In total, 1,134 passengers were on board the HMHS Britannic on November 21, 1916, when an explosion caused by a German mine sank the ship in Greek waters. Thirty passengers died and 41 suffered serious injuries following the explosion. Of the fatalities, only five bodies were actually recovered and buried. The rest remained in the ocean and small memorials in Thessaloniki and London have been erected in their memory.
Many of the fatalites were not actually caused by the explosion or the sinking of the ship, but during the rescue operation, when the life boats being used were sucked in by the ship's powerful motors.
The Britannic was actually a larger ship than the Titanic, which also sank, and served as a military hospital ship during World War I. The ship only took approximately 55 minutes to sink. It lay on the ocean floor unexplored by anyone until December 1975, when Jacques Cousteau organized the first expedition aimed at examining the wreckage.
Many of the fatalites were not actually caused by the explosion or the sinking of the ship, but during the rescue operation, when the life boats being used were sucked in by the ship's powerful motors.
The Britannic was actually a larger ship than the Titanic, which also sank, and served as a military hospital ship during World War I. The ship only took approximately 55 minutes to sink. It lay on the ocean floor unexplored by anyone until December 1975, when Jacques Cousteau organized the first expedition aimed at examining the wreckage.
