List of shipwrecks of South America explained

See also: List of missing ships and List of maritime disasters.

This is a list of shipwrecks located in or around South America.

Argentina

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
		15 June 1987	A that was sunk as a target in Samborombón Bay.	-36.25°N -57°W
Crown of Italy		23 December 1891	A British sailing ship that ran aground at Cabo San Diego.^[1] Abandoned early the next morning and using the ship's boats, her crew of 33 made landfall on Staten Island on Christmas day. The crew were stranded there for 83 days before being picked up by HMS Cleopatra. All were saved.	-54.6333°N -72°W
Desdemona		9 September 1985	A cargo ship that ran aground at Cabo San Pablo.^[2]	-54.2976°N -66.6997°W
Duchess of Albany		13 July 1893	A sailing ship that sank off Tierra del Fuego.^[3]	-54.6333°N -96°W
		2 April 1982	A light cruiser that was torpedoed by during the Falklands/Malvinas War. The ship was outside the Total Exclusion Zone at the time, leading to controversy over whether the attack was justified.
		19 October 1925	A barque that caught fire and was scuttled near Comodoro Rivadavia.	-45.0417°N -68.5°W
Sarmiento		2 April 1912	A passenger and cargo ship that sank in the Beagle Channel.^[4]	-54.8612°N -67.8562°W
St. Christopher		1957	A salvage tug that was beached and abandoned at Ushuaia.	-54.8097°N -68.3081°W
Usurbil		March 1993	A fishing trawler that was destroyed by fire while at port at Ingeniero White, Buenos Aires. The wreck was moved to Bahía Blanca in 1999.^[5]	-38.8267°N -62.2653°W

Brazil

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
		21 January 1906	A Brazilian ironclad warship that sank after exploding near the Jacuacanga strait, in Angra dos Reis bay.
		1891	Cargo ship that sank after a collision.
California		1866	Rare 1806 "direct acting engine" steamer, with a centered propulsion wheel, carrying personal care articles. Sunk after a pirate raid at Ilha Grande, Angra dos reis.
Campos		23 October 1943	Torpedoed by the .
		14 September 1914	Sunk by British HMS Carmania off the coast of the Island of Trindade, Brazil, South Atlantic Ocean during World War I.	-20.4833°N -47°W

|-|Elihu B. Washburne||1943|Sunk in Santos Bay.||-|||20 January 1887|An emigrant ship that was travelling from London to Australia when it collided with the barque, with 299 lives lost.||-||| 11 February 1895|||-|||26 April 1949|A refrigerator ship that ran aground and then split in two in the Guanabara Bay while under tow.|-22.9514°N -43.125°W|-| ||6 January 1981|Capsized in the Amazon River, at Cajari, Macapá.^[6] ||-|||1967|A grain cargo ship that sunk after a fire aboard. A popular dive site at Ilha Grande.||-| ||5 March 1916|An ocean liner that ran aground on a shoal near Ilhabela, São Paulo, resulting in at least 445 deaths.||-|||1853|An emigrant ship that ran aground off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte.||-| ||19 September 1981|Capsized in the Amazon River, at Óbidos, Pará. Around 250 to 300 people were killed, 178 people survived.^[7] ||-|||2 August 1861|An extreme clipper that caught fire and sank near Pernambuco.||-|Tocantins||1933|Sunk at the Queimada Grande Island, due to heavy fog.||-|||16 May 1943|Attacked by US Navy aircraft and destroyers off the coast of Recife. After considerable shelling and aerial bombing that rendered her dead in the water, the crew scuttled her the next day.|-11°N -78°W|}

Chile

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Almirante Latorre		2005	Sank in the South Pacific while under tow to be broken up.
		1940s	A clipper that was beached at San Gregorio.	-52.5675°N -70.0685°W
		1928	Sank after striking rocks near Lebu. Second biggest single-incident maritime losses of life in the history of Chile.
		1891	Destroyed by a torpedo gunboat in the port of Caldera during the 1891 Chilean Civil War.
		1916	Ran aground in Picton Channel.
		1856	A steamboat that was driven aground off Point Carranza, south of Constitución, resulting in the loss of 300–400 lives. The biggest single-incident maritime losses of life in the history of Chile.
		1835	Wrecked off Mocha Island.
		1960s	A windjammer that was beached as a breakwater at Punta Arenas.
		1881	A sloop that exploded while anchored at Punta Arenas.^[8]
		1915	A light cruiser that was scuttled near Robinson Crusoe Island.
El Canelo		1960	Sank in the mouth of Valdivia River after the 1960 Valdivia earthquake in 1960.
		1879	Sank during the Battle of Iquique.
		4 October 1949	Sank in Gabriel Channel at the Dawson Island. 72 men were lost.^[9]
		1914	A armored cruiser that was destroyed in the Battle of Coronel.	-36.9836°N -73.8136°W
		1958	Sank off Nueva Island. 38 men lost.^[10]
		1879	Ran aground and was burnt during the Battle of Punta Gruesa.
		1965	Sank with the loss of 65 men.^[11]

