About
A Registry Built on Cited Evidence
Atlas & Helm is a private commemorative registry. Each entry is a researched record of a documented shipwreck, compiled from archival, museum and government sources. For every vessel we record who built it, what it carried, how it was lost, and what remains of it today — with the source of each claim stated on the page.
Research Standards
- Nothing is invented. Where a fact is not established in the sources, the record says so. We do not estimate a tonnage, a position or a casualty figure to fill a gap.
- Conflicts are shown, not resolved silently. When credible sources disagree, both figures appear with their sources.
- Confidence is stated. Every record carries an overall confidence assessment, and individual fields carry their own where the evidence is uneven.
- Positions are qualified. Coordinates are marked as surveyed, charted, reported, approximate, or general area only.
- Sources are ranked. Government agencies, state archaeology programmes, naval records, universities and museums are preferred over secondary compilations.
Which Vessels Can Be Registered
Most civilian vessels in the registry are open to a single Captain of record. Naval and military vessels are recorded as historical listings only and are never available for registration. Some records are held in the Atlas & Helm Collection and are not offered. Where a loss involved great loss of life, we may record the vessel for the historical record alone.
What a Registration Is
A registration enters a name of your choosing as the Captain of record for one wreck, assigns a registry number in sequence, and issues an archival certificate. This registration is commemorative only and conveys no ownership, salvage, access, navigation, diving, archaeological, governmental, or other legal rights. Atlas & Helm is not a diving organisation and does not direct visitors to wreck sites.
Found something we have wrong? Every record carries a correction form, and you can suggest a shipwreck for research.
