The open ocean is a notoriously unpredictable and dangerous place, where even experienced sailors have been thrown off course by violent storms or lost to towering waves. While most wrecked ships eventually turn up – either washed ashore in ruins or abandoned at sea – some disappear without a trace, their fates still unknown. From lost liners and ghostly galleons to the USS Cyclops, which vanished in the Bermuda Triangle over a century ago, these are the baffling stories of ships that seemingly disappeared into thin air.

Click through this gallery to discover the ships that disappeared without a trace...