The list of shipwrecks in 1981 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1981.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.
The ferry caught fire and sank in a storm in the Java Sea 500 nautical miles (930 km) north east of Java. She was carrying a 1,136 people,[7] of whom 762 were reported to have been rescued.[8]
After the 43-foot (13 m) fishing vessel began taking on water, she drifted onto the tow line of a passing barge and sank in Cook Inlet 10 nautical miles (19 km) off Clam Gulch, Alaska, after the barge collided with her.[14]
The Whiskey-classsubmarine ran aground off Karlskrona, Sweden and was damaged. After a diplomatic incident and military standoff, the submarine was refloated on 5 November and towed into international waters for handover to the Soviet Navy.
The cargo ship was beached at Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands after developing a leak. The wreck later broke in two, the forward part sank, and the after part remained above water.[41] Scrapping began in September 2022.[42]
The 458-gross register ton 138.2-foot (42.1 m) scallop-fishing trawler was abandoned in the Gulf of Alaska 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) east of Marmot Island near Kodiak, Alaska, after a large wave laid her over. Only two men of her crew of 11 men and one woman survived. Days later, Saint Patrick was found floating derelict in the outer part of Marmot Bay and was towed to Womens Bay, Alaska, where she sank.[26]
The coaster was lost in Mount's Bay, Cornwall while bound for Spezia, Spain with a cargo of china clay from Teignmouth. All six of her crew were lost and the wreck has never been found.[52]
The ferry, arriving at Haifa from Greece, suffered onboard explosion and fire from a terrorist bomb and was beached. Later towed to Piraeus for lay-up, and to Spain for demolition in 1984.[55]
The fishing trawler, a former yacht, sank in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel after sriking an unidentified object. she was later refloated and restored to her original configuration as a yacht.
The decommissioned fishing vessel was run aground and abandoned on the Patreksfjordur fjord coastline, 10.6 miles (17.1 km) from Patreksfjordur village sometime in 1981.[58]
^"Soviet tanker runs aground". The Times. No. 60820. London. 8 January 1941. col D, p. 4.
^Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1990). The Empire Ships (Second ed.). London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 238. ISBN1-85044-275-4.
^"Searchers find five bodies from Greek ship". The Times. No. 60836. London. 27 January 1981. col H, p. 5.
^"Hope fades". The Times. No. 60837. London. 28 January 1981. col H, p. 7.
^"500 feared lost from Java Sea ferry boat". The Times. No. 60837. London. 28 January 1981. col C, D, p. 1.
^"762 saved in Java ferry disaster". The Times. No. 60838. London. 29 January 1981. col C-F, p. 8.
^"Four missing as ship sinks in a storm". The Times. No. 61108. London. 15 December 1981. col D-G, p. 1.
^Williams, John (18 December 2014). "Lifebelt recalls forgotten tragedy". The Cornishman. Cornwall & Devon Media. p. 10.
^Corin, John; Farr, Grahame (1983). Penlee Lifeboat. Penzance: Penlee & Penzance Branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. pp. 120. ISBN0-9508611-0-3.
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