Everyone loves a good shipwreck tale.

Stories about the White Star liner Titanic found off Newfoundland or the Lusitania sunk by a German torpedo off Southern Ireland — these massive tombs stir the imagination.

But not many shipwrecks have been cataloged in the Pacific, much less around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where treacherous waters have seized countless fishing and whaling vessels.

For the past four years, though, researchers have found about a dozen sites off the northern atolls — not quite the 120 potential vessels and aircrafts recorded lost in these waters.

This summer, archaeologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made two notable discoveries at Kure Atoll, once known as Ocean Island, the most northwestern atoll in the chain.

They found remains of the paddlewheel gunboat USS Saginaw, which sank in 1870, and the remains of the Dunottar Castle, a 258-foot, three-masted British sailing ship reported lost in 1886.

These wreck sites, along with artifacts from previous excavations, will be the topic of a presentation at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Hawai'i Maritime Center.

While it's the history of these vessels and their crews that interest most people, there is a larger purpose for uncovering these lost ships.

"It seems like people love shipwreck stories — there's an exciting element to it," said Hans Van Tilburg, maritime heritage coordinator with the National Marine Sanctuary Program, who will give Friday's presentation along with NOAA colleague Kelly Gleason. "But this provides us an opportunity to talk about stewardship."

Who can resist a story like this: In 1870 the USS Saginaw, a fourth-rate gunboat, was on its way from Midway Atoll to San Francisco. The crew had spent six months on the barren island attempting to open a channel for steamships.

En route back home, however, Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Sicard set a course to Ocean Island to check for castaways. He expected to arrive after daybreak.

Though Sicard's navigation was correct, he was unaware of local currents. The ship hit a coral reef at about 3 a.m.

Five volunteers set sail for one of the main Hawaiian Islands in the captain's modified gig, leaving the other 93 crewmembers behind. They were stranded on the reef for two months.

Of the five who left to get help, only one survived the perilous journey to Kaua'i. The remaining sailors were rescued 68 days after the shipwreck.

This survival story has become part of maritime lore.

"It's like a different world, almost," said Van Tilburg, who taught maritime history at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. "Their reality is very different from the terrestrial stuff."

Van Tilburg was on the research cruise this summer aboard the NOAA ship Hi'ialakai when the debris sites were discovered. Researchers did about three dives a day to these underwater sites in 25-foot waters seven days a week.

"It was fantastic," Van Tilburg said. "We were looking at Civil War machinery and equipment in exactly the spot where all this took place. It's just a slice of history."

The dangerous waters off the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have contributed to the large number of vessels lost. There are British whaling ships that were looking for routes to Japan and fishing vessels that got in over their heads.

In addition, there should be at least 27 sunken aircraft, shot down during the Battle of Midway. None has yet been found.

"These historical and archaeological sites tell us a little bit more about the past," Van Tilburg said. "But as much as we love the history, they are marine resources. It's all part of better understanding the ocean."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.