1994 : Estonia sinks
On this day in 1994, 852 people die in one of the worst maritime
disasters of the century when the Estonia, a large car-and-passenger
ferry, sinks in the Baltic Sea.
The German-built ship was traveling on an overnight cruise from
Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, when it
sank off the coast of Finland. Estonia, a former Soviet republic that
gained its independence in 1991 (the last Russian troops left in
1994), was a popular and affordable travel destination for Swedes. The
Estonia was a type of ferry known as a "ro-ro," which featured a
smorgasbord, live music, dancing and drinking and allowed people to
drive vehicles onto one end of the ship and drive off on the other
end.
After hitting stormy weather, with waves reaching an estimated 15 to
20 feet, the Estonia went down in the middle of the night. Many
passengers were trapped inside the ship, while others, even some who
managed to make it into lifeboats, later drowned in the frigid water
or died from hypothermia. Helicopters were used to rescue most of the
137 survivors.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, a joint Swedish-Finnish-Estonian
government committee ruled it an accident and blamed it on stormy
weather that caused water to pour through an open bow door and into
the Estonia's car deck, destabilizing the ship and capsizing it in
less than an hour. However, there were others, including some family
and friends of the Estonia victims, who believed the sinking was the
result of a pre-existing hole caused by a collision or explosion.
Two years after the sinking of the Estonia, the Bukoba, a passenger
steamship, went down in Lake Victoria near Tanzania in May 1996,
leaving an estimated 1,000 people dead. In September 2002, a
Senegalese passenger ferry, the Joola, sank off the coast of Gambia,
resulting in at least 1,800 casualties. By comparison, when the ocean
liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg off of Newfoundland on its
maiden voyage in April 1912, approximately 1,500 lives were lost.
history.com/tdih.do
48 BC: Pompey the Great assassinated
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5380
1066 : William the Conqueror invades England
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7034
1542 : Cabrillo encounters California
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5381
1989 : Marcos dies in exile
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5382
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On this day in 1994, 852 people die in one of the worst maritime
disasters of the century when the Estonia, a large car-and-passenger
ferry, sinks in the Baltic Sea.
The German-built ship was traveling on an overnight cruise from
Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, when it
sank off the coast of Finland. Estonia, a former Soviet republic that
gained its independence in 1991 (the last Russian troops left in
1994), was a popular and affordable travel destination for Swedes. The
Estonia was a type of ferry known as a "ro-ro," which featured a
smorgasbord, live music, dancing and drinking and allowed people to
drive vehicles onto one end of the ship and drive off on the other
end.
After hitting stormy weather, with waves reaching an estimated 15 to
20 feet, the Estonia went down in the middle of the night. Many
passengers were trapped inside the ship, while others, even some who
managed to make it into lifeboats, later drowned in the frigid water
or died from hypothermia. Helicopters were used to rescue most of the
137 survivors.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, a joint Swedish-Finnish-Estonian
government committee ruled it an accident and blamed it on stormy
weather that caused water to pour through an open bow door and into
the Estonia's car deck, destabilizing the ship and capsizing it in
less than an hour. However, there were others, including some family
and friends of the Estonia victims, who believed the sinking was the
result of a pre-existing hole caused by a collision or explosion.
Two years after the sinking of the Estonia, the Bukoba, a passenger
steamship, went down in Lake Victoria near Tanzania in May 1996,
leaving an estimated 1,000 people dead. In September 2002, a
Senegalese passenger ferry, the Joola, sank off the coast of Gambia,
resulting in at least 1,800 casualties. By comparison, when the ocean
liner Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg off of Newfoundland on its
maiden voyage in April 1912, approximately 1,500 lives were lost.
history.com/tdih.do
48 BC: Pompey the Great assassinated
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5380
1066 : William the Conqueror invades England
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7034
1542 : Cabrillo encounters California
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5381
1989 : Marcos dies in exile
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5382
##########################################
1 comment:
This is a great historic story....I came across a documentary which does a great job of bring to life their history - it is a Documentary about Estonia's Singing Revolution: http://singingrevolution.com
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