Section I. NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries

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~100 historic shipwrecks; first NMS designated specifically for maritime heritage (2000). The Great Lakes wreck capital, with wrecks ranging from 19th-century wooden side-wheelers to 20th-century steel steamers preserved in cold fresh water. Includes the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, Michigan.

Spans the Lake Michigan shoreline with over 36 historically significant shipwrecks from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including wooden schooners and early steel steamers. The sanctuary focuses on preserving wrecks accessible to recreational divers.

Designated in 2022, this sanctuary encompasses significant War of 1812 battle sites and 19th-century commercial vessels. Features exceptionally well-preserved cold-water wrecks, including wooden sailing ships and early steam-powered vessels.

Home to the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, which sank in 1862 off Cape Hatteras. The sanctuary protects the wreck site and supports ongoing archaeological research, conservation of recovered artifacts, and documentation of this pivotal warship.

200+ shipwrecks on the seabed; intensive recent multibeam and ROV documentation. Headline wreck: the 'Titanic of New England' — side-wheel steamer Portland, lost with all hands in the 1898 Portland Gale. Also features the unique double-schooner collision site of Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary (1902).

100+ WWI 'Ghost Fleet' wooden steamships built 1917–1919 for the U.S. Emergency Fleet, never deployed, and left to decay in the tidal Potomac. The wrecks now host one of the most photogenic concentrations of overgrown ship hulls in North America. A 12,000-year maritime cultural sequence. Co-managed by NOAA, Maryland, and Charles County.

1,000+ historic wrecks spanning 500 years; nine featured wrecks on the published Shipwreck Trail. Highlights include the 1733 Spanish treasure-fleet wreck San Pedro, WWII freighter Benwood, and 1877 steamer City of Washington. Each trail wreck has mooring buoys, history, and underwater guides.

150+ historic ships and aircraft wrecked 1853–1980 within sanctuary boundaries; 300 reported wrecks total in the Santa Barbara Channel. Oldest sanctuary wreck: side-wheel steamer Winfield Scott, lost 2 December 1853 on Middle Anacapa Island with a Gold Rush bullion shipment.

400+ reported ship and aircraft wrecks across the combined sanctuary area. Notable wrecks include the 1595 Manila galleon San Agustín (only Spanish Manila wreck definitively located on the U.S. West Coast) and USS Stewart (DD-224), a WWII destroyer captured by Japan and recovered after the war.

460+ documented shipwrecks including two on the National Register of Historic Places: USS Macon (785-ft Navy rigid airship that foundered off Point Sur 12 February 1935, found at 1,000+ ft depth by MBARI) and the sidewheel steamer Tennessee. NOAA, MBARI, and the U.S. Navy have made multiple ROV expeditions to the Macon wreck since 1990.

60+ shipwreck sites + 61 aircraft sites in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; sanctuary status added January 2025. One of the largest marine protected areas in the world. Includes the WWII Battle of Midway debris field where U.S. forces destroyed four Japanese fleet carriers on 4 June 1942.

Top-level entry point to all NOAA National Marine Sanctuary shipwreck resources across the system. Includes the 'Dive Into Sunken History' visitor portal, the Maritime Heritage Program, and NOAA Ocean Exploration expeditions. Also links the curated 'Significant Shipwrecks' teaching resource and sanctuary-wide maritime heritage portal.

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Vermont's Underwater Historic Preserves (1982) was one of the first state-sponsored shipwreck dive trails in the U.S. LCMM's cold fresh water has preserved an exceptional concentration of horse-ferries, canal boats, and Revolutionary/War of 1812 vessels including Benedict Arnold's gunboat Spitfire from the Battle of Valcour, 1776.

BOEM manages archaeological resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, including historic shipwrecks in federal waters. Their Virtual Archaeology Museum provides online access to significant maritime cultural heritage resources from offshore sites.

Houses the largest collection of USS Monitor artifacts, including the iconic rotating gun turret recovered from the wreck site. The museum is a partner institution with NOAA's Monitor NMS, providing conservation, research, and public interpretation of the ironclad's legacy.

Parks Canada manages the protected wreck sites of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, both lost during the 1845 Franklin Expedition in the Arctic. Both ships were found in 2014 and 2016 through landmark Parks Canada-led surveys, representing one of the most significant Arctic maritime discoveries.

Manages the wreck and recovered artifacts of Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545. One of only three surviving 16th-century warships and the only one complete enough to study daily Tudor life at sea. The museum hosts over 19,000 recovered artifacts.

Dedicated museum housing the remarkably preserved 17th-century warship Vasa, which sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. Salvaged in 1961, the ship is over 95% original. The museum is one of the most visited in Scandinavia and a masterwork of maritime preservation.

Australia's leading maritime archaeology institution, managing wrecks of the VOC fleet including Batavia (1629), Vergulde Draeck (1656), and others. The museum's collection represents the most comprehensive assemblage of Dutch East India Company wreck material in the world.

France's primary underwater cultural heritage agency, responsible for all maritime archaeology in French territorial waters and beyond. DRASSM manages hundreds of wrecks along the French Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, and conducts research on WWI and WWII wrecks.

UK charity conducting maritime archaeological research and public outreach. Known for the Maritime Heritage at Risk Register and the Solent's ancient submerged landscape work. The Trust manages investigations of Bronze Age coastal sites and post-medieval vessel remains in British waters.

The world's largest maritime museum, holding over 2.5 million objects related to seafaring and Britain's naval history. The NMM's collections include navigational instruments, charts, paintings, and ship models. Part of Royal Museums Greenwich on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bulgarian research institution specializing in Black Sea maritime archaeology. Partner in the Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (MAP) that documented over 60 remarkably preserved ancient vessels in the anoxic deep waters of the Black Sea, from Bronze Age to Medieval periods.

3D photogrammetry model of the SS Algoma.

3D photogrammetry model of the Congdon Bow shipwreck.

3D photogrammetry model of the SS America.

3D photogrammetry model of the George M. Cox.

3D photogrammetry model of the Monarch.

3D photogrammetry model of the B-29 at Lake Mead NRA.

3D photogrammetry model from War in the Pacific NHP.

3D photogrammetry model of the Dry Tortugas Gravemarker.

3D photogrammetry model of an SBD Dauntless at Kwajalein Atoll.

3D photogrammetry model of a second SBD Dauntless at Kwajalein Atoll.

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3D photogrammetry model of a TBD Devastator at Jaluit Atoll.