Ghost Ships

Paranormal Explanations?

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A ghost ship is a vessel that is recognised as having mysteriously expelled its passengers and crew, refusing to indicate their whereabouts.

Though theories such as piracy and mutiny are often used to calm those wary of paranormal explanations, it is hard not to conjure the supernatural or extraterrestrial content when contemplating some maritime mysteries, and none more so than those mentioned below.

Tricks of the mind can lead to suppositional speculation of what one would imagine might have happened. Supernatural eliments often lead to the assuption that something is true; when the mystery might not have happened like that at all.

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The "Mary Celeste"

Last Sighting: 5th November 1872. For one month the "Mary Celeste" was missing – merchants in Italy eagerly awaited their shipment of commercial alcohol, and the friends and family of the men, women and children aboard wondered what could have happened to their kin.

On 5th December 1872, the ship was found in near-perfect condition, drifting on the waves near the Strait of Gibraltar.

All contents of the ship were on board, including the cargo and the personal belongings of the passengers. Everything remained intact, except, very strangely, no passenger – dead or alive – could be found.

An investigation into the "Mary Celeste's" one-month disappearance uncovered interesting secrets about its origin. Researchers found that the ship had been renamed in order to dispel superstitions.

The ship, formerly named the "Amazon" was known to be haunted. Three captains of the "Amazon" died on board, and two other captains made grievous and unexplainable errors, crashing into other ships.

Her first trans-Atlantic crossing was also disastrous for her next captain, after she collided with another vessel in the English Channel near Dover, England. This resulted in the dismissal of the new captain.

One day, in the shipyard, the center of the "Amazon's" interior spontaneously caught fire. Several other near-disasters surrounded the "Amazon" prompting her to be sold and renamed.

After the famed change of name, the "Mary Celeste" continued to cause hardships for her owners and captains. Eventually, her 1885, owner, G. C. Parker, attempted to intentionally destroy the ship in order to win the insurance money.

The ever-stubborn and potentially haunted "Mary Celeste" refused to sink, despite violent steering and deadly flames, she stayed afloat, and he ended up out of pocket.

Mysterious Happenings

The "Mary Celeste" was an American brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned, with her only lifeboat missing, despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able seamen.

She was in a seaworthy condition and still under sail heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar. She had been at sea for a month and had over six months' worth of food and water on board.

Her cargo was virtually untouched and the personal belongings of passengers and crew were still in place, including valuables. The crew was never seen or heard from again.

Their disappearance is often cited as the greatest maritime mystery of all time. The fate of her crew has been the subject of much speculation.

Theories range from alcoholic fumes, to underwater earthquakes, to waterspouts, to paranormal explanations involving extraterrestrial life, unidentified flying objects, sea monsters, and the phenomenon of the Bermuda Triangle, although the "Mary Celeste" is not known to have sailed through the Bermuda Triangle area.

The "Mary Celeste" is often described as the typical ghost ship, since she was discovered derelict without any apparent explanation, and her name has become a synonym for similar occurrences.

The "Dei Gratia"

Sporadic bad weather had been reported in the Atlantic throughout October, although the "Dei Gratia" encountered none and her journey across the ocean in November was uneventful.

Just short of a month after leaving port, on December 5th 1872. at approximately 13:00, the Captain of the "Dei Gratia" John Johnson, sighted a ship about five miles (8 km) off their port bow through his spyglass. The position of the "Dei Gratia" was approximately some 600 miles west of Portugal.

Johnson's keen, experienced eyes detected almost at once that there was something strangely wrong with the other vessel. She was yawing slightly, and her sails did not look right, being slightly torn.

Johnson alerted his second officer, John Wright, who looked and had the same feelings about her. They informed the rest of the crew. Then as they moved closer, they could see the ship was the "Mary Celeste".

Captain Johnson wondered why the "Mary Celeste" had not already reached Italy, as she had a head start on his own ship. According to the account given by the crew of the "Dei Gratia" they approached to 400 yards from the "Mary Celeste" and cautiously observed her for two hours.

