The sinking of the SS Imperator is perhaps the most famous Maritime mystery of all time. The German Ocean liner was the largest in the world at the time, surpassing the RMS Titanic in gross tonnage.
She disappeared without trace on her maiden voyage. Her last known message, in Morse Code, was at 2AM on the 14th June 1913. It read:
S.O.S. from Imperator * * * Hit unknown. All officers including the captain, dead in chartroom and on the bridge. Probably whole of crew dead * * * A few confused dots and dashes (of Morse code) later, the only thing to come through clearly was a position. *** 41° 46’ N., 50° 24’ W***
Ships arriving at the designated position found nothing. No boats or debris. Nothing to indicate the fate of the 4,986 souls aboard. That the reported position must be wrong was confirmed in 1976 when wreck finder Robert Ballard’s oceanic surveys failed to detect any sign of the ship on the ocean floor.
Explorers have tried for decades to find remains of the SS Imperator without success. Theories range from striking an iceberg, to engine explosion, to a mutinous crew or even sea monsters.
The truth, likely, will never be known.
Last known image of the SS Imperator.
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The Cairo Horrors