A shipwreck is what happens when a ship is destroyed at sea, either sinking beneath the waves or breaking apart on rocks, reefs, or shorelines. The word also refers to the ruined ship itself, lying on the ocean floor or scattered along a beach.

Throughout history, storms, fog, navigational errors, and hidden underwater dangers have caused countless shipwrecks. Before modern technology like radar and GPS, sailors had to navigate by the stars and their knowledge of coastlines, making shipwrecks tragically common. Famous shipwrecks like the Titanic in 1912 remind us how even large, seemingly invincible vessels can meet disaster.

Today, marine archaeologists study shipwrecks to learn about the past. Ancient shipwrecks reveal how people traded goods across oceans, what they ate, and what tools they used. Some shipwrecks contain treasure, though most hold something more valuable: clues about how our ancestors lived and traveled.

As a verb, to shipwreck means to cause a ship to be destroyed at sea, or to be destroyed in this way. The word can also describe a person whose plans have fallen apart completely. If someone's carefully organized party gets shipwrecked by bad weather and canceled plans, everything they hoped for has been ruined. When you say a project was shipwrecked, you mean it failed dramatically, like a vessel smashed against rocks with no hope of rescue.