History Series / DisastersOfTheCentury

* DownerEnding: Although the ''Princess Sophia'' sinking resulted in a beacon being installed on the Vanderbilt Reef, everyone on the ''Sophia'' died, and the tragedy was largely forgotten because UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ended as the dead were starting to be brought back to shore.

* DownerEnding: Although the ''Princess Sophia'' sinking resulted in a beacon being installed on the Vanderbilt Reef, everyone on the ''Sophia'' died, and the tragedy was largely forgotten because UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ended as the families were mourning the loved ones they lost in the disaster.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, the safety culture on the vessel was lackadaisical and arrogant, with inept safety drills leaving the crew poorly prepared for an actual emergency[[note]]a former crew member off-rig at the time, interviewed for a different documentary, described the safety culture on ''Ocean Ranger'' as basically amounting to DontTouchItYouIdiot[[/note]]; survival gear was inadequate at best, with no immersion suits and lackluster flotation devices; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; the control room was, in one of the most inexplicable marine vessel design choices in history, on one of the columns rather than on deck and low enough to be vulnerable to rogue waves, with the only way to check the water level being to leave a flimsy porthole open; and, to compound an already baffling design choice, said porthole was '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, the safety culture on the vessel was lackadaisical and arrogant, with inept safety drills leaving the crew poorly prepared for an actual emergency; survival gear was inadequate at best, with no immersion suits and lackluster flotation devices; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; the control room was, in one of the most inexplicable marine vessel design choices in history, on one of the columns rather than on deck and low enough to be vulnerable to rogue waves, with the only way to check the water level being to leave a flimsy porthole open; and, to compound an already baffling design choice, said porthole was '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

* SoftWater: {{Averted}} in Swissair Flight 111's case due to the insane speeds reached thanks to the unusable flight speed indicators and nonfunctional overspeed alarm. As Stephen Kimber notes, hitting water from any angle at those speeds is like hitting ''concrete''. The nose stopped suddenly the moment it struck the water, and the rest of the structure telescoped forward, causing ''Vaud'' to disintegrate. And of course, being on a plane subjected to forces like that most certainly wasn't survivable for the passengers and crew.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, to say nothing of the personnel's ineptitude and arrogance when it came to safety matters, survival gear was inadequate at best, with no immersion suits and lackluster flotation devices; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; the control room was, in one of the most inexplicable marine vessel design choices in history, on one of the columns rather than on deck and low enough to be vulnerable to rogue waves, with the only way to check the water level being to leave a flimsy porthole open; and, to compound an already baffling design choice, said porthole was '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, survival gear was inadequate at best, with no immersion suits and lackluster flotation devices; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; the control room was, in one of the most inexplicable marine vessel design choices in history, on one of the columns rather than on deck and low enough to be vulnerable to rogue waves, with only a porthole to check the water level; and, to compound an already baffling design choice, said porthole was '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, survival gear was inadequate at best; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; the control room was, in one of the most inexplicable marine vessel design choices in history, on one of the columns rather than on deck and low enough to be vulnerable to rogue waves, with only a porthole to check the water level; and, to compound an already baffling design choice, said porthole was '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

* FromBadToWorse: Everything about the final moments of the SS ''Princess Sophia''. The hull was shredded, some part of the boiler blew, and passengers who did make it to the boats ended up forced into the water anyway. As for ''what was on the water''...

** The Vanderbilt Reef was a known hazard even before it sank the SS ''Princess Sophia'', but UsefulNotes/WorldWarI prevented a proper beacon from being built, meaning the only warning was an unlit buoy. Had there been a proper beacon, ''Sophia'' would have been able to adjust her course earlier.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, survival gear was inadequate at best; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; the control room was low enough to be vulnerable to rogue waves, with only a porthole to check the water level; and said porthole was '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, survival gear was inadequate at best; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; and there was a porthole that had to be open to determine the water level '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

** Special mention goes to ''Ocean Ranger'', which was nicknamed ''Ocean Danger'' long before the sinking. Among other things, survival gear was inadequate at best; the lifeboats were difficult to launch in decent conditions, never mind in an Atlantic cyclone; and there was a porthole '''right next to the ballast control system''', just waiting to drench and short-circuit it the moment the portlight failed.

* SadClown: The Hartford Circus Fire turned Emmett Kelly into one of these. He was reportedly haunted by the fire for the rest of his life.

Disasters of the Century is a Canadian docuseries that documents a number of natural disasters and accidents that occurred during the course of the twentieth century.

* NoOSHACompliance: In many of the episodes, particularly those set earlier in the century.