From the
day man first figured out how to travel on the water, it's been an accepted
fact that some ships would leave port and never return. On occasion these lost ships are seen again and again, often minus their crew,
seemingly traveling the seas randomly.
These wandering vessels are often referred to as ghost ships.
MARY CELESTE
One of the
most famous of the ghost ships, the Mary
Celeste was a brigantine with a history of minor accidents, crew illnesses,
and embarrassing mishaps. Suspicious
sailors considered it an unlucky ship.
Those sailors were proven right when the ship was found on December 4,
1872, drifting unmanned in the middle of the Atlantic approximately 600 miles
from the nearest port.
A popular
enhancement to the story, but not true, says the boarding party found still
warm and untouched meals when they entered the galley. In reality, they found nothing amiss except
some slight damage to the sails and pumps and the loss or destruction of much
of the ship's navigational equipment and documentation. And the ship's only lifeboat was gone. The captain's intact log book gave no hint of
what happened. When the vessel was
finally steered into Gibraltar, its entire cargo was intact except for 9
mysteriously empty barrels that had contained alcohol.
Modern
explanations have fixed on those 9 barrels.
It's theorized that the porous wood allowed the alcohol to evaporate,
filling the hold with noxious and explosive vapors. Fearing an explosion and fire, everyone
evacuated the ship in panic.
SS BAYCHIMO
There
isn't any mystery concerning the initial loss of the Baychimo, but its continual reappearance is a mystery of its
own. In 1931, the Baychimo became irretrievably mired in pack ice off the coast of
Alaska where the crew was able to walk to safety after determining the ship was
a write off. But that didn't stop it
from being seen again and again over the next 38 years. Every attempt by salvage crews to board her
were thwarted by freak storms and encroaching ice floes. The last confirmed sighting was from the air
in 1969 showing the wandering ship again mired in heavy pack ice. To this day the location of the Baychimo is unknown.
SCHOONER JENNY
The Antarctic
Circle is known as a dangerous place to sail, spawning many tales of death and
tragedy. One of the most disturbing is
the story of the schooner Jenny. On September 22, 1860, the crew of the whaler
Hope sighted a battered ship sailing
out from a gap between 2 icebergs with 7 men appearing to be standing at
attention on the main deck. As the Hope drew closer, its crew saw that the
men were actually frozen solid. When
they boarded the schooner, the Hope's
captain found the Jenny's captain
apparently in the middle of writing a log entry. He, too, was frozen solid. The last entry in the log book was dated May
4, 1823—almost 40 years earlier.
BOUVET ISLAND ROWBOAT
Bouvet
Island is one of the most isolated places on the face of the planet. The closest land of any kind is the
uninhabited coast of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica, 1100 miles away. It's not on any shipping routes, has no
interesting or precious resources, and its sole purpose today is the location of
a weather station on one of the few stretches of ground where boats can
land. In 1964 the British and South
African government went to Bouvet Island to establish a weather station. They found a 20 foot boat of a lifeboat or
whaler type, a single set of oars, a 40 gallon drum, and a "copper flotation
or buoyancy tank" that had been cut open for some unknown reason. No human remains or traces of habitation were
found. The life threatening weather and
aggressive wildlife allowed them only 45 minutes to determine if the area was
suitable for the weather station. The
worsening weather forced the crew to return to Cape Town. Two years later, a follow up expedition found
no trace of the rowboat or the damaged equipment.
LADY LOVIBOND
On
February 13, 1748, Simon Reed took his new bride, Annette, aboard his ship, Lady Lovibond. They were going on a cruise to Portugal. At the time, it was considered bad luck to
bring a woman on a ship. Unfortunately
for all on board, the first mate was in love with the captain's wife. In a fit of jealous rage, he took control of
the wheel and steered the Lovibond towards the notorious Goodwin Sands
resulting in the death of everyone onboard.
Fifty years later to the day, in 1798, 2 separate ships saw a phantom
ship sailing the Goodwin Sands. Then on February 13, 1848, another 50 years
later, local fisherman saw a vessel wreck in the area and lifeboats were sent
to investigate, but no sign could be found of a ship on the sands. In 1948, another 50 year increment, the Lovibond
was seen again and was described as having an eerie green glow.
And
finally, probably the most famous ghost ship of all…
THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
What most
people probably didn't know (and I'm in that group) was that The Flying Dutchman refers to the
captain of the vessel and not to the ship itself. Several ghost ships have been referred to as The Flying Dutchman, but there was one
original candidate.
As the
story goes: Captain Hendrick Van Der
Decken was sailing around the Cape of Good Hope headed for Amsterdam. Even though a terrible storm raged around
them, the captain refused to turn back despite the pleadings of the frightened
crew. As monstrous waves attacked the
ship, the captain passed the time by singing obscene songs, drinking beer, and
smoking his pipe. Finally, out of
desperation, some of the crew mutinied.
The captain, in a drunken stupor, shot the leader and threw his body
overboard. At that time, the clouds
overhead parted and a booming voice came down from the heavens. "You're a
very stubborn man."
The captain
replied, "I never asked for a peaceful voyage. I never asked for anything, so clear off
before I shoot you, too." Van Der
Decken aimed his pistol toward the sky but before he could fire, the pistol
exploded in his hand.
"You
are condemned to sail the oceans for eternity, with a ghostly crew of dead men,
bringing death to all who sight your spectral ship and to never make port or
know a moment's peace. Furthermore, gall
shall be your drink, and red hot iron your meat."
Since that
time there have been numerous sightings of The
Flying Dutchman, quite often by reputable and experienced seamen including
Prince George of Wales and his brother, Prince Albert Victor of Wales.
2 comments:
What an interesting post! It is creepy, though, to think of ships sailing aimlessly around the oceans. I don’t think I’d want to see one.
Lucy: It's not just ships from the past. Several years ago (maybe 10 years?) when the huge tsunami wrecked havoc with Japan, there was a large barge and a huge chunk of a dock that drifted all the way across the Pacific Ocean and ended up beached on the west coast of North America.
Thanks for your comment.
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