||-|John Elder||1892|Sank near Punta Carranza.^[12] ||-| ||1878|||-|||1988|A missionary ship owned by Operation Mobilisation, that ran aground on rocks in the Beagle Channel.|-54.9702°N -67.1238°W|-|BAP Manco Cápac||1880|Scuttled to prevent her capture by the Chilean military after the Battle of Arica.||-| ||1914|A armored cruiser that was destroyed in the Battle of Coronel.|-36.8981°N -73.8458°W|-| ||1839|Sank off Valparaíso.||-| ||1826|Sank off Cape Horn. Probably the biggest single-incident maritime loss of life in the history of Chile.||-| ||1906|A steamboat that was wrecked at Possession Bay while under tow.|-52.2477°N -69.0321°W|-| ||1770|Sank near the mouth of the Huenchullami River.||-|Sancti Espiritus||1526|First European ship to run aground in the Strait of Magellan.||-|Santa Leonor||1966|Ran aground in Smyth Channel.||-| ||1741|Ran aground at Wager Island.|-47.6786°N -75.0492°W|}

Ecuador

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Jesus Maria de la Limpia Concepcion		1654	Spanish treasure ship also known as the Capitana, lost after striking a reef off Chanduy.
Santa Maria de la Consolacion		1681	Spanish treasure ship laden with gold, silver, and precious gems run against a reef by pursuing pirates. Discovered in 1998.

Falkland Islands

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
		24 May 1982	A Type 21 frigate that was sunk by Argentine bombers during the Falklands War.	-51.5508°N -59.0583°W
		22 May 1982	A Type 21 frigate that was sunk by Argentine bombers during the Falklands War.	-51.6606°N -59.1367°W
		25 May 1982	A Type 42 destroyer that was sunk by Argentine aircraft during the Falklands War.	-51.06°N -59.7033°W
		30 November 1921	A whaling supply ship known for her involvement in the Halifax Explosion, after which she was repaired and ran aground three years later off East Falkland.
		11 May 1982	A naval supply ship that was sunk by during the Falklands War.	-51.7008°N -59.4894°W

Galápagos Islands

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
		20 August 1851	An American whaleship that sank after it was rammed by a sperm whale.
		16 January 2001	An oil tanker that ran aground off Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, causing an oil spill.

Peru

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Adresito		March 1990	Capsized in Amazon River, Iquitos, Loreto Maynas, at least 134 people confirmed dead.
		13 September 1880	A Chilean schooner that was sunk by a mine outside Chancay.
La Chachita		May 1991	Capsized by stormy conditions in Marranon River, at least 150 people confirmed dead.
Santa Elena		March 2008	Capsized in Tepiche River, Loreto, at least fifty people confirmed dead.

Uruguay

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
		17 December 1939	A German cruiser scuttled during the Battle of the River Plate.	-34.9667°N -73°W
		20 June 1809	A Royal Navy warship ran aground and sank north of Gorriti Island in Maldonado Bay.	-34.9331°N -54.9811°W

Venezuela

Ship	Flag	Sunk date	Notes	Coordinates
Sesostris		31 March 1941	A German cargo ship torched by her own crew out of fear of being seized by U.S. or local authorities.	10.4892°N -67.9492°W

Further reading

• Book: Marx, Robert F. . 1987 . Shipwrecks in the Americas . New York . Dover . 426–444 . 0-486-25514-X .

External links

• the wreck of the San José. Royal Geographical Society of South Australia
• WRECKSITE Worldwide database of + 65,000 wrecks with history, maritime charts and GPS positions (subscription required)

Notes and References

1. Web site: SV Crown of Italy (+1891) . wrecksite.eu . 20 June 2023.
2. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?116588 MV Desdemona (+1985)
3. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?116415 SV Duchess of Albany (+1893)
4. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?116413 SS Sarmiento (+1912)
5. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?173606 FV Usurbil (+1993)
6. News: Overloaded Boat Sinks in Amazon . The Palm Beach Post . 9 January 1981 . A18.
7. News: Naufrágio do Barco Sobral Santos completa 30 anos . Acritica.com . 17 September 2011 . Portuguese . 23 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121018121221/http://acritica.uol.com.br/noticias/Manaus-Amazonas-Amazonia-Naufragio-Barco-Sobral-Santos-completa_0_556144533.html . 18 October 2012 . dead .
8. Web site: Campbell. Duncan. HMS Doterel, lost 26 April 1881 Memorial Plaque. British Presence in Southern Patagonia. 11 July 2011.
9. Web site: El "Fournier" Noche fosca . https://web.archive.org/web/20160901090221/http://www1.rionegro.com.ar//arch200204/c13j12.html . es . 13 April 2002 . 1 September 2016.
10. http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica/Guarani.htm{{Dead link|date=February 2024}}
11. Web site: Janequeo (ATF-65) (+1965) . Wrecksite . 10 February 2024.
12. News: Wrecked on Caranza Rock.; Loss of the John Elder – Predica-ment of Chilean Refugees . The New York Times . 1 . 20 January 1892 . 10 February 2024 . subscription.