True Ghost Stories: Real Hauntings at Sea: Real Haunted Ships, Boats, Oceans and Beaches

By Zachery Knowles

The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):

As we move forward with our “non-fiction” journey things will continue to be a little different. Knowles appears to be less travel writer and more into the actual stories/experiences connected with the locations so this should be a fun read. There is less history mentioned and more information about run-ins with the spirits. Do understand that because of this most of the information is second hand and open to interpretation. He explores stories from haunted boats, ships, oceans, and beaches from all over the world, so while there will probably be a few return visits to some American locations we have a whole new set from other countries to explore. I will continue to talk on the chapters in a similar way to Terrance Zepke’s books and will add pictures with links to sites with additional information. I will only be doing brief overviews of what is said, to get the specific story you’ll have to read the book. Hopefully we learn more about the experiences that few of us ever get to experience and have a few good chills along the way. Shall we be on our way to visit and revisit some of the world’s haunted ships, boats, oceans, and beaches? I’m feeling a bit peckish.

I enjoy the author’s introduction to the book. I think that it is well written and the style is complementary to subject matter.

Carnival Conquest

This ship has no dark history, no bloody massacres or horrible tragedies yet people have reported other worldly occurrences. Most of them benign in nature, a few more frightening. But don’t forget little Ghoulies looking menacing and being malicious are two different things.

More Haunted Cruise Ships

There is only one ship mentioned by name in this chapter and that is the Norwegian Dawn. So I’ve included pictures of this ship since that’s the only reference I have to the reports given in this chapter. Experiences include ghostly young girls, electronics turning on and off on their own, the smell of sulfur in the air, web cams catching things that the naked eye didn’t, phantom movie goers, and ghosts that have disturbed passengers slumber. Nothing overly malevolent in nature.

The Queen Mary

Another cruise on the luxurious Queen Mary. Cruise ship to royalty and the rich and famous. Queen Mary herself traveled on the ship as well as Winston Churchill. Surprisingly enough she was also a ship that brought a whole mess of soldiers (765,000 odd) home. The ship is currently docked in Long Beach California, is a hotel and has several restaurants and bars for your dining and inebriation pleasure. It’s a beautiful ship.

Another long chapter as there are several areas of this ship that are reportedly haunted. Our author relays stories from hatch #13 (home to half hatch Harry), the swimming pools and the changing rooms; including a specific section on little Dana, Bar stool fly ghost known as “the Dude”, Room B340 (blast from the past), several additional haunted cabins and suites (like the Winston Churchill suite), The Chelsea Restaurant, the main deck (accidental poisoning…um), the Queen’s salon, the third-class children’s playroom and incidents related to the Curacoa Tragedy (a collision with an escort ship in 1942). I’m sure that this is not a comprehensive list and honestly after reading this chapter and learning some new things I am not surprised that this ship is chock full of paranormal events. The amount of murders alone would explain the activity but add on WWII involvement, as well as all the accidental deaths and you have a volatile mix.

The SS Watertown

I myself had never heard of this ship until now but apparently it is one of the worlds most infamous haunted boats. An oil tanker traveling the Panama Canal was the scene of an accident involving two of its crew members. The two men died from inhaling toxic oil fumes during a routine task.

An intersesting fact and one that I was not aware of it that because of the lack of preservation methods available on ships, if someone died during a voyage their body would be wrapped and thrown overboard. This is the case with the afore mentioned gentlemen. However I guess for the remainder of the journey their faces were seen on both the vessel and in the waves surrounding the ship. They were even able to get a picture.

UB-65 Submarine

This was a German U-boat that had a very short run. It launched in June of 1917 and was destroyed in July of 1918 under unknown circumstances killing 37 crew members. Even though she had a short run it was a productive run. This said there were also many deaths involving the U-boat’s own crew members that occurred. There were accidents during its construction, accidents only a week after it launched and these kinds of things continued throughout its short time at sea. In one of these incidents an officer was killed and it seems that he stuck around not wanting to give up his post. Read about the experiences in this chapter.

USS Hornet CV-12

We get to ship out on the USS Hornet once again. An amazing history on this ship. Everywhere from WWII action to being the place where the Apollo 11 team spent their quarantine time after stepping foot on the moon. Apparently, and I think this was a topic of discussion before, that this ship had the highest suicide rate of any Navy ship. Also I’d image that there are a lot of ways for one to have a fatal accident on an aircraft carrier, Knowles made it a point to talk about some ways that this has happened.

There are multiple hauntings that have been reported on this ship. This is the third book in this series that I have read, and this is a long chapter. There are a lot of incidents here. The Dress Whites Ghost is a familiar entity from Zepeke’s book as well as the entity known as Flyboy who likes to open and close hatches and the haunted medical bay area. A few new comers to this haunted ship are a helpful sailor, entities that like to mess with those using the restroom, random wandering officer sightings and the spirit of a young man who accidentally hanged himself. Yes you heard that correct…an accidental hanging. How you might ask…you’ll have to read the chapter.

