abandoned south of the Azores on July 10, 1969. Most writers on the Triangle would stop there (only Winer elaborated on the facts), leaving out the evidence recovered from Crowhurst's logbooks which showed deception as to his position in the race and increasing irrationality. His last entry was June 29; it was assumed he jumped over the side a short time later.

USS Cyclops


Main article: USS Cyclops (AC-4)

The incident resulting in the single largest loss of life in the history of the U.S. Navy not related to combat occurred when USS Cyclops under the command of Lieutenant Commander G. W. Worley, went missing without a trace with a crew of 306 sometime after March 4, 1918, after departing the island of Barbados. Although there is no strong evidence for any theory, storms, capsizing and enemy activity have all been suggested as explanations.[19][20]


Theodosia Burr Alston

Main article: Theodosia Burr Alston

Theodosia Burr Alston was the daughter of former United States Vice-President Aaron Burr. Her disappearance has been cited at least once in relation to the Triangle, in The Bermuda Triangle by Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey (1975). She was a passenger on board the Patriot, which sailed from Charleston, South Carolina to New York City on December 30, 1812, and was never heard from again. Both Piracy and the War of 1812 have been posited as explanations, as well as a theory placing her in Texas, well outside the Triangle.


The Spray

Main article: Spray (sailing vessel)

Captain Joshua Slocum's skill as a mariner was beyond argument; he was the first man to sail around the world solo. In 1909, in his boat Spray he set out in a course to take him through the Caribbean to Venezuela. He disappeared; there was no evidence he was even in the Triangle when Spray was lost. It was assumed he was run down by a steamer or struck by a whale, the Spray being too sound a craft and Slocum too experienced a mariner for any other cause to be considered likely, and in 1924 he was declared legally dead. While a mystery, there is no known evidence for, or against, paranormal activity.

Carroll A. Deering

Main article: Carroll A. Deering


A five-masted schooner built in 1919, the Carroll A. Deering was found hard aground and abandoned at Diamond Shoals, near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on January 31, 1921. Rumors and more at the time indicated the Deering was a victim of piracy, possibly connected with the illegal rum-running trade during Prohibition, and possibly involving another ship, S.S. Hewitt, which disappeared at roughly the same time. Just hours later, an unknown steamer sailed near the lightship along the track of the Deering, and ignored all signals from the lightship. It is speculated that the Hewitt may have been this mystery ship, and possibly involved in the Deering crew's disappearance.[21]

Douglas DC-3

Main article: NC16002 disappearance

On December 28, 1948, a Douglas DC-3 aircraft, number NC16002, disappeared while on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami. No trace of the aircraft or the 32 people onboard was ever found. From the documentation compiled by the Civil Aeronautics Board investigation, a possible key to the plane's disappearance was found, but barely touched upon by the Triangle writers: the plane's batteries were inspected and found to be low on charge, but ordered back into the plane without a recharge by the pilot while in San Juan. Whether or not this led to complete electrical failure will never be known. However, since piston-engined aircraft rely upon magnetos to provide electrical power and spark to their cylinders rather than batteries, this theory is unlikely.[22]

Star Tiger and Star Ariel

Main article: Star Tiger and Star Ariel

These Avro Tudor IV passenger aircraft disappeared without trace en route to Bermuda and Jamaica, respectively. Star Tiger was lost on January 30, 1948 on a flight from the Azores to Bermuda. Star Ariel was lost on January 17, 1949, on a flight from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica. Neither aircraft gave out a distress call; in fact, their last messages were routine. A possible clue to their disappearance was found in the mountains of the Andes in 1998: the Star Dust, an Avro Lancastrian airliner run by the same airline, had disappeared on a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile on August 2, 1947. The plane's remains were discovered at the melt end of a glacier, suggesting that either the crew did not pay attention to their instruments, suffered an instrument failure or did not allow for headwind effects from the jetstream on the way to Santiago when it hit a mountain peak, with the resulting avalanche burying the remains and incorporating it into the glacier. However, this is mere speculation with regard to the Star Tiger and Star Ariel, pending the recovery of the aircraft. It should be noted that the Star Tiger was flying at a height of just 2,000 feet, which would have meant that if the plane was forced down, there would have been no time to send out a distress message. It is also far too low for the jetstream or any other high-altitude wind to have any effect.[23]


KC-135 Stratotankers

On August 28, 1963 a pair of U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft collided and crashed into the Atlantic. The Triangle version (Winer, Berlitz, Gaddis) of this story specifies that they did collide and crash, but there were two distinct crash sites, separated by over 160 miles of water. However, Kusche's research showed that the unclassified version of the Air Force investigation report stated that the debris field defining the second "crash site" was examined by a search and rescue ship, and found to be a mass of seaweed and driftwood tangled in an old buoy.


