What happened
On the morning of 31 January 1921 the Coast Guard spotted the five-masted schooner Carroll A. Deering, returning from Rio de Janeiro, on the notorious Diamond Shoals, known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” She had her sails set but a damaged rudder. Because of storms, rescuers reached her only several days later. There was nobody aboard – the log, navigation instruments, personal belongings and two lifeboats were missing, and food had been prepared in the galley for the next meal. Three days earlier the schooner had passed the Cape Lookout lightship; a man who did not look like an officer shouted through a megaphone that they had lost their anchors in a storm. The master was Willis Wormell, who had replaced the ailing William Merritt. No trace of any of the crew was ever found.
Witnesses
The crew of the Cape Lookout lightship (last contact, 28 January 1921) and the Coast Guard rescuers who boarded the ship.
Explanations and hypotheses
Five US government departments investigated, and the theories included a hurricane, mutiny (there had been conflict between the captain and the first mate), Prohibition-era rum runners, pirates and even Soviet agents. In April 1921 a bottle was found containing a supposed note about the ship's capture – the finder later admitted forging it. The investigation was closed in 1922 without conclusions. The wreck was dynamited, and the case entered the repertoire of the Bermuda Triangle legend.
Unexplained There is no convincing explanation.
Sources
- National Park Service (Cape Hatteras National Seashore) – The Ghost Ship of the Outer Banks
- U.S. Coast Guard – Ghostship Carroll A. Deering
- NCpedia – The Ghost Ship Carroll A. Deering: Still an Outer Banks Mystery
More: Wikipedia (en)