Photo credit: topcor.ru
The expedition of the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) discovered six ships that sank during the First World War in the White Sea, TASS reports. According to the scientific director of the expedition, Andrei Lukoshkov, in total, the specialists of the Center for Underwater Research of the RGO found eleven objects at the bottom of the sea.
Among the ships that where destroyed from 1914 to 1918, there is a United States cargo ship, which crashed on rocks. Its length reaches almost a hundred meters. There were cars, military and other equipment on board.
Four more ships were blown up by a mine, including two British ships loaded with coal, as well as Norwegian and Russian-Finnish steamboats. Another English timber carrier exploded at two mines at once.
For the first time, the Russian Geographical Society sent specialists to the White Sea three years ago. The shipping was intensive in those places at the beginning of the 20th century. Before going to sea, the researchers got acquainted with archival documents. Then, over the course of two years, almost five hundred kilometers of the strait connecting the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean were examined.
The remaining finds are wooden ships. One of them is a trapping schooner, the other may be a merchant or military vessel. All of them represent an important historical source. Most of the finds are well preserved. During the expeditions, researchers found several more wrecks, which experts hope to identify in the future.
Russkiy Mir
