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Hey everybody, it's Mikey Chen. I love going to the beach. Nice... soft... sands, sound of the waves crashing.
All really nice, but I'm kinda scared to actually go into the water because here's a thing:
When you're in the ocean you're literally on the bottom of the food chain.
I mean, forget about sharks. Anything could just come up and kill you.
A little fish could just swim up to you and just take a bite and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
The ocean could be a scary place not just for people swimming but also for ships.
If you love going on cruises, you love sailing. That's all good. I'm just trying to say that the ocean is unpredictable,
a lot of crazy things can happen.
You got pirates, crazy weather, the Bermuda Triangle and sometimes the entire crew just mysteriously disappear
or _ on timely death, leaving an empty ship or ghost ship behind.
So here are some of the creepiest ghost ships to have ever sailed the high seas.
Some may just be legends; some may be haunted, and some could still be out there.
#1 - The Mary Celeste
On December 4th, 1872, the Mary Celeste, an American merchant ship was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands
but here's where it gets spooky.
The ship's cargo and the valuables were completely untouched,
It is still stocked with six months worth of food and water but not a single passenger or crew member could be found
and they were never seen or heard from ever again.
The sails were in poor condition but the ship was still seaworthy having only set sail for about a month.
The ship's single lifeboat was also missing.
Theories in regards to the disappearing crew include explosion caused by alcohol fumes from the cargo,
seaquakes, waterspouts, the Kraken and of course, the Bermuda Triangle.
#2 - The Carroll A. Deering
On January 31st, 1921 a massive five-masted schooner was found grounded on Cape Hatteras.
The ship was deserted with all its 11 crew members missing.
Its sails were off and there's evidence that a meal was about to be prepared.
The cruise personal stuff were also gone along with the ship's navigational equipment, log books and the 2 life rafts.
The ship was scheduled to pick up coal at Norfolk in Virginia
and then go all the way down to Rio de Janeiro of Brazil to unload the coal, and then return home to Maine
It is after setting homebound from Barbados when things started going terribly wrong.
On January 29th, 1921 the ship was spotted by a lightship at Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
A lightship is an anchored ship which guides other ships passing by with its lights and radio communication.
The Captain of the lightship heard a crewman from the Carroll A. Deering hailing at him saying they had lost their anchors
The Carroll A. Deering however did not stop and sailed out of sight.
That was the last time anyone ever saw the ship sailing and in its normal condition.
Till this day, Mutiny, a plotted rebellion by the crew members and led by the first mate seems like the most acceptable theory.
and it was evident from the Captain's comments at Rio that he was not in good terms with the first mate and possibly with most other crewmen.
But of course there were no definitive evidence of this.
What also crazy is at the time of the crew's mysterious disappearance,
marine investigators discovered that nine other ships also disappeared without a trace in that same area at about the same time.
The information went all the way to the White House and prompted President Herbert Hoover to order a special investigation.
In spite of efforts by top government investigators, not only by the U.S. but by nations where many of the lost ships originated,
the fate of the Deering’s crew and the nine missing ships, was never learned.
#3 - The Ourang Medan
This is creepy. In 1947, two American ships navigating the straits of Malacca off the coast of Malaysia as well as British and Dutch listening posts,
claimed to have picked up a series of SOS distress signals.
The unknown ship’s message was
“All officers including Captain are dead, lying in chartroom and bridge.
Possibly whole crew dead.”
This communication was followed by a burst of indecipherable Morse code,
then finally came the message that simply stated, “I die...”
The men manning these posts managed to triangulate the source of these broadcasts
and figured out that they were likely emanating from a Dutch freighter known as the SS Ourang Medan,
which was navigating the straits of Malacca.
An American merchant ship called the Silver Star was closest to the presumed location of the Ourang Medan and rushed to help.
As the Silver Star caught sight of the ship,
the crew noticed that there was no sign of life on the deck.
and attempted to hail the crew was not successful.
That’s when the Captain of the Silver Star decided to assemble a boarding party.
As they boarded the Ourang Medan, they noticed that the decks of the vessel were completely filled with corpses of the crew.
What's more creepy was the fact that their eyes were wide open and their arms grasping at some unseen assailants,
their faces twisted in agony and horror.
Even the ship’s dog was dead.
Later one of the boarding crew member testified that
“Their frozen faces were upturned to the sun… staring, as if in fear…
the mouths were gaping open and the eyes staring.”
After boarding the ship, the American crew members claimed to have felt an extreme chill in the air
even though the temperature outside was a 110° Fahrenheit.
