#ghost ships

[mournfulroses]

Ariel Day, from a poem titled "Ghost Ships," featured in Black Roses: Poems about Love, Heartbreak, Mental Health, Self Love

[ashshadows001]

Crumbs.....My ship....

Ugh. Drabble? Anybody? No? Okay then.

Chang Yu could clearly see the worry etched onto his lover's face. Well the world didn't know they were, but his penthouse suite and Pin Ming's apartment knew it and he'll take what he can get. His own boss looked borderline delirious which, in his opinion, fair because his mate had just went into labour. God if it was Pin Ming in there, he doesn't even know if he could—Chang Yu stumbles on his own legs and clutches the wall to will away the crying face of his own mate, his beta, even if in just secrecy, cupping his own stomach with blood pooling at his feet. Chen Pin Ming put a hand on Chang Yu's shoulder silently asking him with his eyes if he's okay.

Plastering a smile on his face Chang Yu shakes his neck. His lover was already beyond stressed, he didn't want him to panic even more. Pin Ming let go off him and walked closer to the labour room, whispering to his boss, perhaps to offer him some semblance of comfort, however useless.

Chang Yu loves his mate, probably more than life, he doesn't know how far he'll go for his beta. As an A-Class Alpha, he knew chances of Chen Pin Ming becoming pregnant was less than 10% but if life ever decides to bless them with a bundle of joy, he'll make sure there wouldn't be any complications anywhere in the vicinity of the mother of his child even if he has to fight against God.

THEY'RE IN LOVE YOUR HONOUR

[ltwilliammowett]

The Ghosts of Gardiner's Bay

On 18 March 1754, the New York Gazette published a letter from a group of men from Plum Island, at the eastern end of Long Island, who were fishing for menhaden in nearby Gardiner's Bay when they saw three ghostly ships. The ships were apparently so close that the men could see the sailors walking around on deck. The three ships engaged in a gun battle for about 15 minutes before disappearing silently.

More than a century later, in 1882, the New York Sun published a letter from a menhaden fisherman who also had a ghostly story to tell about Gardiner's Bay. Allegedly, the author of the letter had been sleeping on deck when he was awakened by a distraught-looking first mate who claimed that a huge schooner had emerged from the darkness and was heading straight for their boat. Just as it looked like it was about to ram the boat, it dissolved into thin air.

They are said to predict some kind of disaster, such as a storm, the loss of a ship or the death of a family member. This is because they are often associated with such events and then appear.

One theory about this phenomenon, published in Scientific American, argued that the oily menhaden somehow produced a glow that reflected the ships themselves.

[honourablejester]

... Well, you know, when you put it like that? Sure. Why not.

Also, I'm mid-voyage right now, and the second I hit the Stormbones, we sighted a lifeberg, and I got my usual Monster Hunter option to ram it and claim a piece. And. I think, just this once, just while I'm currently rammed to the gunwales with high explosives, that maybe I might skip that option? Just this once? Heh.

Salt, I love this game.

[heretherebedork]

I am fairly certain that Nano ships DylanJun but also that Dylan ships IceNano because Nano might be teasing them with every chance he gets but Dylan is watching when Nano hugs Ice on stage.

All these boys are gay as hell and they're just watching each other for any signs of a crush.

(If no branded pairs, would these be actual couples? The dreams we can dreams....)

[archivist-crow]

PHANTOM SHIPS

Legends and stories of ghostly ships appear in the folklore of France, Germany, Demark, Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada, America and even China, while earlier tales appear in Hindu, Norse and Russian legends. Ghost ships continue to be reported to this day, especially off the Atlantic coast. They often appear at the scene of the disaster and re-enact their final moments.

The Flying Dutchman and the Mary Celeste are perhaps the best-known examples of phantom ships that are said to sail the oceans of the world and haunt the coasts of many nations, but there are numerous other less well-known stories.

The SS Violet, a paddle steamer that ran aground crossing the English Channel in a snowstorm over 100 years ago, was witnessed at the start of World War II by a lookout at the East Goodwin lighthouse. A lifeboat was sent out to investigate but nothing was found. In American lore the ghost ship of the notorious pirate Captain Kidd is said to sail up and down the New England coast looking for treasure, but the Great Lakes are believed to be the most haunted waters of America.

The Great Lakes are dangerous to navigate and have claimed many lives during violent storms. One of the most famous phantom ships of the Great Lakes is the Griffon. On 7 August 1679 the Griffon, one of the largest ships to sail the lakes in her day, commenced her maiden voyage. At Detroit Harbor at Washington Island the Griffon was loaded with a fur cargo before setting out to return to Niagara on 18 September. After that no one knows what happened to the ship. According to lore it 'sailed through a crack of ice' and vanished. A wreck was discovered in 1900 but its identity remains unconfirmed. The ghost of the Griffon is reportedly still seen drifting about Lake Huron when the nights are foggy.