She was under sail, yet sailing erratically on a starboard tack, and slowly heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar. They concluded she was drifting after seeing no one at the helm or even on deck, though the ship was flying no distress signal.

Oliver Deveau, chief mate of the "Dei Gratia" boarded the "Mary Celeste. He reported he did not find anyone on board, and said that "the whole ship was a thoroughly wet mess".

There was only one operational pump, two apparently having been disassembled, with a lot of water between decks and three and a half feet (1.1 m) of water in the hold.

However, the ship was not sinking and was still seaworthy. All of the ship's papers were missing, except for the captain's logbook. The forehatch and the lazarette were both open, although the main hatch was sealed.

The ship's clock was not functioning, and the compass was destroyed; the sextant and marine chronometer were missing. As well as the only lifeboat on the Mary Celeste, a yawl located above the main hatch, was also missing.

The peak halyard, used to hoist the main sail, had disappeared. A rope, perhaps the peak's halyard, was found tied to the ship very strongly with the other end very frayed, it was trailing in the water behind the ship.

Popular stories of untouched breakfasts with still-warm cups of tea on the cabin table are untrue and most likely originated with fictionalized accounts of the incident. At the inquiry, Oliver Deveau stated that he saw no preparations for eating and there was nothing to eat or drink in the cabin.

Two men, Charles Augustus Anderson and Charles Lund, then boarded the "Mary Celeste". The cargo of 1,701 barrels of alcohol was reported to be in good order. However, when it was eventually unloaded in Genoa, nine barrels were found to be empty.

A six-months supply of uncontaminated food and fresh water was still aboard, and the crew's personal possessions and artifacts were left untouched, making a piracy raid seem extremely unlikely. It appeared the vessel had been abandoned in a hurry. There was no sign of a struggle, or any signs of violence.

The "Carroll A. Deering"

The "Carroll A. Deering" was a five-masted commercial schooner that was found run aground off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in 1921. Its crew was mysteriously missing.

The "Carroll A.Deering" is one of the most written-about maritime mysteries in history, with claims that it was a victim of the Bermuda Triangle, although the evidence points towards a mutiny or possibly piracy.

Last Sighting: 28th January 1921. On his return voyage from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Norfolk, Virginia, Captain William H. Merritt of the "Carroll A. Deering" fell ill and needed to disembark with his son, who doubled as the first mate.

They hired a replacement captain and mate, and sent their crew on its way under new direction. However, new captain, Wormell, and new first mate, McLellan, had a serious rift which led to the arrest of the latter.

The former accrued the wrath of the crew members when bad-mouthing them while drunk. The crew threatened to be mutinous under such anarchy.

The "Carrol A. Deering" never reached Norfolk, U.S.A. Instead it was found off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina completely abandoned – no crew, no crew personal effects, no lifeboats.

Some suggest possible causes such as mutiny, piracy, hurricanes, or rum runners. However, the United States government felt uncomfortable that several ships, from many nations, had disappeared or were found wrecked in this area – the Bermuda Triangle.

These occurrences were too suspicious and frequent to be explained away by traditional causes. The government thus launched five separate investigations under five different departments, but whatever they found that may have illuminated some paranormal activity, because it was hidden from the public.

Government Investigation

The following theories were considered by the U.S. Government in its investigation: Hurricanes: The US government, particularly the Weather Bureau, strongly advocated a series of vicious hurricanes raging in the Atlantic as the cause of the disappearances.

However, both the "Deering" and another ship the "Hewitt" were steaming away from the path of these storms. In any case, several authors, including Larry Kusche and Richard Winer, have pointed out that the state of the ship indicates an orderly rather than panicked evacuation.

Piracy: Captain O.W. Parker of the United States Marine Shipping Board certainly believed piracy responsible; he stated that, in his opinion, "Piracy without a doubt still exists as it has since the days of the Phoenicians".

Captain Wormell's widow was a particularly strong advocate of this theory. It was believed that a group of pirates were responsible for the various disappearances; however, no real evidence of this theory emerged, and no suspected pirates were ever caught.