SS Marine Sulphur Queen

Main article: SS Marine Sulphur Queen


SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker converted from oil to sulfur carrier, was last heard from on February 4, 1963 with a crew of 39 near the Florida Keys. Marine Sulphur Queen was the first vessel mentioned in Vincent Gaddis' 1964 Argosy Magazine article, but he left it as having "sailed into the unknown", despite the Coast Guard report which not only documented the ship's badly-maintained history, but declared that it was an unseaworthy vessel that should never have gone to sea.[24][25]


USS Scorpion

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion was lost south of the Azores while on a transit home to Norfolk, Virginia after a six-month deployment on May 26, 1968. The Scorpion had been picked up by numerous writers (Berlitz, Spencer, Thomas-Jeffery) as a Triangle victim over the years, despite the fact that it did not sink in the Bermuda Triangle; the U.S. Navy believes that a malfunctioning torpedo contributed to her loss, an event actually recorded on the SOSUS microphone network.

Raifuku Maru

One of the more famous incidents in the Triangle took place in 1921 (some say a few years later), when the Japanese vessel Raifuku Maru (sometimes misidentified as Raikuke Maru) went down with all hands after sending a distress signal which allegedly said "Danger like dagger now. Come quick!", or "It's like a dagger, come quick!" This has led writers to speculate on what the "dagger" was, with a waterspout being the likely candidate (Winer). In reality the ship was nowhere near the Triangle, nor was the word "dagger" a part of the ship's distress call ("Now very danger. Come quick."); having left Boston for Hamburg, Germany, on April 21, 1925, she got caught in a severe storm and sank in the North Atlantic with all hands while another ship, RMS Homeric, attempted an unsuccessful rescue.


Connemara IV

A pleasure yacht found adrift in the Atlantic south of Bermuda on September 26, 1955; it is usually stated in the stories (Berlitz, Winer) that the crew vanished while the yacht survived being at sea during three hurricanes. The 1955 Atlantic hurricane season lists only one storm coming near Bermuda towards the end of August, hurricane "Edith"; of the others, "Flora" was too far to the east, and "Katie" arrived after the yacht was recovered. It was confirmed that the Connemara IV was empty and in port when "Edith" may have caused the yacht to slip her moorings and drift out to sea.

List of Bermuda Triangle incidents

This is a listing of some incidents that are claimed to have occurred within the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle, which was blamed for many unexplained disappearances that occurred in her waters. To date, over 1700 ships and planes have been alleged as having disappeared without trace or lost their crews in that particular area of the Atlantic Ocean. Although most of these disappearances have been explained or solved, others await a satisfactory explanation. [1]
It must be noted that some of the cases listed below, which are popularly associated with the area, were actually not in or known to be in the Triangle at the time of their disappearance or incident. There are also no recorded listings of mysterious disappearances of or from trains or road vehicles, and only one, unsourced, claim of disappearance from a building.
Inexperienced pleasure boaters and aviators are common in the area of the triangle and the U.S. Coast Guard receives many distress calls from stranded seamen. They travel too far from the coast and often have an insufficient supply of fuel or knowledge of the swiftly moving Gulf Stream current.


Aircraft Incidents

1940-1949

TBF Avenger, 1942
PBY Catalina, 1942
TBF Avenger, 1943
4 US Navy Lockheed PV-1 Ventura's, 1943
PB4Y Privateer, 1943
PBY Catalina, 1944
PB4Y Privateer, 1944
SBD-5 Dauntless, 1944
PBY-5A Catalina, 1944
PB4Y Privateer, 1945
B-24 Liberator, 1945
US Navy Flight 19 (5 TBF Avengers), lost with 14 crewmen on December 5, 1945.
US Navy PBM-5 Mariner, lost with 13 crewmen on December 5, 1945.
US Air Force C-54 Skymaster, lost with 6 crewmen in July 3, 1947 For Crew list see [[1]]. {"C-54D-5-DC, s/n 42-75272 was wrecked at Goose Bay, Labrador on 12/24/1950, not in the "Bermuda Triangle."}
US Army C-45 Expeditor lost 100 miles off Bermuda, 1947.
British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV Star Tiger, lost with 4 crewmen and 25 passengers on January 31, 1948 (aircraft lost between the Azores and Bermuda, not in the 'Bermuda Triangle".)
Douglas DC-3 NC16002 lost with 3 crewmen and 29 passengers on December 27, 1948.
British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV Star Ariel, lost with 7 crewmen and 13 passengers on January 17, 1949.