Nearly every town and seaside village has its tales of shipwrecks and ghost ships—those phantoms of the sea breaking through the fog and the mist on dark, stormy nights. Most of these stories are just legends, but some of them are based on truth and may even have a natural explanation. For example, in some cases the sailors may have abandoned ship thinking it was about to sink in a storm, but the ship sailed on without them. In other cases the sailors may have died one-by-one of disease or starvation, leaving a perfectly good ship to sail for months, or even years on the high seas with no hand at her helm. In other cases people may have mistaken mirages and false images for phantom ships. Despite this, belief in ghostly ships that sail for all eternity with their phantom crews remains strong, and reports of sightings continue to this day.

Text from The Element Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Hauntings by Theresa Cheung (HarperElement, 2013)

[leasthaunted]

Episode 140: There's Something About Mary Celeste

Some ships just keep on sailing, they drift across the map. Some ship's just keep on sailing, tell me what is up with that? They've lost their crew and  captain, left a mystery and cargo. But there's something about Mary that they don't know.  Mary. There's just something about Mary... Celeste. 

Special thanks to Jim Watts at https://maryceleste.net.

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In 1861 in the shipyard of Spence Island in Nova Scotia the half-brig Amazon was built and launched. Right from the start the ship was a magnet for misfortune. From the captain dying as part of the maiden voyage, to running aground, and even colliding with another ship… The Amazon was not off to a great career.

By 1872, The Amazon had been retrofitted and rechristened as The Mary Celeste and she was under the command of Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs. Briggs came from a long line of seamen, and was no stranger to life on the ocean.

The Mary Celeste departed New York Harbor on November 15th 1872. The Mary Celeste was carrying a cargo of 1,701 barrels of 93.35 Proof Ethyl Alcohol (later known as Ethanol) for the purpose of fortifying wine. The destination was Genoa.

On board were: Captain Briggs, his wife Sarah and two-year old daughter Sophia. First mate Albert G. Richardson, Second mate Andrew Gilling, Steward and cook Edward Head, and four German seamen; Volkert Lorenson, Arian Martents, Boy Lorenson, and Gotlieb Gondeschall.

On December 4th 1872, British Half-Brig Dei Gratia discovered the Mary Celeste drifting under partial sail North, North-East of The Azores.

An away team consisting of the Dei Gratia's first mate Oliver Devaux found a completely abandoned ship with mostly intact cargo. The only signs of anything amiss were the presence of a disassembled bilge pump, a broken hull depth gauge, a few open hatches, the ships stove being askew, and a few feet of water below decks. Also the ships secondary craft, a Yawl was missing. It was decided to split up the crew of Dei Gratia and sail both ships to Gibraltar to notify authorities and to collect salvage of the ship.

In Gibraltar, a court of inquiry investigated the disappearance of the crew and passengers of The Mary Celeste. It was found that all but nine of the barrels of Ethyl Alcohol were intact. Nine were empty, but unopened, and were made of red oak instead of the white oak that the rest of the barrels were made from. The court was overseen by the Attorney General of Gibraltar, a man named, Frederick Solly-Flood. Who by all accounts was a very pompous and unintelligent man, and one who after making up his mind could not be deterred. He quickly made up his mind that the crew of the Dei Gratia had most likely murdered the crew of The Mary Celeste in a scheme to claim salvage. However, the court could find no evidence of this and the crew was cleared. But, due to Solly-Flood still being convinced of their guilt, he denied them the full salvage value of the ship. Instead of the $46,000 dollar value of the cargo and American ship, the crew of The Dei Gratia only received $1,400.

So what really happened to The Mary Celeste?

Over the last 154 years there have been many hypothesis' and theories proposed. Including: Mutiny, Pirates, Sea Monsters, Ghosts, Aliens, and inter-dimensional portals. These stories have also given rise to many false facts about the case. But most of these untruths can be traced to one man... Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In January 1884, Conan Doyle anonymously published his first story in Cornhill Magazine. The story was titled, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" and it claims to be a sworn statement from the only survivor of The Marie Celsete (note spelling error).

The story changed the names of all of the crew and passengers of the ship as well as misspelled the name of the vessel. It also created fantastical elements such as: the tables of the ship having still warm food on the plates upon its discovery, the presence of a ship's cat, and everything on the ship being seemingly undisturbed. Another key element changed was that instead of the German seamen, the ship was being crewed by black sailors... The rest of the story is a collection incredibly racist and offensive tropes and plots. However, most people who read the story were unaware that it was fiction, and newspapers began publishing details from the story as if they were real facts from the case.

GARTH'S CORNER!! GARTH'S CORNER!! GARTH'S CORNER!!

Dark Side of the Moon (1990)

Event Horizon (2007)

Ghost Ship (2002)

Sunshine (2007)