Sinking of the Roman fleet (255 BC)

Roman warship with boarding bridge (corvus). It is discussed that this new type of weapon made the ships unstable in a storm

The Sinking of the Roman fleet in July 255 BC in the Strait of Sicily was the worst maritime accident in antiquity and in the entire history of shipping. Up to 100,000 people died.^[1]

^ Michael Pitassi: The Navies of Rome, Woodbridge 2009, p. 65: … as many as 100.000 men perished, their ships foundering on or being dashed onto the rocks of south-east Sicily. It was, and remains to this day, the greatest known loss of human life in a single incident of shipwreck in the history of seafaring.

[:0-1] Michael Pitassi: The Navies of Rome, Woodbridge 2009, p. 65: … as many as 100.000 men perished, their ships foundering on or being dashed onto the rocks of south-east Sicily. It was, and remains to this day, the greatest known loss of human life in a single incident of shipwreck in the history of seafaring.

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