The Legends Behind 6 Haunted Shipwrecks

Whether real shipwrecks or ghostly phenomena, these ships carry tales of unexplained deaths, flying orbs, and screams from the depths of the sea.

The Mysterious Stories Behind Famous Shipwrecks

• RMS Titanic 
• RMS Rhone 
• The Mary Celeste
• SS Ourang Medan
• The Flying Dutchman
• The Griffon

RMS Titanic

Perhaps the world's most famous shipwreck, the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg just four days into its maiden voyage. Approximately 2,200 people were on board the luxury liner, and approximately 1,500 died. The ship's final resting place is approximately 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland and 2.5 miles below sea level.

Captain Edward Smith had hoped in vain for a timely rescue, and there are several untrue stories about how he spent his final hours. Some say he tried to kill himself with a pistol, while others claim he was swept off the sinking ship by a wave and swam back to it. His body was never found, but according to one legend, his wife, Sarah Eleanor Smith, saw the captain's ghost before news of the ship's demise reached her. Paranormal speculation also surrounds the site of the shipwreck itself, with several passing ships reporting orbs of light near where the Titanic sank. Even visitors to Titanic exhibits, such as the Titanic Museum in Las Vegas and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, have reported ghostly encounters with members of the crew.

RMS Rhone

The RMS Rhone was a British Royal Mail ship that had recently been transferred to the Caribbean route when it ran into trouble near the British Virgin Islands. The steamship was the most modern vessel of its time, but rough seas were unpredictable—and on a stormy October morning in 1867, the captain's decision to brave the elements proved disastrous. The damaged ship split in two and sank rapidly. 123 people died. Only 25 of those on board survived.

The Rhone wreck is a popular dive site, where divers can experience both halves of the ship, which lie about 100 feet apart. But beware: Some visitors have reported creepy encounters at its depths. Divers claim to have heard groans, screams, and other noises coming from the hull.

The Mary Celeste

In December 1872, a ship named Dei Gratia, sailing east of the Azores, spotted and intercepted the schooner Mary Celeste. It appeared that the ship had been abandoned and drifted away, leaving no trace of the people—including the captain, his wife and daughter, and a small crew—who were believed to have been on board. The Dei Gratia's crew boarded the Mary Celeste and found that the ship was still seaworthy, although it had lost its lifeboats. The crew's belongings, as well as six months of food and water, were still on board. Despite numerous investigations, the reasons for the abandonment and the whereabouts of the captain and crew remain a mystery.

Some theories suggest that the Mary Celeste was flooded and the captain may have ordered everyone into the lifeboats, which then sank with everyone on board, or that there may have been some sort of treachery. With no reasonable explanation, the Mary Celeste remains one of the most haunting and mysterious shipwrecks ever.

SS Ourang Medan

While historians are still debating whether the ship actually sailed, the story is certainly creepy. According to multiple reports, at some point in the 1940s, nearby ships received several incoherent Morse Code messages from the SS Ourang Medan's radio operator while the ship was supposedly traveling from China or Indonesia to Costa Rica. Then, the final message from the radio operator announced his own death. According to legend, a crew from a nearby American ship visited the SS Ourang Medan, only to discover the corpses with fear-filled, bared expressions. The strangest part? Their bodies appeared to be unharmed. With so many different versions of the story circulating—and doubts about whether the ship actually existed—it's hard to say for sure whether this story is entirely fact or fiction.

The Flying Dutchman

Movie buffs are familiar with this famous ghost ship, said to be forever adrift at sea, thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. According to 17th-century legend, Captain Henrick van der Decken and his crew were returning home from the Spice Islands on a Dutch East India Company ship when they passed the Cape of Good Hope off the southern coast of South Africa. Unfortunately for the crew, a storm was brewing, and the captain made a deal with the devil to protect the ship. Various reports of sightings of a ghost ship in stormy weather have surfaced over the years. Even King George V of England is said to have encountered the Flying Dutchman. However, there may be a scientific explanation for the ghostly apparition: Eyewitnesses have reported seeing a fata morgana, a mirage caused by atmospheric refraction that makes objects appear to float at sea.

The Griffon

The Inland Sea also has some strange shipwreck stories. This ghost ship is said to have haunted the north shore of Lake Michigan since it disappeared in 1679. The ship was owned by a fur trader named René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, and was en route to Niagara Falls with a valuable cargo of goods when it disappeared. So what exactly happened to the ship, and why did it not reach its intended destination?

The cause of the shipwreck is currently unknown. Theories include mutiny and a storm-related sinking. While saltwater can “eat away” the remains of some shipwrecks, the cold, clear waters of Lake Michigan tend to slow down the process of decomposition, and have given wreck hunters hope that the Griffon may be mostly intact.

Above are the mysterious stories behind 6 famous haunted shipwrecks in the world . If you know any other information, please share it!