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Water is something we are all familiar with, and for good reason. It covers much of the Earth, forms the majority of our bodies, and is essential for our survival. It's also a source of recreation and travel for many. Despite its commonality, total immersion in it can be fatal. Some individuals have managed to escape from underwater entrapment, while others met their end in a cold, dark, and terrifying embrace.
10. Edward Young
On July 19, 1941, the British U-class submarine, Umpire, set out from Sheerness for sea trials. As it traveled on the surface, it collided with a trawler that failed to spot the submarine in the early morning darkness. The submarine’s commander and three others were on the bridge during the accident and were left to fend for themselves in the water. The Umpire sank swiftly, trapping the remaining crew 18 meters (60 feet) below the surface.
The submarine began to flood rapidly with water. Edward Young, a junior officer aboard the Umpire, later recalled, 'In the half-darkness, the men became indistinguishable, frantically moving about in a desperate frenzy.' Young came across a man attempting to open a watertight door, saying, 'My friend is inside.' Young could only respond, 'It’s hopeless. There’s no one left alive beyond that door.'
Young waded into the wardroom, searching for torches. After finding only one that worked, he returned to the control room, only to find it deserted and the engine room door sealed shut. The only sound that reached his ears was the steady rush of water on the other side.
In the end, Young and four others climbed up to the conning tower to attempt an escape. But this was no simple matter of opening the hatch. They had to flood the conning tower first to balance the water pressure, meaning they had to take their last breath before emerging from the hatch one by one and swimming through the dark water toward the surface. Two of the four men did not survive the perilous ascent.
The sinking of the Umpire claimed 22 lives, with Young and 14 others managing to survive. Young would later rise to become a distinguished submarine commander.
9. The Koosha-1
In October 2011, the Iranian ship Koosha-1 was assisting with the installation of an underwater oil pipeline in the Persian Gulf, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) off the coast of Assaluyeh. On October 20, the ship capsized due to severe weather and sank so rapidly that no distress signal could be sent. Six people lost their lives in the incident, but rescuers were able to save 60 others.
The Koosha-1 was equipped with a hyperbaric recompression chamber, which housed six divers when the ship went down. At the time of the sinking, the chamber was pressurized to 60 meters (200 feet), but the ship came to rest 72 meters (236 feet) deep on the ocean floor. This raised fears among rescuers that the chamber's seals might have been compromised. Rescue attempts were further delayed by ongoing bad weather, with winds reaching 30 knots.
On October 23, the bodies of the six divers were confirmed to have perished after running out of air. It is believed that they had enough air supply to last for two days at the bottom of the Gulf.
8. Blizzard River
You don’t need to be out in the open sea to unexpectedly find yourself trapped underwater. This was the case in Agawam, Massachusetts, on August 7, 1999, at Riverside Amusement Park (now known as Six Flags New England). Around 9:30 p.m., a raft on the park’s 'Blizzard River' ride suddenly capsized. Eight belted passengers were left submerged, face down, in only 0.8 meters (2.5 feet) of water.
That was all it took. While park staff were able to rescue some of the riders before emergency responders arrived, the trapped passengers—among them at least two children and a pregnant woman—nearly drowned. Several were hospitalized in critical condition, with one rider suffering a brain injury and another enduring 'permanent physical injuries.'
In 2001, the eight passengers filed a lawsuit against the park’s owners and the ride’s manufacturers. The plaintiffs argued that the defendants should have foreseen the danger, citing a similar fatal incident in Texas earlier that same year. Additionally, the park staff had seated the three heaviest passengers on one side of the raft, exacerbating the risk of capsize.
7. Chao Phraya River Ferry
On September 18, 2016, a ferry with over 100 passengers was traveling along the Chao Phraya River in Thailand. The majority of the passengers were Muslim pilgrims returning to Nonthaburi Province after attending a ceremony in Ayutthaya.
Not long into the journey, the ferry swerved to avoid another boat, causing it to collide with a concrete bridge pillar. The lower deck of the two-level ferry became submerged, triggering a chaotic scene. Rescuers threw ropes to passengers swimming toward the shore, while others desperately attempted to revive victims pulled from the river. In the end, 27 people lost their lives, and about 40 others were injured. It took two days to recover most of the bodies from the wreck.
