Imagine you are in a small, metal, airtight compartment in a submarine stuck on the bottom of the ocean.

All around you, you can hear the metal groaning, rushing water, and knocks in the hall from the rescue crew trying to free you.

At the same time, you and the men around you are perfectly silent, forbidden from talking so that you don't run out of air before the rescuers get to you.

This is exactly what happened to the crew of a military sub in 1953, and this is their

horrifying story.

Maritime history. Maritime history recorded over centuries and even millennia of sailing has produced some

of the most compelling tales of victory and equally horrible moments of tragedy on the seas.

Throughout that history, fishermen, explorers, traders, and natal personnel have either conquered

the seas or met their end in the world's unforgiving oceans.

And regardless of what walk of life they come from, sailors of all eras around the planet

seem to share one common trait, and that's a belief in luck.

Sailors are historically known to be a superstitious bunch. In fact, you're not likely to find

too many groups of people with as many superstitious beliefs as those who have spent significant time at sea.

These beliefs range from the outlandish to the downright ridiculous, but no matter how irrational

a superstition may seem to those on the outside, a ritualistic adherence to them meant

the difference between life and death in the minds of many sailors.

Something is simple as stepping aboard a ship with your left foot or using the words drown

or peg what sea can supposedly bring bad luck to a vessel.

Meanwhile, good luck supposedly comes to the sailors who have tattoos, own a black cat, or her throw an old pair of shoes over board.

Whatever the case, no matter the habit, routine, or practice, the goal is to ward off bad luck at sea,

but unfortunately for those who find themselves on a ship doomed from the start, there just

isn't enough good luck in the world to keep it from eventually running out.

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