Ep 335: A Tale of Ghost Ships Three

 
TRANSCRIPT available ON REQUEST
 
“S.O.S. from Ourang Medan: ‘We float. All officers, including the Captain, dead in chartroom and on the bridge. Probably whole of crew dead...’ Then: ‘I die.’”
— A last Morse Code message purportedly from the SS Ourang Medan, featured in “We Sail Together,” Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council, US Coast Guard, May 1952, p. 107

Description:

In 1933, a Scottish botanist watched a seemingly abandoned steamship drift past the Alaskan coast on an ice floe. It appeared upside down in a strange mirage, with no crew and no one at the wheel. This ship was the SS Baychimo, and although it was abandoned two years earlier, it seemed to have a will of its own. Having reappeared repeatedly across the Arctic, it earned a reputation as one of history’s great ghost ships.

In this episode, we explore the mystical history of three such ghost ships: the Baychimo, the Octavius, and the Ourang Medan, whose crew was reportedly found mysteriously dead shortly before the ship itself exploded and sank. Three ships with three enduring legends, and at least one vessel whose final resting place remains unknown.

 
 
 

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CREDITS:

Episode 335: A Tale of Ghost Ships Three. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess. Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound. Music and Sound Design by Allen Carrescia. Tess Pfeifle, Producer and Lead Researcher. Ed Voccola, Technical Producer. Research Support from The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2026 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Unexplainable Phenomena, Haunted, Folklore & Legend, Landmarks Objects & Structures, VanishedForrest Burgess2026, paranormal, 335, ghost ship, Ourang Medan, Baychimo, Alaska, Alaska Triangle, dead, missing, Inuit, frozen, Coast Guard, salvage, supernatural, curse, SOS, disappeared, haunted, Mary Celeste, OctaviusComment