![]() ![]() The earliest accounts describe the apparition in connection with the crew of a Dutch ship lost off the Cape of Good Hope in a storm or due to disease, perhaps as punishment for some kind of horrible crime. It has inspired the imaginations of Washington Irving, Richard Wagner, Sir Walter Scott, and many others. A mysterious voice hears his oath and, as punishment for his recklessness to the crew, condemns him to sail the seas around the cape for eternity, his glowing ship serving as a warning to other mariners of bad weather and the cost of hubris.įirst noted in the late 18th century, the legend of Flying Dutchman is the most famous story of a phantom vessel in European and American lore. The story usually goes something like this: An anxious captain paces the deck of his massive ship as it struggles against a storm, vowing to pass the Cape of Good Hope whatever the cost. And while plausible scientific explanations have been put forth to explain these sighting and the legends around them-from optical illusions to rotting vegetation-it can sometimes be fun to consider these tales just for themselves, and their ability to captivate our imaginations. Habakuk Jephson's Statement."īut while explanations connected to ships like the Mary Celeste will be endlessly debated, ghostly ship apparitions belong to a different realm-one of the imagination. Its story has continued to fascinate, helped along in part by Arthur Conan Doyle's 1884 short story "J. The most famous ship in the latter category is likely the Mary Celeste, discovered adrift near the Azores in 1872 without a soul in sight. Maritime lore is rife with stories about ghost ships, whether they’re at-sea apparitions that bewilder viewers before vanishing into thin air, or mysterious vessels found sailing the oceans with no one aboard. ![]()
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