Famous Ghost Ships

The Baychimo Ghost Ship 

 

This large cargo steamer was built for Hudson’s Bay Co. in Sweden around the time of 1914. The ship  was used for trading pelts for provisions  along the Victoria Island coast of the NW Territory, there is  where it became the famous “ghost ship”. 

 

On Oct. 1931 while The Baychimo was coming home with a load of cargo fur the ship became trapped in ice, she was abandoned for a brief time, but after it had broken itself free from the ice the crew decided to reboard. A few days later the ship became stuck once again, and the ships crew were airlifted to safety.  Fifteen crew members decided to stay onboard and wait for the ship to break free again.  As they stayed in a nearby wooden shelter, a blizzard struck and the ship disappeared in the storm.  The crew concluded that the ship must have sunk during the storm. 

 

A few days later The Baychimo was seen about 40 miles away and was tracked down, the cargo was saved and the ship once again was abandoned and was deemed “un-seaworthy” 

 

 For 38 years The Baychimo continued to float on the sea on its own and was witnessed several times. Several times in the future the ship was re-boarded only to be abandoned again and again . The Baychimo was last seen stuck in the ice of Beaufort Sea in 1969, and has not been seen since.

 

 

Ghost Ship of Jean Lafitte 

 

Shunned from Galveston by a thankless nation and driven to an anonymous death, it is said that Jean Lafitte will never rest until his honor is restored and he is reunited with the woman he loves!

 

Jean Lafitte has been called by many names – corsair, buccaneer, pirate – a hero to some, but for many others he is a  scourge in their memory.

 

Lafitte is known for his heroism in the Battle of New Orleans and for his acts of piracy throughout the Gulf of Mexico. In Louisiana he is remembered as a “privateer” who was a brave pirate and took on the  waters of the Gulf and other pirates of the Caribbean to supply Louisiana and a growing U.S. with clothing, materials and food in the late 18th century.

 

But his memory and legend does not endure in the collective memories of the Gulf South  This is  because of his humanitarian acts or his notoriety as a pirate. Jean Lafitte, whose origins are uncertain and whose end unknown, still sails the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico with a fleet of corsair ships at his command – or so the legend goes.