The "S.S. Valencia"

The "S.S. Valencia" was an iron-hulled passenger steamer wrecked off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia in 1906. Built in 1882 by William Cramp and Sons, she was a 1,598 ton vessel, 252 feet (77 m) in length.

Some consider the wreck of the Valencia to be the worst maritime disaster on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, an area so treacherous it was known to mariners as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Last Sighting: 21st January 1906. The "S.S. Valencia" was traveling on a typical route on a cloudy dark night. Because no stars were shining, the sailors could not employ celestial navigation, and therefore had to rely on dead reckoning.

In their attempt to enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the sailors overshot the opening. The "S.S. Valencia" crashed on the rocks of the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, otherwise known as the Graveyard of the Pacific owing to its numerous shipwrecks.

The Graveyard of the Pacific's rugged coastline and with unpredictable weather (and possible supernatural players) have caused the destruction of over 2,000 vessels and claimed nearly a thousand lives.

As the crew members of the "s.S. Valencia" struggled to escape the sinking ship, they hastily deployed six lifeboats. In the chaos, they frantically lowered three full of men, but on the way down, each tipped, causing all the men to plunge into the water.

Three of the lifeboats were successfully set onto the water, but two subsequently capsized, and the other one was never seen again.

Two rescue ships set out to find the remaining sailors on the sinking "S.S. Valencia". When they came into view, the sailors jumped onto the only remaining life rafts, thinking they could reach the rescue ships.

However, the rescue ships turned around and steamed away, when they realized it would not be safe to approach the "S.S. Valencia". The crew members last drops of hope extinguished, the sailors died at sea.

The "s.S. Valencia's" dramatic end has made it the subject of several local rumours and ghost stories. Five months after the incident, a local fisherman claimed to have seen a lifeboat with eight skeletons in a nearby sea cave, but the party dispatched to investigate was unable to locate the cave.

In 1910, the Seattle Times reported that sailors claimed to have seen a phantom ship resembling the "S.S. Valencia" near Pachena Point.

The "MV Joyita"

The "MV Joyita" was a merchant vessel from which 25 passengers and crew mysteriously disappeared in the South Pacific in 1955.

Last Sighting: 3rd October 1955. The "MV Joyita" had a long life as a private yacht and then as a World War II ship, without ever experiencing problems.

In the mid 1950s it was employed as a cargo ship for copra, or dried coconut, in the South Pacific, and was set to sail a route from Samoa to the Tokelau Islands.

However, the ship never reached its destination and was instead found five weeks later, 600 miles away from anywhere it was supposed to be.

When the ship was discovered, searchers found the hull was completely sound and the ship was designed to be unsinkable – lined with cork and containing buoyant empty fuel drums.

The only sign of destruction was a break in a cable, which was suspiciously concealed with paint. On the upper deck of the "MV Joyita" a bag of medical equipment, including several bloody rags, was found.

None of the lifeboats remained on board, suggesting the crew had left. The crew's disappearance leads to much speculation. Even the most inexperienced crew members and ordinary passengers would know there is more risk to leave an afloat, though thwarted, ship than to remain on board.

Theories of mutiny and piracy abound, but these do not explain why the bodies were never found. Then there was the belief that the "Japanese did it."

Japanese And Piracy Theories

The Fiji Times and Herald quoted at the time from an "impeccable source" to the effect that the "Joyita" had passed through a fleet of Japanese fishing boats during its trip and "had observed something the Japanese did not want them to see."

Others theorize that modern-day sea pirates attacked the vessel, killed the 25 passengers and crew (and cast their bodies into the ocean), and stole the missing four tons of cargo.

The Daily Telegraph theorised that some still-active Japanese forces from World War II, were to blame for the disappearances, operating from an isolated island base.

There was still strong anti-Japanese feeling in parts of the Pacific, and in Fiji there was specific resentment of Japan being allowed to operate fishing fleets in local waters.