Thailand is known for its high rate of public transportation accidents, largely due to lax enforcement of safety regulations. In this instance, the ferry's captain was charged with reckless driving resulting in death.
6. Patrick Peacock and Chris Rittenmeyer
Cave diving is a high-risk activity, unsuitable for beginner divers. The challenge becomes even greater when diving in Eagle's Nest, located near Tampa, Florida. Divers enter from what appears to be an ordinary pond, only to descend into a sprawling network of tunnels extending 1.6 kilometers (1 mile), some reaching depths of 90 meters (300 feet) below the surface. Known as 'The Mt. Everest of cave diving,' this location has taken many lives in the past.
On October 15, 2016, experienced divers Patrick Peacock and Chris Rittenmeyer entered Eagle’s Nest. Having successfully dived there the day before, they were well-aware of the inherent dangers. They began their dive at approximately 2:00 p.m., with safety diver Justin Blakely waiting closer to the surface. The plan was for the two men to rejoin Blakely at 3:00 p.m.
However, the pair failed to surface as planned. Blakely checked the designated meeting spot every 30 minutes, but by 6:00 p.m., with no sign of them, he alerted authorities. Despite efforts from rescue teams, the two divers could not be found that night.
The next day, a team of divers discovered the bodies of Peacock and Rittenmeyer close to one another, 79 meters (260 feet) deep, in one of the cave's most dangerous sections. They became the ninth and tenth fatalities in Eagle's Nest since 1981.
5. Twin Caves Rescue
Occasionally, cave diving incidents end with a positive outcome. One such instance occurred in Florida's Twin Caves during the summer of 2012. A father, along with his college-aged son and daughter, set out to explore the cave. The father, an experienced open water scuba instructor, had no cave diving certification, nor did his children.
As the trio entered the cave, a group of cave divers were exiting and noticed the disturbance caused by the open water divers' kicking, which stirred up a significant amount of silt in the already murky cave. The cave divers quickly ensured their safety lines were secured. Soon, the son accidentally collided with one of the divers and was safely guided back to the surface. The father followed, but the daughter did not. The cave divers immediately called for help.
Luckily, nearby was Edd Sorenson, a seasoned cave diver and rescuer, who had been teaching a cave diving class at the time. He quickly ended his lesson and made his way to Twin Caves with all his necessary equipment. When he arrived, he discovered a disturbing scene: an 18-meter (60-foot) circle of mud where the cave's exit should have been.
Without hesitation, Sorenson secured his line and began methodically searching through the pitch-black cave. He quickly located the daughter, her face just above the water, trapped in a small air pocket on the cave's ceiling. Although she had attempted to leave the pocket several times to find a way out, her inability to see her surroundings had hindered her efforts. Sorenson safely guided her to the exit.
Before 2012, only four cave divers had been successfully rescued after becoming lost. However, that year, Sorenson managed to save four people on his own.
4. The AS-28
In another instance of survival against the odds, seven Russian sailors survived after being trapped underwater for three days.
In August 2005, the AS-28, a Priz-class mini-submarine designed for rescue missions, was deployed approximately 70 kilometers (40 mi) south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the capital of the Kamchatka Peninsula. An undersea surveillance antenna became entangled with the sub, and pieces of fishing net obstructed its propellers, leaving it trapped 190 meters (623 ft) below the surface. Russian attempts to rescue the crew were unsuccessful.
Despite the AS-28 being stranded in a sensitive military zone near a submarine base, Russia sought international assistance. Eventually, a British submersible robot was sent down to cut the AS-28 free, allowing it to rise to the surface. The seven sailors were rescued and taken to a hospital, where they were reported to be in stable condition.
3. The Kursk
On August 12, 2000, Russia was conducting an extensive naval exercise in the Barents Sea, with 33 vessels involved, including the Kursk, an Oscar-class nuclear submarine. The Kursk was highly regarded for its formidable capabilities, including claims that it could survive a direct torpedo strike, defeat entire groups of US ships, and was deemed unsinkable.
