(CNN) The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is one of the most extensive in history. And while the airliner is still to be found, researchers looking for it have stumbled upon the wreckage of two ships that disappeared in the late 1800s.

Researchers can't conclusively identify the ships -- one, an iron ship; the other, a wooden one -- because records from the era are incomplete. But they have found a few possible candidates.

Records suggest the wooden ship may have been the W. Gordon, which disappeared after leaving port in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1876 or the Mandala, which went missing on its voyage from Wales to the Maluku Islands in 1882.

The iron ship may be one of three vessel, but the best match appears to be the West Ridge, which was sailing from Liverpool to Mumbai in 1883 and never arrived.

Both ships probably had crews of between 15 and 30 men and they may have been carrying additional passengers, Anderson said.

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