1950-1959


F6F-5 Hellcat, lost in 1950.
F9F-2 Panther, lost in 1950.
US Air Force Globemaster lost (No C-74 or C-124 aircraft were lost in 1950.)
British South American Airways Avro York transport, lost with 33 passengers and crew on February 2, 1952.
C-46 Commando, lost in 1952.
US Navy T2V SeaStar, lost in 1953.
US Navy R7V-1 Super Constellation, lost with 2 pilots and 42 passengers on October 30, 1954 (Flight 441 was last heard from 350 miles off Maryland, flying from Gander, NF, to the Azores. Nowhere near the "Bermuda Triangle".)
US Navy P5M Marlin seaplane, lost with 10 crewmen on November 9, 1956.
Beechcraft Bonanza N4952b, lost with 2 pilots on February 8, 1959. Thought to be near 31.25n 79.45w

1960-1969

US Air Force F-100 Super Sabre, lost with pilot on March 18, 1960.
US Air Force SAC B-52 bomber Pogo 22 lost with 4 crewmen on October 14, 1961. (B-52G-100-BW s/n 58-0196 was lost off the coast of Newfoundland, no where near the "Bermuda Triangle".)
US Air Force KB-50 Aerial Tanker Tyler 41, lost with 8 crewmen on January 8, 1962.
US Air Force C-133 Cargomaster, lost on May 27, 1962 (This aircraft, s/n 59-1611, crashed near Dover, Delaware, nowhere near the "Bermuda Triangle".)
2 US Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers, lost on August 28, 1963 (KC-135s s/ns 61-0319 & 61--322 collided.)
US Air Force C-133 Cargomaster, lost on September 22, 1963 (This aircraft, s/n 56-2002, crashed 900 miles East of Cape May, NJ, no where near the "Bermuda Triangle".)
US Air Force C-119 Flying Boxca, lost with 5 crewmen on June 5, 1965.
Privately owned B-25 Mitchell, lost with pilot and 2 passengers on April 5, 1966.
Military Chase YC-122, converted to civilian cargo plane, lost in 1967.
Cessna 172, lost with pilot on June 6, 1969 (The low time, 235 hrs total, pilot became lost and ran out of fuel.)

1970-1979


US Air Force F-4 Phantom II Sting 27, lost with 2 pilots on October 10, 1971 (F-4E of 307 TFS lost on a training mission, oil slick spotted on the water where radar last placed the aircraft.)
Ryan Navion, lost with 2 pilots on May 25, 1973.
Piper Cherokee, lost with pilot and 5 passengers on July 13, 1974.
US Navy KA-6D Fighting Tiger 524, lost with 2 pilots on February 22, 1978 (The NTSB has no record of such an incident.)
Argosy Airlines Douglas DC-3 Flight 902, registration number N407D, lost with 4 crewmen on September 21, 1978; vanished off radar scope while beginning approach for landing.
Caribbean Flight 912, lost on November 3, 1978 (The NTSB records this loss as happening on approach to the airport in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands (nowhere near the "Bermuda Triangle".)

1980-1989


Beechcraft Baron N9027Q, lost with pilot on February 11, 1980 (This aircraft was stolen from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, nowhere near the "Bermuda Triangle".)
ERCO Ercoupe N3808H, lost with pilot on June 28, 1980 (The low-time, 200 hr total, 10 in type, pilot attempted a flight from San Juan, PR to the Dominican Republic, nowhere near the "Bermuda Triangle".)
Beechcraft Bonanza, lost on January 6, 1981.
Piper Cherokee N3527E, lost on March 26, 1986.

Ship/Boat Incidents

Selected casualty reports from the United States Coast Guard can be seen here

Prior to 1850


1780, General Gates; no British warship claimed her sinking, but she had been declared unseaworthy in 1779 and sold.
August 8, 1800, USS Insurgent went missing during cruise to West Indies in search of enemy ships during Quasi-War with France. Insurgent was former French frigate L'Insurgente, captured the year before by USS Constellation.
August 20, 1800, USS Pickering went missing on voyage to West Indies. Both Pickering and Insurgent may have been lost in a severe storm that hit West Indies on September 20, 1800.
December 30, 1812 Patriot, American privateer. Carried as a passenger Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr.
October 1814, USS Wasp, sloop-of-war that severely harassed British shipping in the War of 1812; went missing on Caribbean cruise, October 1814.
January/February 1815, USS Epervier, while carrying original peace proposals for War of 1812; left Algiers for Norfolk, and went missing with crew of 134 in 1815, delaying the ending of hostilities (rare instance of maritime disappearance directly connected to international politics). DANFS however says the ship went missing sometime after July 14, 1815, carrying copies of a treaty with the Dey of Algiers back to the US and may have been lost in a known August 1815 hurricane.
January 1820, USS Lynx went missing with crew of 50 in far western Atlantic.
October 1824, USS Wildcat went missing with crew of 31 after leaving Cuba (Navy records indicate she was a storm victim).
1829, USS Hornet, victor over HMS Peacock in 1813; went missing in far western Atlantic.
1840, Rosalie; went missing in Sargasso Sea. Possible misspelling of Rossini, abandoned and later brought adrift into Barbados, according to Kusche.
March 15, 1843, USS Grampus went missing sailing south of the Carolinas, presumably due to a gale.


