Ships and boats are ancient inventions whose rise parallels the spirit of human adventure.  From antiquity to modernity great powers have relied on shipping to expand empires, while grand liners transported tourists to far flung places previously only accessible to the imagination.  But the rise of air travel and decline of shipbuilding have left coasts and rivers littered with abandoned ships, boats and shipyards, that may not look pretty but provide a fascinating retrospective subject for photographers and maritime enthusiasts.

(Images: Bob Jagendorf, cc-nc-3.0; alienwatch, cc-nc-nd-3.0; Ahmed Rabea, cc-sa-3.0)

While stricken ships and boats are usually salvaged for scrap, and abandoned docks and shipyards eventually repurposed, the process can take years.  Meanwhile, rusting ships and decaying infrastructure litter coastlines and river banks, their mighty hulks a sign of industrial decline in many countries.  (The above ships include SS United States and TSS Duke of Lancaster – full feature.)

(Images: Left & Right by Frederic Logghe, cc-sa-3.0; Bottom image by Stuart Williamson)

While this article primarily examines “above-water” shipwrecks, some of the most impressive “abandoned” ships live on beneath the waves.  This spectral vessel is the HMHS Britannic, not as famous as her legendary sister Titanic, but arguably one of the world’s most spectacular – and ghostly – wrecks.  Britannic was sunk by a mine in November 1916 while serving as a hospital ship in the Aegean Sea.

(Images: divenorway; UK Government, public domain; James Myatt, cc-nc-sa-3.0)

Grand liners like Titanic and Britannic may have a romantic edge (in part due to Hollywood) over merchant and military shipping, but the latter has contributed many wrecks to the ocean floor – some of which can still be seen above the surface of the water.  Aircraft carriers and battleships are among the most impressive, their massive guns encrusted with marine life that still look foreboding to this day.  These rusty wrecks include Soviet cruiser Murmansk, lost in 1994 while under tow to India for scrapping, and German battlecruiser Hindenburg, scuttled at Scapa Flow, Orkney.

(Images: 1, 2, 3 by Yannick Auberger, cc-sa-3.0)

With the exception of supertankers, aircraft carriers are among the largest ships ever built, offering up a fortune in scrap metal after they’re taken out of service.  French carrier Clemenceau was set to be scrapped in India before protests from environmental groups scuppered the plans.  The heavily contaminated ship is currently being decomissioned by a specialist team at Hartlepool, UK, but scrapping an aircraft carrier can be a complex process.

(Images: U.S. Federal Government, public domain)

Sinking one, on the other hand, can be achieved far more quickly, as was the case with USS Oriskany scuttled off the coast of Florida to become the world’s largest artificial reef.  Oriskany is now fondly known as the Great Carrier Reef in a nod to the popular Australian dive spot, and was named one of the top ten dive sites in the world by The Times of London in 2007.

(Image: amateur_photo_bore, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Of course, Oriskany was subjected to a thorough decontamination process before sinking to protect against future environmental problems.  But when cargo ship New Flame collided with a tanker in the Strait of Gibraltar, the first priority was to pump any remaining fuel off the vessel before salvage (fortunately the twin hulled tanker made it back to port).  Semi-submerged, the New Flame’s stern was scrapped after the ship broke in half, but the bow is reportedly embroiled in an ongoing salvage saga featured on National Geographic.

(Images: Bob Jagendorf, cc-nc-3.0)

Ship graveyards are fewer today than in previous years due to more stringent environmental regulations, but there are still some haunting sites on the waterscape.  The Staten Island boat graveyard is one of the most famous, featuring on numerous sites including Opacity, Freshkills Park, NYC Go, Gadling and Hours of Darkness.  It’s a major draw for urban explorers, photographers and amateur maritime historians.  Among the condemned vessels is a former Staten Island ferry, just one of many among an evolving fleet that carried passengers between Lower Manhattan and Staten Island for generations.

(Images: NOAA, public domain; Serge Ouachée, cc-3.0; Hannes Grobe, cc-sa-3.0)

Other ship graveyards that have survived due to their remote location have ironically become tourist attractions.  The corroding factory ships at the abandoned whaling station Grytviken on South Georgia Island are often visited during Antarctic cruises, while the Aral Sea ship graveyards (below) are the most astounding – and environmentally concerning.

