Shipwrecks and lost treasure
Shipwrecks are exciting to explore and can lead to uncovering fascinating treasures.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his research team claim they've discovered the Musashi, a World War II Japanese battleship, in the Philippine Sea.
Japan has yet to formally confirm the identity of the wreck. The contents of the ship have yet to be revealed.
Musashi valve?
This photograph reportedly shows one of the valves on the Musashi. The Japanese characters for "main valve handle" and "open" are legible.
The Yamato-class battleship was sunk by American forces during World War II on October 24, 1944. Allen has been on an eight-year quest to find it.
Shipwrecked sphinx
A 2,000 year-old shipwreck, found in 1998 near a sunken Egyptian island where Cleopatra once lived, yielded this Sphinx-like statue.
Tang Dynasty treasure
In 1998, divers found these rare ceramics in the remains of an Arab "dhow" in what are now Indonesian waters.
The vessel is believed to date back to the ninth century.
Wreck of the Spiegel Grove
Spiegel Grove, a U.S. Navy ship deliberately sunk off the Florida Keys, is the largest in the world ever scuttled to become an artificial reef. It used to rest on its starboard side before waves from Hurricane Dennis righted the vessel in 2005.
Shipwrecked sea glass
Indonesian fishermen discovered a millennium-old shipwreck in 2010.
The haul from the ship, said to be one of the biggest in Asia, included rubies, pearls, gold jewelry, Fatimid rock-crystal, Iranian glassware and exquisite Chinese imperial porcelain.
Shipwrecked rubies
The same trove, worth at least an estimated $80 million, also included ancient ruby stones on a shell.
Shipwrecked glittering weapons
Weapons, including the ancient gold handle of a dagger, were also found in the Indonesian wreckage. The handle has an Arabic inscription.
Total number of items in the haul: 271,000.
Grand-Congloué shipwreck
These Roman amphorae were discovered in what was dubbed the "the Grand-Congloué shipwreck" in 1952, off the coast of Frioul Island in southern France.
Grand-Congloué shipwreck
The amphorae were later isolated and submerged in memory of the expedition that found them.
Kormoran - Deadly turret
This Australian warship turret, simply dubbed "X," was photographed in 2008. It was attributed to the sinking of the German warship the Kormoran off the western Australian coast in WWII.
The Aussie ship, HMAS Sydney II, was then sunk itself, in a battle that cost more than 700 lives.
Submarine U-166
The wreck of the World War II submarine U-166 was discovered off the Gulf of Mexico by a gas pipeline survey team in 2001.
Shipwrecked seaworthy rocks
Some undersea treasure is in the eye of the beholder.
These ball-like, 18th-century "stone crushers" were used for mining.
Historians, who discovered them in 1997, believe they were being smuggled via ocean voyage to Europe before the ship that was carrying them sunk off the Spratly islands in the south China Sea.
A fine vintage shipwrecked
This 200-year-old Veuve Clicquot champagne was found in a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
An Internet bidder paid $78,235 for it and another bottle from the wreck in 2011.
Shipwrecked valuable vases
A commercial ship dating from the late Classical period (mid-4th century B.C.) yielded these ancient wine vases.
The vessel was found off the southern shore of Cyprus in 2008.
Titanic trove
The celebrated cruise ship Titanic sunk in 1912, but its legend lives on in the artifacts that have been found on board, such as this currency.
Titanic - First class china
This teacup was used by first class passengers during the ill-fated Titanic voyage in 1912.
Mediterranean, lucky coins
In February 2015, amateur Israeli divers stumbled upon the largest collection of medieval gold coins ever found in the country.
Originating in the 11th century, the coins likely fell from a shipwreck in the Mediterranean.
Pirate booty
This brass bell was recovered in 1997 from the wreckage site of what researchers believe is English pirate Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
Italian shipwreck discovery
In 2009, Italian Carabiniers surfaced with an ancient mortar, found with other objects off the coast of Ventotene, a tiny island.
Five well-preserved Roman shipwrecks were eventually found there.
Napoleon's legacy
Divers pull out this 200-year-old cannon from the shipwreck of Napoleon Bonaparte's flag ship, L'Orient, in 1999.