Also, while it's obvious that the crew of the ship suffered a horrific death,
there were no evidence of injury or foul play and the ship itself was not damaged.
The Captain of the Silver Star decided that they would tow the Ourang Medan back to port
but as soon as the tow line was attached, smoke started pouring out from the lower decks of the doomed ship
then the Ourang Medan just exploded and sink into the ocean.
There have been of course a number of theories proposed about what might have caused the death of the crew.
The most popular of these is that, the ship was illegally transporting some kind of nerve agent which was not properly secured.
Others claimed the ship was a victim to some kind of paranormal attack
and I'm here to tell you what really happened.
A look of fear and agony, everybody dead
ah... the ship was definitely carrying "the Ark of the Covenant"
You know, that's why when ghosts attack you, you just gotta close your eyes.
I mean, if I'm about to be killed by a ghost and I know for sure that I'm gonna die,
do I really want to be so scared that I pull my pants before I die?
If I'm gonna die, I wanna die with clean pants. So remember! When ghosts attack and you're pretty sure you're gonna die,
just close your eyes so either you die with clean pants or it's the Ark of the Covenant and you're gonna be spared, so win-win.
#4 - The Octavius
The Octavius was allegedly discovered West of Greenland by a whaling ship on October 11th, 1775.
Crewmembers of the whaling ship boarded the Octavius and discovered that the entire crew froze to death.
The Captain was found in his cabin, frozen at his desk while writing in his log
The boarding party freaked out so much they grabbed the log and quickly left the ship
but in their haste, they only grabbed the first and last page of the log and the rest was frozen on the desk.
The partly complete entry in the log was dated 1762, meaning the ship had been in the state they discovered it for 13 years.
The Octavius had left England in 1761 and was doomed when the Captain decided to take the much shorter
but unconquered route of the North West Passage.
It is believed the ship became trapped in ice whilst traveling past Northern Alaska.
The discovery of the ship meant that the Octavius was the first ship to navigate the North West Passage.
The ship was presumed to have later broken free of the ice and drifted for 13 years until the discovery in Greenland.
After that encounter though, the Octavius was never seen again.
And finally #5 - The Flying Dutchman
This is arguably the most famous ghost ship of them all.
This ship is said to haunt the waters near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
Contrary to popular belief, the term Flying Dutchman actually refers to the Captain not the ship.
There are several variations of the story but the most famous one is that the ship's Captain, Hendrick Vanderdecken,
who lived in the 17th century and served with the Dutch East India Company, encountered a storm off the Cape of Good Hope,
Legend states that a very stubborn Dutch sea Captain was struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope.
Because of bad weather and the rough currents, and when other vessels asked if he would take refuge in the bay
he laughed and shook his fist at the wind and swore he would round the Cape if it took him till doomsday.
His crew and passengers grew very nervous because the ship was about to break apart so they eventually try to staged a mutiny
but the Captain shot the leader of the rebellion and threw his body overboard.
As soon as the dead body hit the water, the clouds parted in a form appeared on the ship
and said to the Captain, 'You're a very Stubborn Man', to which the Captain replied ' I never asked for a peaceful voyage,
I never asked for anything, so clear off before I shoot you too'.
He then fired at the form but the bullet appears his hand instead.
Then the form said, "You're 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 moments peace."
Thus to this day, the Captain and his ghostly crew are said to sail the waters for all eternity, hoping one day to be forgiven.
There has been many sightings of the Flying Dutchman.
For example in 1939, dozens of people at the beach in Cape Town reported seeing the Flying Dutchman charging toward shore
under full sail, only to disappear just before hitting land.
Lighthouse keepers at the Cape Point Lighthouse are said to have frequently sighted the Flying Dutchman during storms.
You know why I don't like riding on ships?
I mean, I'm fine going on a boat ride near shore but I have no interest in sailing into the middle of the ocean.
And I always had this fear that if I ever went on a cruise,
I'm gonna fall off the ship in the middle of the night and just get left behind and it' d like those people in the movie opened waters.
That's literally my worst nightmare cuz I'm a good swimmer so I probably won't drown
so that means I'm gonna just get eaten by something.
You know at that point I hope I get eaten by a shark at least it would be kinda quick.
You know couple bites, done.
Alright guys, let me know how many of you out there had the same fear.
I mean, I don't think I'm crazy. I think this is a legitimate fear.
Alright, thanks so much for watching everybody! See ya later.