Real Life Creepy Ghost Ships

These four ships were each abandoned but continued to sail with nobody at the wheel! The history of the ocean is full of mysteries and many remain unsolved. What caused the crews of some of these ships to abandon their posts? Theories range from mutinies to pirates and the Soviet Union!

Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels– from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines!

0:00 Introduction
0:31 SS Baychimo
4:57 Carroll A Deering
8:15 Kobenhavn
11:31 MV Joyita

[SherlocksLeftNipple]

I appreciate that the Baychimo's story is that of a friendly ghost ship just drifting around, occasionally saving people from storms over the course of her 38+ year adventure. Can't blame the little lady for deciding she wasn't done sailing yet.

[jacobhill]

I like to think Baychimo is still out there, living its best life

[Rosie-ytnd]

you mean to tell me the crew came back after months and saw the Baychimo still doing good but said "nah we'll leave her behind", then like a petty queen she stayed afloat for 38+ years in some notoriously terrible conditions that usually wreacks havoc on ships, without help of a crew, and the company was like "nah, we'll leave her." goddamn thats one sturdy ship, i hope they took those blueprints and was like "this, this is the secret formula". how sad it is that she was abandoned while being so perfect for so long, i hope she had her best retirement vacation

[TokyoBlue]

I love that the Baychimo ended up inadvertently saving the lives of other people in the Arctic, before going on her merry way…

[Giddog]

Props for not including the Mary Celeste, a story I’m sure most people are tired of hearing about on these kinds of lists

[Levy_Wilson]

For some reason I just love the idea that a ship can just drift aimlessly for years without anyone on board.

[Saukko]

"It is now very likely that the ship has finally sunk."

You should have added, "Or has it?" there.

[iamrichrocker]

Mike..you seem like a person most of us would love to sit around a table and talk for hours on end..you have that charismatic affect that draws people in..and the passion of your topic/subjects comes through on every video..well done Mate..you deserve so much more..and thanks for all of your efforts..

[endermanwithalowercasee]

Ghost ships and missing ships are some of my favorite topics ever

[chrisbarnett]

After recently re-watching Titanic I stumbled on this channel and have been going down a rabbithole of ships and maritime history. Ghost ships, vanished ships and rogue wave encounters have especially captivated me. These ghost ships always bring me back to reading Rime of the Ancient Mariner in high school

[thesteelrodent]

According to the official Danish report on SS København, she was actually headed for Adelaide, not Melbourne, and is believed to have gone under while crossing the south point of Africa. A rather important detail about the ship, is that her five main masts were made of steel and she had a diesel engine, so she wasn't likely to have broken a mast, and it would've taken severe damage to the rigging and the diesel engine+propeller to stop her from moving under own power. The massive rigging is however suspected to have been the cause of her loss, as the large amount of sails would have been difficult and time consuming to trim if the weather suddenly turned violent, so she is suspected to have capsized as the strong winds overwhelmed the sails. For that reason her replacement, SS Danmark, was built with three masts and 1/3 the area of sails, and also got a steel reinforced hull with extra ribs. Worried that she would suffer the same fate as her predecessor, SS Danmark has been continously upgraded over the years, so she nowadays has GPS navigation, satellite phones, and basically everything you'd expect to find on a modern ship

[tuxedotservo]

A possible explanation for the Joyita not having cargo is that it was thrown overboard in an attempt to lighten the ship after she started taking on water.

[NonsensicalNauticalRambings]

These ships are the most curious for me. They are usually abandoned, yet seem to circumnavigate the globe. They are only seen by a lucky few people, before they vanish, never to be seen again. Great topic Mike.

[TopImpressiveLine]

I've heard of the SS Baychimo. Her story is probably one of the most confusing disappearances in History.

[gcrav]

Some years ago, while reading about maritime legends, I read a reference to a sighting of an intact sailing ship that had apparently been abandoned in a cove somewhere in the archipelago of southern Chile, IIRC. Its rigging had been colonized by those green bioluminescent bacteria, giving it a spectral appearance. The sailors thought they were seeing something supernatural and they got the hell out of there. The incident became one of the possible "Flying Dutchman" sightings.

[mbvoelker]

Thank you SO much for not even mentioning the Mary Celeste, which has been done over and over and over.

I'd love to have more videos about other less well-known ghost ships.

[annamacdonald]

There's actually a story of a ghost ship where I'm from in PEI. In the Northumberland Strait ( The water separating us from Nova Scotia) for some 200 years people have spotted a 3 or 4 mast schooner that's on fire. As they watch it either completely burns or sinks. People have also seen ghostly figures of the crew trying to save their ship. Not sure if there was ever a real burning ship, or just us locals going crazy 😂

[marcuscoquer]

I love the story of the Baychimo. I hope it is found.

[christianlederer]

In regards to the Joyita's radio being on the "International Marine Distress Signal, " that is not unusual by todays standards. All ships are supposed to be monitoring emergency VHF channel 16 at all times. If you found a derelict today and somehow the power was still on, it would have at least one radio on 16. I'm not sure if it was any different in the Joyita's day.

[m.streicher]

MV Joyita deserves more attention. Truly the most puzzling ghost ship.