It is believed that during the exercise, a leak in a damaged torpedo caused fuel to ignite, triggering an explosion. This was followed by a series of explosions from five to seven additional torpedoes, ripping the submarine open. The wreckage settled on the seabed 108 meters (354 ft) below the surface, about 135 kilometers (84 mi) from Severomorsk.
Russian attempts to rescue the crew were hindered by severe weather, and initially, they denied that a disaster had occurred. Reluctant to accept foreign assistance due to the advanced technology of the Kursk, Russia eventually conceded. On August 21, they finally confirmed that all crew members had perished.
Not all 118 crew members aboard the Kursk perished instantly. Norwegian divers discovered that 23 men had survived for a period in the submarine's aft compartment. Tapping sounds were reported from the wreck on August 13, but stopped by August 14. A letter found on Lieutenant Captain Dmitry Kolesnikov provided a haunting account of the men's last days, describing plummeting temperatures, fading lights, rising water, and dwindling air supply. Some men were severely burned, others injured by debris. Kolesnikov wrote, 'None of us can get to the surface.'
2. The Johnson Sea Link
On June 17, 1973, the submersible Johnson Sea Link set out to the waters off Key West, Florida, carrying four men: Archibald Menzies, Robert Meek, Edwin Link, and Albert Stover. Their mission was to retrieve a fish trap from the wreck of the USS Fred T. Berry, a scuttled destroyer.
Unable to retrieve the trap, the Johnson Sea Link became ensnared in a cable within the wreck at 110 meters (360 ft) underwater around 9:45 a.m. The US Navy dispatched the USS Tringa for assistance. After arriving six hours later, it took additional time to locate the submersible as it lacked a distress buoy. Meanwhile, the submersible’s carbon dioxide scrubber malfunctioned.
By the evening of June 17, the submersible’s interior temperature had dropped to approximately seven degrees Celsius (45 °F), matching the surrounding water temperature. The men, unprepared for such conditions, were struggling to breathe as the air quality deteriorated.
The first rescue attempt by the Tringa’s crew at 11:00 p.m. was thwarted by the shipwreck. By then, Link and Stover were relying on air tanks, but the helium-oxygen mix they were breathing worsened the loss of body heat. The pressure inside the Johnson Sea Link had also significantly increased. By 1:12 a.m., both Link and Stover were convulsing.
Two more rescue attempts by the Tringa failed for various reasons, along with another failed attempt by a different submersible. Finally, with the aid of another ship, the Johnson Sea Link emerged at 4:53 p.m. on June 18. Sadly, Link and Stover did not survive.
A 14-year-old boy defies the odds after surviving being submerged in a canal for 42 minutes. In 2015, he and five other boys jumped into a canal in Milan. While five resurfaced immediately, the sixth, Michael, got stuck in the water, unable to get out. It took rescuers 42 minutes to reach him, by which time his heart had stopped.
Doctors managed to restart Michael's heart after being trapped in the canal for over 40 minutes. He was placed on life support, and for ten days, he remained in a medically induced coma. His treatment involved ECMO, a procedure that involves removing oxygen-depleted blood from the body and reintroducing it after it’s oxygenated and warmed. Although Michael’s right leg was amputated below the knee, an MRI taken 15 days after the incident showed no signs of brain damage.
After 15 days in critical care, Michael’s recovery showed remarkable progress. Four weeks later, he woke up from the coma and was able to talk to his parents. Despite the traumatic event, he was coherent and even remembered the accident clearly. He humorously asked for a mojito during his recovery. His doctors believe that the cold temperature of the water may have helped slow down his bodily functions, contributing to his survival.
The doctors were amazed by Michael’s remarkable recovery after his near-drowning in the canal. Four weeks post-accident, he woke up from his coma and immediately began speaking to his family. Despite the ordeal, his memory was intact, and he even requested a mojito. It is believed that the cold canal water helped to preserve his body’s functions during the critical period, allowing him to survive.