The Palatine

This crash took place a looong time ago, 1738 to be accurate. This ship was a passenger ship on its way to New England from England. The ship started with 340 passengers and due to illness and water shortages that number dropped to 150. This was not the only problem however. I guess the ship was also leaking badly by the time it got close to the New England shore when they were hit with high winds and a blizzard. Ultimately the ship ended up getting beached at what is now known as Sandy Point on Block Island and abandoned by its remaining passengers. The ship eventually broke loose and was destroyed on the rocks. This is just one of the stories surrounding what happened. Others involve the Capitan being abusive and neglectful of his passengers and malicious locals luring the ship to the shore so that they could loot it. Once finished they pushed it out to sea and set the ship ablaze. This haunting is literally a ghost ship. There have been reports of individuals seeing a ship ablaze which eventually fades from view. No matter what the story the sheer number of deaths is enough to make this a perfect scenario for a haunting.

SS Valencia

This ship was a passenger steamer that primarily worked the West Coast serving passengers traveling from New York City (NYC = East Coast?). Interestingly enough it seems that the voyage usually took the ship south but the last voyage took this ship north. The horrific accident happened near Vancouver Island, British Columbia aka Graveyard of the Pacific.

That fateful trip was from San Francisco to Victoria BC. With its many design flaws and bad handling in any kind of inclement weather it’s no wonder that the Graveyard of the Pacific claimed this awkward ship. They got blown off course and struck the reef. All but one of the life boats were deployed, three (half of them) tipping over in midair, throwing its passengers into the icy January waters. Around 53 people in all survived out of 173 passengers and crew. The voyage was a failure and the rescue was not a great success either.

Some interesting paranormal happenings have happened since the SS Valencia including the sighting of ghost ship Valencia and phantom lifeboats.

Higbee Beach

New Jersey Coast

During the day we have a lovely tranquil stretch of sand but at night it takes on a more sinister feel.

Originally the beach was part of farmland that had an inn on the property owned by the Higbee brothers Joseph and Thomas. Ultimately it is suspected that Thomas Higbee has decided that he prefers this location to be his final resting place. He’s not the only one that has made this decision. Individuals have also seen a young girl and a sailor. There are more details about these experiences in this chapter.

Port Aransas Beach

Texas Gulf Coast

Located on the Gulf Coast of Texas, this stretch of coast is beautiful and a great vacation spot. Even fuzzy kids are allowed to enjoy the sand and surf! But apparently there is a lot more to this location than meets the eye.
Individuals have experienced two different sides of the paranormal gambit both intense visions of violent conflict causing emotional distress and fear, as well as the other side involving the sounds of laughing children and the sighting of a little boy in old fashioned clothes. You can find more details in this chapter.

Dumas Beach

Considered to be one of the most haunted places in India this beach has a unique feature that most beaches do not and that is the sand is dark brown and black in color (due to iron content). That fact alone give a person pause. But apparently after dark it becomes down right creepy.

There are some people that feel this location is haunted because it was the site of cremation and burial for the ancient Hindus. Some of the reports that have been made include peoples fuzzy kids acting protective when there doesn’t seem to be anyone around, phantom creatures walking along the water, ghostly lights coming from under the water beckoning you with outstretched arms. Several specters have been caught in photographs and many visitors have described a feeling of depression and sadness when visiting at night. Last but certainly not least are the disappearances. Several people have gone missing, this beach being their last known location. Bodies are not always recovered. Best practice, don’t visit at night. Oh and at anytime, anywhere, your fuzzy kid starts acting fearful or protective and wants to leave…trust them.

Sandwood Bay

Located in the North Highlands of Scotland, this beautiful stretch of coast is mostly untouched by human inhabitants. Considered to be very isolated (a four mile walk from parking), it has been labeled an “extreme wilderness” according to our author. Way back when however it seems that the Vikings and other tribes did inhabit this area as there have been discoveries that suggest this.

There are a few different entities that have been encountered by individuals. The most common one seems to be the ghost of a big burley bearded sailor who is kind of territorial when it comes to this location. Individuals have reported seeing what they believed to be a mermaid with long red hair. It seems that this lady is also territorial about this stretch of sand. And then there is the haunted cottage, which is mostly ruins now. There are a couple of entities that seem to visit there occasionally. For more detailed accounts hit up this chapter. Personally I think that the territorial mermaid and the burley, grumpy sailor should get it together and live in the haunted cottage. Seems like a match made in heaven.

Changi Beach, Singapore

This beach was the site of a massacre that happened during the Japanese occupation in WWII. There were thousands of Chinese civilians lost their lives. In addition to this, later the war criminals that perpetrated these horrible atrocities were executed very near by the beach. It’s no wonder that this beach is considered by some to be the most haunted beach in the world.

The execution method of choice was beheadings, there have been several reports of seeing headless specters/bodies on the beach. Fishermen actually claim that they are still pulling up skulls in their fishing nets to this very day. The sound of screams and cries have been heard. And mysterious blood stains have been found in the sand. There are also urns with remains of those lost buried in the sand so don’t make the mistake one person did and mistake them for a discarded flower pot. Discover more details about these incidents in the chapter.

Closing thoughts:

I know that many of you have probably gone on cruises, and the ships themselves look beautiful (until you pull out the black light) but I just can’t bring myself to do it. In my humble opinion it’s not the ghosts that you have to worry about but the gastrointestinal catastrophe that is norovirus. The virus is far more terrifying than any ghost!

Cruise ships aside, I do love the ocean. Being near it gives me a sense of peace. Being in it gives me a healthy sense of fear and respect. Vast and largely unchartered. Beautiful and savage. Because of this it is not surprising that tragedy has befallen many a human and will continue to do so until we realize that we will never have dominion over the water. Respect it, fear it, and love it. 

Happy Devouring!

The Sexton