Such theories suddenly gained credence when men clearing the "Joyita" found knives stamped 'Made in Japan'. However, tests on the knives proved negative and it turned out the knives were old and broken-quite possibly left on board from when the "Joyita" was used for fishing in the late 1940s.

The "Baychimo"

Few ghost ships provide as many warnings of their curse as the "Baychimo" a Swedish cargo steamer which was abandoned due to un-sea-worthiness, and re-boarded several times due to the ship's resilience.

Each time the ship was thought to be unsafe, it soon healed itself and tricked passengers to come aboard, only for them to have to flee the ship again.

The Baychimo, a steel 1,322 ton cargo steamer that was built in 1914, in Sweden, used to trade with Inuit settelements in Canada.

On October 1st 1931, the vessel became trapped in pack ice. The crew briefly abandoned ship, returning two days later when it broke free of ice. It became mired again on October 8th and the Hudson's Bay Company sent aircraft to retrieve the crew.

However 15 of the 22 crew remained behind, intending to wait out the winter. In November a blizzard struck, after which there was no sign of the ship. The skipper assumed it had sunk.

Over the following months however, there were various sightings by Inuit hunters. While the crew managed to retrieve the most valuable furs on the vessel before abandoning it, it did not sink.

Over the next several decades there were numerous sightings. The last recorded sighting was by a group of Inuit in 1969, 38 years after she was abandoned. Her fate is unknown.

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Bermuda Triangle

After this incident, the "Baychimo" was seen countless times at sea and was frequently boarded by sailors thinking they could tame her. Always, however, they were driven away by bad weather or erratically malfunctioning equipment.

The "Baychimo" was left empty at sea where it floated around for 38-years before being seen again in 1969. The ship is likely still drifting on the waves, and is waiting to be discovered all over again.

While many point to hurricanes, glaciers, and the Bermuda Triangle as the primary culprits for disasters on sea voyages, ghost ships suggest that the voyage itself can cause death and loss to its passengers.

Ships then become alive in a new sense – not drifting passively on waves, but controlling the waters; not subserviently carrying cargo to a destination, but jealously guarding their goods.

The ghost ship may not be subject to supernatural or alien manipulation; instead she may be the victim of the autonomous, and sometimes spiteful, spirit of the seas.

Unexplained Shipping Incidents

Both Real And Legendary

"H.M.S. Sappho"

A royal Navy brig that went missing off the Australian coast in 1857-8. It was part of a British squadron patrolling the coast of West Africa to suppress the slave trade.

Following a diplomatic incident with an American ship, it was sent to Australia. It sailed under Commander Moresby, but failed to arrive.

Late in 1858, rumours began spreading in England it had been wrecked on an island off the coast of Australia, that some had been rescued and Captain Moresby had gone insane.

Naval authorities believe it most likely hit the rocks and islets in Bass Strait or she capsized during severe gales.

"USS Cyclops"

The loss of the Proteus-class US Navy ship the 306 crew and passengers without a trace sometime after March 4th 1918, remains the single largest loss of life in US Naval history not directly involving combat.

The ship's fate still remains a mystery, with no wreckage ever found. After making an unscheduled stop in Barbados for supplies, "Cyclops" set out for Baltimore, and was sighted on March 9th but was then never seen or heard from again.

Its disappearance is often credited to the Bermuda Triangle.

"The Flying Dutchman"

The most famous of ghost vessels, apparently seen off the Cape of Good Hope. According to folklore, it is a ghost ship that can never go home, doomed to sail the oceans forever.

According to folklore, the captain, facing down a mutiny, killed the leader and threw him overboard. Stormy clouds parted and a shadowy figure appeared condemning the ship to an eternity on the seas.

It is usually spotted from afar, sometimes with a ghostly light. The story of the Flying Dutchman was turned into an opera, while more recently, the ship was used in The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, where it was captained by Davy Jones, played by Bill Nighy.

"Lady Lovibond"

Said to have been wrecked on February 13th 1748, and reappeared off the Kent coast every 50 years. The ship was at sea because her captain, Simon Peel had just been married and was celebrating.

