Historian Richard M. Jones recounts fifty stories of lost ships throughout history that are among the most important, infamous, and in some cases tragic ships in the whole of history. Starting at the tiny island of Alderney in 1592, the reader journeys through history, through World Wars I and II, into the age of the passenger ferry and finally to the modern-day migrant issues in the Mediterranean Sea.

Mary Rose, 1545 --Unknown wreck at Alderney, 1592 -- Vasa, 1628 -- Bonhomme Richard, 1779 -- Waratah, 1909 -- Titanic, 1912 -- Empress of Ireland, 1914 -- Lusitania, 1915 -- Endurance, 1915 -- Britannic, 1916 -- Mendi, 1917 -- Carpathia, 1918 -- Egypt, 1922 -- Morro Castle, 1934 -- Athenia, 1939 -- Admiral Graf Spee, 1939 -- Bismarck, 1941 -- HMS Ark Royal, 1941 -- USS Arizona, 1941 -- Normandie, 1942 -- USS Yorktown, 1942 -- HMS Edinburgh, 1942 -- Musashi, 1944 -- Tirptiz, 1944 -- Wilhelm Gustloff, 1945 -- Yamato, 1945 -- U-534, 1945 -- Flying Enterprise, 1952 -- Princess Victoria, 1953 -- Andrea Doria, 1956 -- Pamir, 1957 -- Torrey Canyon, 1967 -- Seawise University, 1972 -- Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975 -- Derbyshire, 1980 -- General Belgrano, 1982 -- Herald of Free Enterprise, 1987 -- Doña Paz, 1987 -- Marchioness, 1989 -- Oceanos, 1991 -- Braer, 1993 -- Estonia, 1994 -- Achile Lauro, 1994 -- Maria Asumpta, 1995 -- Kursk, 2000 -- Le Joola, 2002 -- HMS Scylla, 2004 -- Al Dana, 2006 -- Costa Concordia, 2012 -- Unknown migrant vessel, 2015.