(Images: Evgeniy Zotov, cc-nc-nd-3.0; Missaliona, cc-sa-3.0)

During the 1960s the Soviets decided to divert two rivers feeding the Aral Sea to irrigate the desert for cotton production.  The result was a heavily contaminated basin littered with the rusting hulks of former fishing boats, a practically dead ecosystem and a decimated fishing industry.  The amount of water lost is said to be equivalent to the complete draining of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

(Images: Nicholas Mutton, cc-sa-3.0; howzey, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

For all their haunting appeal, abandoned ships can be hazardous objects and we never recommend climbing aboard.  But not all are riddled with pollutants and some, like disused fishing boats lying near the sea – have a wistful quality that harks back to an earlier time.  Offering a great subject for photographers, these old vessels go hand in hand with the lonely nature of the sea and a yearning for a tough yet more simple way of life.

(Images: donnamarijne, cc-sa-3.0; craigfinlay, cc-3.0)

In addition to rusting vessels both large and small, the decline of shipping in many parts of the world has rendered shipyards and docks partially redundant or completely derelict.  Some have been regenerated for modern commercial and residential use, while others are little more than silent reminders of their proud past.  Harland and Wolff in Belfast is famous for building the Titanic, and while the yard remains active, the original Drawing Office and slipway where the liner was built are long since abandoned.

(Images: Google Earth, Archiseek)

The famous wasteland is now at the heart of an exciting development called the Titanic Quarter, constructed around the restored slipways (Titanic’s sister ship Olympic was constructed alongside) and Drawing Office where the liners were designed.  Whether any of the original steam cranes that still exist at the yard will survive the redevelopment remains to be seen.  Find out more in our Titanic feature.

(Images: George Robinson, cc-sa-3.0; Ben Cooper, cc-nc-sa-3.0; Andrew Jameson, cc-sa-3.0)

The future is less certain for other abandoned shipyards and docks that linger on in dereliction.  In 1914 British shipyards produced more tonnage than the rest of the world combined.  But by the late 20th century British shipbuilding was lucky to even be considered a shadow of its former self.  The abandoned dry docks at South Shields (top) and Glasgow yard building (centre) more accurately reflect the state of current shipbuilding in the UK, while the lower image of the Dry Dock Engine Works-Detroit Dry Dock Company Complex harks back to the once impressive maritime manufacturing industry of Detroit, Michigan, and underscores the hard times upon which that city has fallen.

(Images: J.M.W. Turner, public domain; stmaryrotherhithe.org)

J.M.W. Turner’s famous painting “The Fighting Temeraire” is a symbolic work that depicts the end of an epoch.  It reflects the shift from sail to steam vessels, as the old warrior and veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar is towed down the River Thames from Chatham Docks to the breaker’s yard at Rotherhithe.  Turner gives HMS Temeraire an ethereal glow as the sun sets behind the ghostly sails of another sailing ship on the horizon.  If this painting bids farewell to wind powered vessels, the photographs above do so for much of our more modern shipping.  Today some of the Temeraire’s timbers have been refashioned into a communion table and two bishop’s chairs at the Church of St Mary, Rotherhithe.

If you enjoyed this article, click the thumbnail below (by Wollex) to explore one of the most spectacular shipwrecks around (SS American Star) in our Abandoned Mega-Machines feature.

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(Images left and right in public domain)

While her days were numbered from the outset, Titanic was a legend during her own lifetime, and has become increasingly immortalised ever since.  In this article, we take a look at the famous liner’s origins, from the abandoned Drawing Office and slipways of Harland and Wolff to the murals of east Belfast and the awesome Titanic Quarter that is rising from the dereliction.

Building Titanic

Image via Bain News Service

RMS Titanic was built alongside her sister ship Olympic on two massive slipways.  Below left shows Olympic in the foreground with her younger and less complete sister Titanic behind.  The yard is alive with men constructing the future of ocean travel, and it’s hard to imagine that this corner of the yard lies abandoned today, a wasteground of empty slipways and rusting cranes.

Images by trialsanderrors

Workers standing beneath Olympic’s enormous propellor help lend scale to these massive iron wonders.  This was shipbuilding on an unprecedented scale, helping to define an industry that would never be the same again.  (Read more about Harland and Wolff’s collaboration with White Star Line in our previous article: The World’s Most Famous Slipway.)

All Set to Sail

An elderly man looks on at the Titanic (author unknown)

The completed Titanic is seen here in dock, resplendent in fresh livery and ready to bring cutting edge technology and comfort to an A-rated guest list, while transporting thousands of others to a better life in the New World – or at least that was the intention.

The Grand Staircase

Titanic's Grand Staircase, original on left; replica on right (image by cliff1066)

The first-class only Grand Staircase was one of the most impressive features of the ship.  With no expense spared, the finest craftsman in Ireland created two identical sets of steps  (fore and aft) – which plunged five storeys from the Boat Deck to E Deck.  The Grand Staircase still plays an important role, as a vast empty hole through which submersibles can gain easy access to the wreck, and even today some balustrade details are still extant.  The staircase on the right is a replica at the Titanic Experience in Orlando, Florida.

