The
Bermuda Triangle
The "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" is an
imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States
of America, which is noted for a supposedly high incidence of unexplained
disappearances of ships and aircraft. The apexes of the triangle are generally
believed to be Bermuda; Miami, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The US Board
of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official
name. The US Navy does not believe the Bermuda Triangle exists. It is reported
that Lloyd's of London, the world's leading market for specialist insurance,
does not charge higher premiums for vessels transiting this heavily traveled
area
The most famous US Navy losses which have
occurred in the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle are USS Cyclops
in March 1918 and the aircraft
of Flight 19 in December 1945. The ship probably sank in an unexpected
storm, and the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean -- no
physical traces of them have ever been found. Another well known disappearance
is the civilian tanker SS Marine Sulphur Queen carrying bulk molten
sulfur which sank in February 1963. Although the wreck of Marine Sulphur
Queen has not been located, a life preserver and other floating artifacts
were recovered. These disappearances have been used to provide credence to the
popular belief in the mystery and purported supernatural qualities of the
"Bermuda Triangle."
Since the days of early civilization many
thousands of ships have sunk and/or disappeared in waters around the world due
to navigational and other human errors, storms, piracy, fires, and
structural/mechanical failures. Aircraft are subject to the same problems, and
many of them have crashed at sea around the globe. Often, there were no living
witnesses to the sinking or crash, and hence the exact cause of the loss and
the location of the lost ship or aircraft are unknown. A large number of
pleasure boats travel the waters between Florida and the Bahamas. All too
often, crossings are attempted with too small a boat, insufficient knowledge of
the area's hazards, and a lack of good seamanship.
To see how common accidents are at sea, you can
examine some of the recent accident reports of the National Transportation
Safety Board for ships and
aircraft. One of the
aircraft accident reports concerns an in-flight engine failure and subsequent
ditching of a Cessna aircraft near Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas on 13 July
2003. This is the type of accident that would likely have been attributed to
mysterious causes in the Bermuda Triangle if there had been no survivors or
other eyewitnesses of the crash.
A significant factor with regard to missing
vessels in the Bermuda Triangle is a strong ocean current called the Gulf
Stream. It is extremely swift and turbulent and can quickly erase evidence of a
disaster. The weather also plays its role. Prior to the development of
telegraph, radio and radar, sailors did not know a storm or hurricane was nearby
until it appeared on the horizon. For example, the Continental Navy sloop Saratoga
was lost off the Bahamas in such a storm with all her crew on 18 March 1781. Many other US Navy ships
have been lost at sea in storms around the world. Sudden local thunder
storms and water spouts can sometimes spell disaster for mariners and air
crews. Finally, the topography of the ocean floor varies from extensive shoals
around the islands to some of the deepest marine trenches in the world. With
the interaction of the strong currents over the many reefs the topography of
the ocean bottom is in a state of flux and the development of new navigational
hazards can sometimes be swift.
It has been inaccurately claimed that the
Bermuda Triangle is one of the two places on earth at which a magnetic compass
points towards true north. Normally a compass will point toward magnetic north.
The difference between the two is known as compass variation. The amount of
variation changes by as much as 60 degrees at various locations around the
World. If this compass variation or error is not compensated for, navigators
can find themselves far off course and in deep trouble. Although in the past
this compass variation did affect the "Bermuda Triangle" region, due
to fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field this has apparently not been the
case since the nineteenth century.
We know of no US Government-issued maps that delineate the boundaries of the
Bermuda Triangle. However, general maps as well as nautical and aviation charts
of the general area are widely available in libraries and from commercial map
dealers.
