Nov 28 2011

The very name ‘Ghost Ship’ makes us recall the horror film released in 2002. Starring Gabriel Byrne and Julianna Margulies the film revolves around an Italian luxury ocean liner that mysteriously vanished in 1962 and, 40 years later it was rediscovered by a commercial salvage ship as it drifted aimlessly in the chilly Bering Sea.

Well, not talking much in length about the movie that actually gave us all the goosebumps. Coming back to the track, Ghost ships or phantom ships that make up a big part of the seafaring lore have generated lot of interest in lot many people.

Looking at the historical ships is quite frightening and appear mysterious leaving the spectators wondering as to what might have happened to the crew members and the passenger. Drowned, disappeared in mysterious conditions and found after decades, these ships are actually horrifying.

A ghost ship is a supposedly haunted or ghostly vessel found adrift with their entire crew either missing or dead. If you are the one who has curiosity of reading about such Ghost Ships, then scroll down as we have listed below ten most famous ghost ships that continue to provoke speculation and mystery leaving the spectators horrified and amazed.

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Flying Dutchman

Flying Dutchman is probably the most famous Ghost Ship that has been popularized by ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’. The Flying Dutchman refers to the Captain of the vessel and not just the vessel itself.

Located off the Cape of Good Hope, The Captain of the vessel, Hendrick Van Der Decken while voyaging around the Cape of Good Hope with a final destination of Amsterdam met a terrible storm. Van Der Decken refused to turn the ship around despite the pleas of the crew. As a result, monstrous waves pummeled the vessel while the captain sang obscene songs, drank beer and smoked his pipe. Several of the crew mutinied. There have been many sightings of The Flying Dutchman often once at Muizenberg, in 1939 and in 1941 when a crowd at Glencairn beach saw the ship with wind-filled sails that vanished just as it was about to crash onto the rocks.

Lady Lovibond

The Lady Lovibond was a schooner that was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, off the Kent coast of south-east England on 13 February 1748 and is said to reappear there every fifty years as a ghost ship.

Carrol A. Deering

The Carrol A Deering was a 5 mast Schooner built in 1911 with her final voyage found sailing from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on December 2nd, 1920. After leaving Rio, the Deering stopped in Barbados for supplies. Here, the First Mate, McLennan got drunk and accepted his inability to navigate the ship. The Vessel was not sighted until January 28th, 1921. On January 31st, the Deering was found aground on Diamond Shoals, off Cape Hatteras.

Octavius

Allegedly discovered West of Greenland by a whaler on October 11th, 1775, had the entire crew dead, frozen, the captain found in his cabin frozen at his desk with his pen in hand, accompanied by a dead woman, a child covered in a blanket and a sailor holding a tinderbox.

The Octavius left England for the Orient in 1761 when the ship became trapped in ice whilst traveling past Northern Alaska. The ship was presumed to have broken free of the ice in the winter months and the crew, dead from exposure, drifted with the winds for 13 years.

The Baychimo

Baychimo is a cargo steamer that was abandoned and left to drift the seas near Alaska for nearly forty years. Owned by the Hudson Bay Company, the Baychimo was launched in the early 1920s and used to trade pelts and furs with the Inuit in northern Canada. In the year 1931, the Baychimo became trapped in pack ice near Alaska was made break free and its crew were eventually airlifted out of the area to safety. It was later abandoned by Hudson Bay Company, but the Baychimo managed to stay afloat and for the next 38 years and remained adrift in the waters off Alaska. The Baychimo was last sighted in 1969 frozen in the ice off of Alaska, since then it has disappeared and is p is believed to have sunk in the intervening years, but recently a number of expeditions have been launched in search of now nearly 80-year-old ghost ship.

Ourang Medan

In June, 1947, the officers of Dutch freighter, Ourang Medan were found dead lying. Possibly the whole crew was dead. Several members of the Ships’ Company including the Captain, were found dead along with the corpses on the Cargo Deck including a dog standing on all four legs, frozen and snarling into thin air. There was no survivor found on board. All bodies were found dead frozen, strangely there was no sign of wounds or injuries on any of the bodies. The vessel sank to the depths of the ocean floor when the Silver Line members tried to board the vessel. Till date, the fate of the Ourang Medan and her crew remain a mystery.

Young Teazer

Built in 1813, the Young Teazer was an American Privateer Schooner preying on sea trade of the British Empire off the coast of Halifax. In June, 1813, the Teazer was chased by the Nova Scotian Privateer Brig Sir John Sherbrooke and Teazer escaped into the Fog. Shortly after, HMS La Hogue, a 74-gunned third rate ship of the line, pursued the Schooner as she was reportedly cornered in Mahone Bay. Some time later the Young Teazer reemerged from the depths as a fiery spectral ship and in the following year on June 27th, people of Mahone Bay saw an apparition sailing into the same water where the Young Teazer had been destroyed. Many report an overwhelming sense of fear when they see the phantom pirate ship. The Ghost Ship, known locally as ‘The Teazer Light’ can be seen on foggy nights, usually on the nights that fall within 3 days of a full moon.

MV Joyita

MV Joyita was a merchant vessel from which 25 passengers and crew mysteriously disappeared in the South Pacific in 1955. The 69-foot wooden ship was built in 1931 as a luxury yacht by the Wilmington Boat Works in Los Angeles for movie director Roland West. With 25 passengers and crew onboard, the Joyita disappeared in the South Pacific in 1955. Five weeks later it was spotted off-course partially submerged and missing four tons of cargo including medical supplies, timber, food and empty oil drums, the lifeboats were gone and blood-stained bandages were found. It is believed that the captain was injured or killed and still there is no explanation regarding the missing cargo.

Mary Celeste

Mary Celeste abandoned in 1872 was a merchant ship that was found in the Atlantic Ocean with its cargo and valuables completely untouched, packed with six months worth of food and water. Today, the fate of the Mary Celeste remains one of history’s most puzzling maritime mysteries.