According to legend, one of the crew, some say the helmsman, became smitten with the captain's new bride, Annetta, and flew into a jealous rage.

He murdered the captain and steered the ship onto the treacherous Goodwin Sands, killing everyone aboard. It is said the ship is seen on the anniversary of the disaster.

"The Jenny"

A British schooner that became frozen in an ice-barrier of the Drake Passage in 1823, only to be rediscovered years later by a whaling ship, the crew onboard preserved by the Antarctic cold.

The crew of the whaler discovered the last entry in the captain's log, reading: May 4th 1823. No food for 71 days. I am the only one left alive.

"Octavius"

A ghost ship, probably legendary and not actual. Found west of Greenland by the a whaler in 1775, the boarding party found the entire crew below deck, dead, frozen and almost perfectly preserved, much like The Jenny.

The captain's body was supposedly still at the table in his cabin, pen in hand. Supposedly the vessel had left England for the Orient in 1761, it had successfully arrived at its destination the following year.

The captain then gambled on a return, with the unfortunate result of being trapped in sea ice north of Alaska. The ship was never seen again after its encounter with the whaler.

"Arctic Sea"

The "Arctic Sea" cargo ship that disappeared for almost a month in the summer of 2009, was carrying weapons to Iran and was being tracked by Mossad, the Israeli security service, according to reports.

Officially the "Arctic Sea" was carrying timber her documents show. But mystery has surrounded the ship?

Her timber, said to be worth worth £1.3 million loaded in Finland and going to Algeria, since its crew first reported a boarding in Swedish waters on 24th July, after a raid by 10 armed English-speaking men posing as anti-narcotics police officers.

It was eventually recovered off the coast of west Africa on 17th August. Russia has since charged eight men from Estonia, Latvia and Russia with kidnapping and piracy.

Russian officials have said the alleged pirates demanded a $1.5 million ransom but speculation has grown that the freighter was carrying contraband cargo.

Israeli and Russian security sources have questioned the Kremlin's official explanation, instead arguing that the ship was carrying S-300 missiles, Russia's most advanced anti- aircraft weapon, while undergoing repairs in the Russian port of Kaliningrad, a notorious Baltic smuggling base.

According to reports, Mossad is said to have briefed the Russian government that the shipment had been sold by former military officers linked to the black market, and Russia then dispatched a naval rescue mission.

Those who believe Mossad was involved point to a visit to Moscow by Shimon Peres, Israel's president, the day after the "Arctic Sea" was recovered.

Crew members of the "Arctic Sea" have since told Russian news reporters that they have been told not to disclose "state secrets" further fuelling the speculation.

A Russian military source told The Sunday Times: “The official version is ridiculous and was given to allow the Kremlin to save face.

“I’ve spoken to people close to the investigation and they’ve pretty much confirmed Mossad’s involvement. It’s laughable to believe all this fuss was over a load of timber. I’m not alone in believing that it was carrying weapons to Iran.”

Another theory is that Mossad concocted the alleged hijacking by setting up a criminal gang, who were unlikely to have known anything about a secret cargo, instead blocking the route to Iran by the mounting media interest.

“Once the news of the hijack broke, the game was up for the arms dealers. The Russians had to act," said a former Russian army officer. "That’s why I don’t rule out Mossad being behind the hijacking.

It stopped the shipment and gave the Kremlin a way out so that it can now claim it mounted a brilliant rescue mission.” As well as Russia facing potential embarrassment, had the missiles reached Iran, it would have significantly strengthened the Islamic republic's air defences.

Israeli defence sources told the newspaper that in the event of an attack on Iran's nuclear installations, S-300 missiles would increase Israeli casualties by 50 per cent.

Earlier this week Mikhail Voitenjo, editor of Russia's online Maritime Bulletin, told The Sunday Telegraph he feared for his life after a warning call from a "cold official voice" thought to be an intelligence agent after he speculated the "Arctic Sea" was smuggling weapons.

Mr Voitenjo, who has since fled the country, said: "Very important government people got involved in this business. I ran away because I was afraid."

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