The Strange Case Of The Octavius, A Ghost Ship Discovered Off The Coast Of Greenland With Every Single Crew Member Frozen To Death Below Deck In 1775
History is full of mysteries, whether on land or across the vast seas. Many sailors have been lost in the rough waters during brutal storms, stirring up chilling tales of haunted ships manned by ghostly captains and crews.
The strangest, eeriest, most unsettling ghost ship of them all has to be Octavius. The vessel was discovered in 1775 along the coast of Greenland, and every crew member was found frozen to death below deck. So, what happened to them during their journey that resulted in such a terrible fate?
The Octavius set sail in 1761, departing from London with China as the destination. The ship left with a crew of 28 men and arrived in China safely a year later.
They unloaded their cargo, restocked the ship with goods, and headed back toward British shores. The weather had been unseasonably warm, and the seas were calm, so the captain decided to sail through the Northwest Passage.
The Northwest Passage connects the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean through the Arctic Ocean along northern Canada. Such a voyage had never been done before, but the captain took the chance anyway.
The Octavius reached northern Alaska in the fall of 1762, but after that, no one heard from the ship again. It had vanished mysteriously and was declared lost. Their last known location was 250 miles north of Barrow, Alaska.
On October 11, 1775, a whaling ship known as the Herald was in Greenland when it spotted a boat stuck on the coast.
As the crew neared the ship, they saw that it was worn down and had tattered sails. They determined that it was the Octavius and conducted a search of the vessel. When they reached the living quarters on the ship, they were confronted with a terrible sight.
The entire crew of 28 men was frozen solid in the exact positions they were in when they were alive. They also found the captain in his cabin, seated at his desk with a pen in hand.
muratart – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
The ship’s logbook was open in front of him. On the bunk, the frozen bodies of a woman and a young boy were wrapped in a blanket.
The Herald’s crew was spooked by the discovery. Wanting nothing more than to get out of there as quickly as possible, they only managed to snag one thing: the ship’s logbook.
From the notes, they learned that the captain of the Octavius had tried to maneuver through the Northwest Passage, but the boat had gotten stuck in the Arctic ice, causing everyone onboard to perish.
Since the Octavius was found off the coast of Greenland, it must’ve broken free from the ice at some point and drifted away, waiting for someone to discover it.
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