how long do skeletons survive on shipwrecks?

It depends on the depth, take for instance The Empress of Ireland it is 130 ft deep, and divers can still see skeletons troughout the ship, as for deep wrecks there possibly still can be skeletons trapt in the holds, but if they are exposed there is not enough sunlight and calcium at those depths for them to survive. A good example brought up by username_hidden is the Mary Rose, the state of preservation was so good that one body still had hair and fingernails.

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RE:

how long do skeletons survive on shipwrecks?

have had a long interest in the history of shipwrecks but note that no documentaries mention skeletal remains when discussing material finds.

If underwater, the skeleton eventually disappears due to bacterial action. For instance, there were no skeletons remaining on the Titanic when they found it. In very rare cases, skeletons survived because they were originally not in contact with water and were somehow coated with something before being submerged.

Most likely the salt dissolves the bones after being in the water for a long period of time. In some cases, the bodies can actually be entombed inside the ship if they are inside of it. But the flesh would be eaten by bacteria and carrion feeders and after a while, the bones would dissolve.

Empress Of Ireland Human Remains

Very surprising. I was thinking that since bones are calcium-based and coral is calcium based, microorganisms or coral or mosses will grow around the bones. But that I'm not really sure. No evidence to support my theory.

Food-catch and eat fish Water- boil it and catch the steam Fire- use a lighter Going insane- try not to talk to the "people" you see Getting off the darn Island- make a fire or mabey a raft if you are on this island for too long.

It depends on the nature of the burial environment - things like the temperature, salinity and oxygen level of the water, the strength of underwater currents, the nature of the sea bed (rocky, sandy, muddy) and so forth.

One shipwreck which did contain human remains was the Mary Rose (sank 1545 AD)

http://www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk/issue6/Mali...