Ghost Map

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Apparitions

Ghost ships

The Flying Dutchman, doomed never to make port until the end of time, is the most famous ghost of the sea but not the only one. For centuries sailors told of ships burning on the horizon and tall ships vanishing into the fog. Alongside the legends there are entirely real ghost ships: vessels found without a crew, with tables laid and cargo untouched, and others that drifted across the oceans for decades. Some mysteries have been solved, others still wait.

cases
9
years
1738–2026

Unexplained: 4 Disputed: 1 Legend: 3 Explained: 1

  1. 18th century

    1. 1738 Ghost ships · Legend The Burning Ghost Ship of Block Island Sandy Point, Block Island, Rhode Island, United States Off Block Island people reported a sailing ship in flames – the ghost of an emigrant ship that ran aground there in 1738.
    2. 1786–present Ghost ships · Unexplained The Burning Ghost Ship of the Northumberland Strait Northumberland Strait, between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, Canada Since the 18th century, coastal residents have reported a three-masted ship that bursts into flames on the horizon and vanishes when anyone tries to reach it.

  2. 19th century

    1. 1872 Ghost ships · Unexplained Mary Celeste – the Ship Without a Crew Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Portugal The crew of the brigantine Dei Gratia found a seaworthy ship in the Atlantic, full of supplies and cargo – but without a living soul aboard.
    2. 1881 Ghost ships · Unexplained The Flying Dutchman in a Future King's Journal Waters off the south-eastern coast of Australia “At 4 a.m. the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows,” reads the cruise journal of the princes, including the future King George V. Thirteen people saw the ship.
    3. 1886 Ghost ships · Disputed The Phantom Canoe of Lake Tarawera Lake Tarawera, near Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand Eleven days before Mount Tarawera erupted, tourists and Māori guides saw a war canoe on the lake that no one had ever seen before.
    4. c. 1896–present Ghost ships · Legend Caleuche – the Shining Ship of Chiloé Channels of the Chiloé Archipelago near Castro, Chile Fishermen on Chiloé tell of a brightly lit ship from which music and laughter drift across the water – and which vanishes as soon as anyone comes near.

  3. 1920–1929

    1. 1921 Ghost ships · Unexplained The Carroll A. Deering on Diamond Shoals Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, United States A five-masted schooner ran aground off Cape Hatteras with her sails set and a meal prepared – and her crew vanished forever.

  4. 1930–1939

    1. 1931–1969 Ghost ships · Explained SS Baychimo – the Ghost Ship of the Arctic Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska, near Wainwright and Point Barrow, United States Abandoned in the ice in 1931, the cargo steamer drifted around the Arctic for 38 years – sighted by Inuit hunters, explorers and the crews of other ships.

  5. 1940–1949

    1. 1943–present Ghost ships · Legend USS Hornet – a Haunted Museum Ship Alameda, San Francisco Bay, California, United States The aircraft carrier that fought in the Pacific and recovered the Apollo 11 astronauts is now a museum. Volunteers say its old crew are still standing watch.