watery grave

English

watery grave (usually uncountable, plural watery graves)

(idiomatic) Death (or loss of an inanimate object) via drowning (sinking) in a body of water.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:
  “Apparently that dog of hers joined you in the water.” “Yes, that's right, he took his dip with the rest of us. But what's that got to do with it?” “Wilbert Cream dived in and saved him.” “He could have got ashore perfectly well under his own steam. In fact, he was already on his way, doing what looked like an Australian crawl.” “That wouldn't occur to a pinhead like Phyllis. To her Wilbert Cream is the man who rescued her dachshund from a watery grave. So she's going to marry him.”

death or loss of object via sinking in water