1850-1899


December 4, 1872. Mary Celeste, brigantine commanded by Captain Benjamin Briggs, 7 crew plus Briggs' wife and daughter; found abandoned at sea west of the Azores.
January 31, 1880. HMS Atalanta, 26-gun frigate; went missing with crew of 281 after departing Bermuda for Falmouth, England.


1900-1909

November 14, 1909. Spray, ketch, piloted by renowned world-circumnavigator Joshua Slocum, went missing after departing Miami, Florida.


1910-1919


Mar 6-27, 1917. SS Timandra, 1,579-ton steam freighter, Captain Lee commanding; went missing with crew of 21 while bound for Buenos Aires from Norfolk for cargo of coal.
Mar 6-10, 1918. USS Cyclops, collier, LT. CDR. George Worley; went missing with 309 crew and passengers after leaving Barbados for Baltimore, Maryland.


1920-1929

November or December, 1920, SS Hewitt, steam freighter. Disappeared.
January 31, 1921, Carroll A. Deering, five-masted schooner, Captain W.B. Wormell, crew of 11. Found aground and abandoned at Diamond Shoals, near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
December 1925, SS Cotopaxi, tramp steamer, Captain Meyers; went missing with crew of 32 after leaving Charleston, South Carolina for Havana, Cuba; reported caught in tropical storm.
March 14, 1926, SS Suduffco, freighter, Captain Thomas J. Turner; went missing with crew of 29 while sailing from New York City to Los Angeles


1930-1939

March 1938, Anglo Australian, freighter, Captain Parslow; went missing with crew of 38 off Azores on voyage from Cardiff, Wales for British Columbia.


1940-1949

February 18, 1942, FS Surcouf, submarine operated by Free French Navy lost in Caribbean, apparently rammed by freighter Thompson Lykes near Panama Canal; both vessels travelling unlit due to threat of U-boats.
March 6, 1948, Evelyn K.
1948, SS Samkey (year also given as 1943) last position 41o48' N 24o W (NE of Azores).


1950-1959

1950, SS Sandra, freighter, lost after passing St. Augustine, Florida for Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
January 13, 1955, Home Sweet Home, pleasure craft.
September 26, 1955, Connemara IV, found apparently abandoned; later proven to have been tied empty to a Bermuda pier, lost her moorings due to a nearby hurricane and swept out to sea.
January 1, 1958, Revonoc, pleasure craft, captained by business tycoon Harvey Conover.


1960-1969

February 3, 1963, SS Marine Sulphur Queen T-2 tanker, vanishes with crew of 39 off the Florida Keys; carrying molten sulphur. [3]
July 2, 1963, Sno' Boy, pleasure craft, converted ACR (similar to WWII PT boats).
January 13, 1965, Enchantress, pleasure craft.
October 28, 1965, El Gato, pleasure craft.
December 10 1967, Speed Artist, 5 persons; Windward Islands
December 22, 1967, Witchcraft, cabin cruiser, 2 onboard, disappears one mile off Miami; had called Coast Guard requesting a tow, but on their arrival 19 minutes later no trace found; possibly pushed north by Gulf Stream; search involved 1,200 square miles.


1970-1979


1970: French freighter Milton Latrides disappears; sailing from New Orleans to Cape Town; carrying vegetable oils and caustic soda
El Caribe; lost on September 10, 1971
1972: German freighter Anita (20,000 tons), lost with crew of 32; sister ship Norse Variant (both carrying coal) lost at same time; year sometimes given as 1973; survivor from latter found on raft described loss of ship in stormy weather - waves broke hatch cover and ship sank quickly.
Dawn; lost on April 22, 1975
1976: SS Sylvia L. Ossa lost in heavy seas 140 miles west of Bermuda.
1978: SS Hawarden Bridge had previously been found with marijuana residue by USCG Cape Knox February '78 [5], found abandoned in West Indies a month later[6]; crime might be involved. scuttled November '78.

1980-1989

1980: SS Poet; carrying grain to Egypt, lost in storm but Marine Inquiry Board cannot state firm cause; no survivors.

1990-1999


1995: Inter-island freighter Jamanic K (built 1943) reported lost after leaving Cap Haitien.
1999: Freighter Genesis Lost after sailing from Port of Spain to St Vincent; cargo included 465 tons of water tanks, concrete slabs and bricks; reported problems with bilge pump before loss of contact. Search of 33,000 square miles of sea is fruitless.