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Vessel Fates Used on This Website
Since vessels don't live forever it is useful to have a consistent nomenclature for describing their ultimate fate. These terms can also be used to described interim casualties suffered by a vessel that do not lead to its ultimate demise.
| Description | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Wrecked | This term is used for casualties resulting in loss of the vessel, but where a more precise classification of fate cannot be determined. This can also be used when the cause ocasty has been reported. |
| Broken up | Used when a vessel is dismantled for scrap or re-cycling. |
| Abandoned | A vessel that is left, usually on the beach, to decay and rot away without care from its owners. |
| War casualty | A vessel sunk by enemy action or mines so that the vessel is lost. (See also 'attacked'.) |
| Scuttled | Vessel deliberately sunk, usually to dispose of a vessel rather than breaking it up. |
| Unknown | Fate unknown, a generic term used when the fate is unrecorded - and when 'wrecked' does not seem appropriatr when e some dispute about the exact fate. |
| Afloat 1995 | A vessel noted as still afloat in the year stated. This is a temporary 'fate' or condition - noting that it is still 'in existence'. |
| Sold abroad | When a vessel is sold to owners in a foreign county and re-registered so that the Canadian registry is concluded. Also known by some authorities as 'sold out of registry." |
| Foundered | A vessel that sinks at sea by being overwhelmed and fill up by a wave or capsized by shifting cargo or by ice build-up. |
| Burned | A vessel burned, by accident or purposely - often to obtain scrap metal or to destroy the vessel. |
| Stranded | A term for when a vessel strikes the bottom, or a submerged object, and was made immobile (usually temporarily), but sometimes sustaining damage to the hull or propulsion. (Use 'grounded' if the casualty did not result in the vessel becoming attached to the object.) |
| Crushed in Ice | Vessel sunk or a constructive total loss as a result of being crushed in ice. |
| Constructive loss | A vessel that is so damaged that it is decalred to be a complete loss by the underwriters - though sometimes these vessels are sold-off, rebuilt and re-registered. |
| Museum collection | A vessel preserved substantially in a complete state for heritage preservation, often in a working state. The vessels are maintained for the value of their historic fabric and the integrity of their original materials, fittings and equipment. |
| Collision (sank) | A vessel sunk as a result of hitting or being hit by another vessel. |
| Collision | A vessel that has been hit by another vessel - possibly causing temporary damage but not causing the vessel to sink. |
| Sold out of service | A commercial vessel that is sold out of its original function and temporarily or permanently 'disappears' from the record. |
| Diving reef | A vessel deliberately sunk to create a fishing or diving reef. |
| Breakwater | A vessel that is deliberately beached or moored to act as a breakwater. |
| Laid-up | Vessel is tied-up or anchored for storage because there is no current market for its use. This usually anticipates a future use - but may later be broken up or struck from the register. |
| Struck from register | A vessel that was removed from the register but was still in existence in the country of registration. Usually used for some other purpose that does not/did not require formal registration. This is usually the next to last stage before the end of the life of the vessel. |
| Attacked | A vessel that was attacked by pirates, terrorists, bandits or enemy forces and damaged, but not sunk. (See also 'war casuaty'.) |
| Grounded | Used when a vessel strikes the bottom, sometimes sustaining damage to the hull or propulsion, and was able to proceed or float off without becoming 'stranded'. |
To quote from this article please cite:
McFarlane, John M. (2012) Vessel Fates Used on This Website. Nauticapedia.ca 2012. http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Dict_Vessels_fate1.php
Site News: April 25, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,359 vessel histories (with 15,634 images and 13,293 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.