Ghost ships, or phantom ships, are ships that have washed ashore empty or with no living crew aboard, under mysterious and eerie circumstances. Passed down by sailors and fishermen throughout the years, the ghost ships make up a big part of the seafaring lores.
Whether the stories of ghost ships are real or just figments of imagination, here are the 10 most famous ghost ships that continue to provoke our curiosity in seafaring lores and legends.
10. The Flying Dutchman
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The Flying Dutchman was famously captained by Captain Van Der Decken who wanted to establish a settlement near the Cape of Good Hope. When the ship rounded the cape, a horrible storm commenced and the ship was in danger of capsizing.
But even still against the wishes of his crew, the captain forced them to go ahead even if it meant they sail ‘until doomsday’. Now it’s said that the ghosts of the crew and ship are cursed to sail the waters for the rest of time.
Hundreds of fishermen have said that they have seen it around the Cape of Good Hope during terrible weather conditions. For ships that happen to see it while at sea, it’s called the harbinger of death and destruction.
9. Carroll A. Deering
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After passing Cape Lookout in North Carolina in January 1921, the five-man cargo ship became wrecked in mysterious circumstances with her crew and log book missing, nowhere to be found.
The mystery of the ship’s final voyage is one of the most discussed and written about maritime mysteries of all time. Weirdly, when the North Carolina Cape Lookout Lightship spotted the ship a few days before she was found abandoned.
The captain reported a thin man with reddish hair and a foreign accent acting strangely, along with oddly placed crew members. What happened to these people over the next few days remains a mystery.
It is suspected that the ship may have been a victim of mutiny as it had been reported the crew didn’t very well like the captain. Others claim she was the victim of the Bermuda Triangle.
Five US departments of government ran investigations as the Carroll A. Deering was one of several ships to be wrecked or missing in a short period. No information was discovered to explain the wreck and the missing crew.
8. MV Joyita
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The MV Joyita was found in 1955 with no crew and very few clues as to where everyone went. The dinghy and the log book were all missing, there is a chance that the crew took off, and the ship was also damaged so this supports the theory that the crew would abandon the ship.
But what makes this one so strange is that the people on board didn’t need to bail on the Joyita. The boat was lined with cork and had fuel containers on board.
With all these extremely buoyant items the ship was pretty much unsinkable, so why did the crew abandon ship? And what happened to them? There were also some blood-covered rags on boards meaning that they could have been attacked by pirates or injured by a storm.
7. Zebrina
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Zebrina was a transport vessel for over 40 years, she was built in 1873 and in 1917 she set sail through the south of France probably to transport a bunch of croissants.
Well for whatever reason Zebrina was found floating around in the south of France with no crew, no captain, and no explanation as to why everyone was gone, the ship was in pretty good condition so it wouldn’t make sense that everyone just got up and left.
The theory is that a German U-boat snuck up on them and then took the whole crew as prisoners, but other people think that the crew is still out there sailing around on a ghost boat.
6. Lady Lovibond
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I feel like this one could be the premise of a Spanish medieval telenovela it’s a mixture of hate jealousy rage and most importantly love. In 1748 the day before Valentine’s Day naturally, a captain set assail to celebrate his wedding.
His friend was also on board the ship to celebrate but he was far from enjoying it. He too was in love with the captain’s wife and out of hatred he steered the ship into the Goodwin Sands thus sinking the ship and killing everyone aboard.
Ever since the incident the ship is seen every 50 years sailing near the Kent area. It has been seen in 1798, 1848, 1898, and 1948, a lot of boats even sent out rescuers thinking it was a real ship but they just couldn’t find the ship the closer they got.
5. The Octavius
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This ship was found off the coast of Greenland in 1775, it was just drifting along because the boarding party found the entire crew of 28 people dead, frozen and perfectly preserved.
One of the creepiest parts of the whole thing is the captain. He froze to death at his desk trying to fill out a captain’s log from 1762. The last entry suggested that they had been lost for 13 years. Creepy!
4. Mary Celeste
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The Mary Celeste is one of the most discussed abandoned ghost ships of all time and is a key player in maritime folklore. The real-life story goes that in November 1872, the merchant ship set sail from New York.
A month later, the boat was found near the Azores Islands, completely abandoned but in a sea-worthy condition – ruling out bad weather playing a role in the mystery.
The ship was filled with a cargo of alcohol and had food and water for six months, which seemed to rule out pirates. Inside the boat, there were no signs of struggle or affray.
The lifeboat was missing and the crew were never seen again, including the revered Captain Briggs and his family. Mutiny was considered a possibility but seemed unlikely given the condition of the ship.
Other theories included foul play by a giant squid and the Bermuda Triangle curse of paranormal intervention. The case of Mary Celeste was so intriguing at the time that it has frequently been mentioned in literature and pop culture.
3. SS Ourang Medan
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In 1947 a cargo ship near the coast of Indonesia sent out a distress call with the words “All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead.” but before help even arrived a second message was sent in with two words ‘i die’.
Which is spooky as hell. I wouldn’t even know how to help if I was on the receiving end of that. When the rescue workers finally boarded the ship they found all crewmembers dead with their arms outstretched and their bodies contorted as if they froze fighting something off.
But there was no sign of death. None of the bodies had any trauma or injuries on them they were just dead. While the rescue workers were aboard the engine room caught fire so they had to abandon the ship and let it sink along with the possibility of an autopsy investigation.
However, even that version of the story was debated because a year later a newspaper article came out stating a survivor said the crew died because the cargo which was sulphuric acid had leaked.
What makes this even shadier is that the SS Ourang Medan couldn’t be found in any registry. So did this even happen at all? Or was it all just pure fabrication? Let me know your thoughts.
2. SS Valencia
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The SS Valencia was a steamer ship that was found wrecked off Vancouver Island in BC, Canada in 1906. The ship struck a reef in bad weather. The crew noticed a large gash in the hull and ordered the ship to run aground to prevent her sinking.
Six out of seven lifeboats were immediately deployed against the captain’s orders. Three flipped while being lowered, two capsized when in the water and one disappeared.
Of the 56 crew and 108 passengers, 136 people died as rescue teams struggled to get to the wreck. Eventually, Valencia became the source of numerous ghost ship stories as sailors would often claim they could see the specter of the steamer drifting near the reef.
27 years after the sinking of the Valencia, in a bizarre twist, one of its life rafts was found floating near Barkley Sound. The “ghost raft” was said to be in remarkable condition, and even still had most of its original coat of paint. One of the creepiest ghost ships around.
1. SV Resolven
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The Resolven was a Welsh Merchant Ship that was found abandoned between islands in Newfoundland by crew of the HMS Mallard in August 1884.
The drifting ship was in fine condition and initially, the Mallard signaled to see if the crew were okay. When they didn’t get a response, they boarded the ship to find the gallery fire was lit and food had been laid on the tables.
The only thing was that there was no one there to eat it – the ship had been completely abandoned. The ship’s lifeboat was gone, as was the captain’s stash of gold, lending some clues as to what may have happened.
The most agreed narrative is that the crew mutinied, however, that doesn’t explain why the stove was lit and food was laid out. The seven crew and four passengers were never found, nor was any trace of the missing lifeboat.
So which lore among these ghost ships intrigued you the most? Comment below.
