Famous Atlantic Passenger Shipwrecks: Positions and Causes

Five iconic Atlantic passenger liner losses—positions, dates, causes:

Patterns

• Wartime (WWI, WWII) dominates—4/6 sunk by submarines.
• North Atlantic convoy routes (Titanic, Lusitania, Empress, Athenia) vs. South Atlantic (Laconia) vs. Baltic (Gustloff).
• Positions cluster near great-circle routes, iceberg limits, U-boat patrol lines.

Each wreck rewrote maritime law: SOLAS (Titanic), unrestricted submarine warfare protocols, rescue obligations (Laconia Order).