The Drawing Office at Harland & Wolff Shipyard

Images by craigfinlay

It’s ironic to think Titanic is now the world’s most famous wreck while its birthplace remains largely forgotten.  Abandoned but not deserted, some real treasures lurk behind the sturdy doors of the old Harland & Wolff Drawing Office which, like the rusting steam cranes below, played a key role in the development of the liner that became the yard’s enduring legacy.

Rusting steam cranes (images by donnamarijne)

These cranes helped build Titanic while the Drawing Office, hauntingly empty, is where the ship was designed and its construction project managed.  With its nineteenth century sinks and ornate features, the Drawing Office is almost a microcosm of the Titanic story.  Incredibly, a selection of blueprints gather dust in what amounts to an abandoned warehouse.  Rumour has it that the scale set in James Cameron’s epic film was constructed from blueprints – long since thought lost – hidden away in the dusty store rooms of the Belfast Drawing Office.

The Titanic Quarter

Images via Google Earth and Archiseek

The image above (right) shows a scale model of the £1.5 billion Titanic Quarter, which will create 20,000 jobs over a 15-year period.  To the left is the land today,with the famous concrete slipways (Titanic’s on the right) in front of the isolated Drawing Office.  The model shows how the fully renovated office and slipways are to be integrated into the final scheme, in an exciting waterfront development that blends modern architecture with Belfast’s maritime heritage.

Images via Archiseek

The icing on the cake will be the restored Nomadic, built as a tender to Olympic and Titanic, and the last remaining vessel still afloat of the White Star Line.  Images courtesy of Archiseek.

Titanic Murals on the Streets of Belfast

Image by KGGucwa

(Image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Belfast is known for its striking murals, many depicting the sectarian strife that plagued the city for years.  But this one, on Dee Street, shows Captain Edward Smith above Titanic with the famous Harland & Wolff shipyard forming the backdrop.  The caption reads “Nearer My God to Thee” and is dated April 14, 1912 – the fateful night Titanic struck the iceberg.  To the right, the words “Titanic, built in Belfast”, reflect the pride of the city and particularly the shipbuilders of East Belfast.

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Watery Grave

Images by Lisa Stone

(Images reproduced with permission of Lisa Stone, mysteriousnovascotia.com)

(Irishmanlost, reproduced with permission)

RMS Titanic is without doubt the most famous ocean liner in history and most of us know how the story ended in 1912 – at the bottom of the North Atlantic, several hundred nautical miles southeast of Newfoundland.  But the story of the Olympic class liner’s birth is less well known, with Titanic‘s life starting out on a now sorry-looking concrete slipway in a Belfast shipyard.

(Image: donnamarijne, cc-sa-3.0)

The Harland and Wolff shipyard where Titanic was built remains active in a reduced capacity.  When the Olympic class liners – Olympic, Titanic and Britannic – were built for the White Star Line, the dream was to rival Cunard’s great liners of the day (Lusitania and Mauretania, the latter holding the Blue Ribband for 22 years from 1907).  While the Cunarders pushed for speed, White Star went for unrivaled luxury, never more so that with Titanic.

(Image: trialsanderrors, cc-3.0)

Titanic and Olympic were built side-by-side adjacent to the former Drawing Office, which, along with the old Harland and Wolff offices, are the only buildings left from 1912.  Though rundown, the Drawing Office remains a beautiful building which reflects the industrial pride of the age.  It has changed little since the Titanic’s day, and it’s even rumoured that priceless blueprints of the famous ships might have been stored in the otherwise abandoned building until recently.

(Image: Calotype46, cc-nc-sa-3.0)

Several decades ago, the shipyard’s main operations were moved to the east side of Queen’s Island in central Belfast, which was deemed more suited to the needs of modern ship building.  As a result, the famous slipways, alongside the Drawing Office, now stand on an abandoned and largely empty strip of land – a far cry from the days when 30,000 men worked at the yard.

(Images: Google Earth (right), Archiseek)

But like other cities gripped by modern redevelopment, this lonely corner of Belfast is set to house an exciting new district known as the Titanic Quarter.  The fully restored slipways and former Drawing Office will form the centre of the scheme, with RMS Nomadic – the last vessel built for White Star Line – preserved alongside.  When it’s complete, the eponymous Titanic Quarter will be a fitting tribute to the iconic liner and the men that built her.

Titanic: The Rise, the Fall and the Birth of a Legend

Belfast’s Historic (& Troubled) “Holy Land”

World Discoverer: The Solomon Islands Cruise Ship Wreck

Ship Graveyards: Abandoned Ships, Boats and Shipyards