"GHOSTS AT SEA" > Page 1, 2
The Queen Mary
One of the most famous of all cruise ships, the Queen
Mary - now a hotel and tourist attraction - is said to be host to several
ghosts. One may be the spirit of John Pedder, a 17-year-old crewman who was
crushed to death by a watertight door in 1966 during a routine drill.
Unexplained knocking has been heard around this door, and a tour guide reported
that she saw a darkly dressed figure as she was leaving the area where Pedder
had been killed. She saw his face and recognized that it was Pedder from his
photographs. A mysterious woman in white has been sighted near the front desk.
Typically, she disappears behind a pillar and does not reappear. Another ghost,
dressed in blue-gray overalls and sporting a long beard, has been spotted in the
shaft alley of the engine room. Ghostly voices and laughter have been heard by
the ship's swimming pool. One employee saw the wet footprints of a child
appearing on the pool deck... with no one there.
The Admiral Returns
On June 22, 1899, at exactly 3:34 p.m., the Royal Navy flagship Victoria
was rammed by another ship and sank. Most of the crew was killed, including its
commander, Admiral Sir George Tryon. The accident, subsequent reports
determined, was caused by mistaken orders by Sir George. As the ship was
sinking, he was heard by survivors to say, "It is all my fault." At the very
moment of the tragic accident, Sir George's wife was hosting a party at her
home in London. Not long after 3:30 p.m., several guests swore that they saw the
distinguished figure of Sir George walk across the drawing room.
The
Ghost of the Great Eastern
The Great Eastern
was the Titanic of its day. Built in 1857, at 100,000 tons it was six
times larger than any ship ever built and, like the Titanic, seemed
destined for trouble. When its builders tried to launch it on January 30, 1858,
it was so heavy that it jammed the launch mechanism and stopped dead. Even
though it was eventually put afloat, it lay in harbor for about a year because
the money had run out to finish it. The Great Eastern was then bought by
the Great Ship Company, which finished it and put it out to sea. But during its
sea trials, a huge ventilator explosion killed at least one man and scalded
several others with boiling water. One month later, its builder, Isambard
Kingdom Brunel, died of a stroke. Despite its size, the cursed ship never
carried a full complement of passengers, not even on its maiden voyage. On her
fourth voyage, it was badly damaged in a storm, necessitating costly repairs. In
1862, while carrying its record number of passengers - 1,500 - it sailed
over an uncharted area and tore open its bottom... saved from sinking only by
its double hull. On several occasions, a strange hammering noise of an unknown
source could be heard far below decks. The crew said it could be heard even
above the gale of a storm and sometimes woke sailors from their sleep. The ship
continued to lose money for its owners, but was successful in helping lay a
transatlantic cable in 1865. Better ships built for the purpose soon replaced
the Great Eastern, however, and for 12 years it sat rusting until it was
eventually sold for scrap metal. As it was being taken apart, the source of the
ship's bad luck, perhaps (and the phantom hammering), was discovered: within
the double hull was the skeleton of the master shipwright who had mysteriously
disappeared during construction.
| There was no sign of a struggle, violence, storm, or any other kind of disturbance. Yet its captain, Benjamin S. Briggs, his wife, his daughter, and the ship's crew of seven were gone. |
The Ship That Sailed Itself
The tale of the Mary
Celeste could be an article in itself, as it is one of the most famous, intriguing,
and still unsolved mysteries of the sea. On December 3, 1872, the crew of the Dei
Gratia, sailing from New York to Gibraltar, found the Mary Celeste
floating unmanned about 600 miles west of Portugal. The ship was in perfect
condition. The sails were set, its cargo of 1,700 barrels of commercial alcohol
were untouched (except for one barrel, which had been opened), a breakfast meal
looked as though it been abandoned in the middle of being eaten, and all of the
crew's belongings remained onboard. Yet its captain, Benjamin S. Briggs, his
wife, his daughter, and the ship's crew of seven were gone. Some versions of
the story say that the ship's lifeboat was missing, while others say it was
still in place on deck. All that seemed to be missing was the ship's
chronometer, the sextant, and the cargo documents. There was no sign of a
struggle, violence, storm, or any other kind of disturbance. The last entry in
the ship's log was made on November 24, and made no indication of any trouble.
If this ship had been abandoned soon after this entry, the Mary Celeste
would have been adrift for a week and a half. But this was impossible, according
to the crew of the Dei Gratia, considering the ship's position and the
way its sails had been set. Someone - or something - must have worked
the ship for at least several days after the final log entry. The fate of the
crew of the Mary Celeste remains a mystery.
The Cursed Ship
Some ships just seem cursed with bad luck. The Amazon was christened in
1861 at Spencer Island, Nova Scotia, and just 48 hours after taking command of
the ship, its captain suddenly died. On its maiden voyage, the Amazon
struck a fishing weir (a fence), leaving a gash in its hull. While being
repaired, the ship suffered a fire which broke out on board. Not long after,
during its third Atlantic crossing, the Amazon collided with another
ship. Finally, in 1867, the ill-fated ship was wrecked off the coast of
Newfoundland and abandoned for salvagers. But the ship had one last date with
destiny. It was raised and restored by an American company who sailed it south
for sale. It was purchased in 1872 by Captain Benjamin S. Briggs who raised its
sails and headed out to sea toward the Mediterranean with his family... only now
the ship was renamed the Mary Celeste! 
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