Ghost ships: The Flying Dutchman and his curse

Ghost ships have fascinated people for centuries. They symbolise the unknown at sea, stories that defy any clear explanation. Some are based on real events, others are pure legends, passed on by generations of sailors. In his book "Maritime myths" collected numerous of these puzzling cases.

The most famous ghost ship in the world?

If you ask about the most famous ghost ship, it is very likely that you will first be told about the "Mary Celeste", but most people will also be familiar with the "Flying Dutchman". A strange name for a ghost ship, isn't it? The story is an important one, as it forms the basis for many tales of extraordinary ships that appear out of nowhere. The legend of the "Flying Dutchman" goes back several centuries, but the exact date cannot be determined. The first written reference dates back to the early 18th century, but oral traditions and other similar legends suggest that the tale is even older.

An ominous omen on the open sea

Be that as it may, the fear of the "Flying Dutchman" is deeply rooted among seafarers of all nations. In his Dictionnaire infernal (3rd edition of 1844, published by Paul Mellier), Jacques Collin de Plancy (1793-1881), the French author of several works on the occult and the uncanny, writes that sailors "believe in the existence of a Dutch ship whose crew is condemned by divine justice to wander the seas until the end of time because of piracy and atrocious crimes. An encounter with this ship is considered an ominous omen."

This is what the archetype of a ghost ship looks like

As far as the ship itself is concerned, the descriptions vary depending on the source or adaptation, but there is a consensus that the "Flying Dutchman" is a ghostly-looking ship. Bathed in grey colours and with dark, tattered sails, it usually sails in dense fog from which it emerges without warning. As a rule, it is a brig, i.e. a two-masted sailing ship with a large mast aft and a smaller foremast forward. Both masts are fitted with square sails.

In some versions, the "Flying Dutchman" takes on the shape of a strangely glowing ship or emits a ghostly glow, which adds to its supernatural appearance. The legend says nothing about the area in which one might encounter the ghost ship. However, most of the stories that take up this legend speak of oceans and regions known for their storms, such as the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa or other dangerous and turbulent sea areas. There are countless versions of the myth, which only adds to the aura of mystery surrounding this maritime legend.

The cursed captain - human or demon?

The name "Flying Dutchman" refers to both the ship and its captain. There are different accounts of the latter in circulation. The only consensus is that the unfortunate sailor was cursed. Apart from that, however, the versions differ widely.

For some, the legend has its origins in the exploits of a 17th century Dutch captain named Bernard Fokke. The accomplished sailor and employee of the Dutch East India Company was known for travelling between Europe and Asia at an astonishing speed for the time. As he literally "flew" across the water, he was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman". Malicious tongues did not hesitate to explain this talent by a pact with the devil.

These irrational explanations culminate in the fact that the captain's extreme ugliness is supposed to justify this pact. However, one of Fokke's voyages ended in disaster, as the captain disappeared with his ship and crew. This gave rise to the legend of the "Flying Dutchman", in which Fokke logically stood at the helm of the ghost ship. However, the question arises as to whether the legend preceded Captain Fokke's wanderings.

Several origins, one myth

The first written mention of the "Flying Dutchman" dates back to 1790 and can be found in a travelogue by Scotsman John MacDonald entitled "Travels in Various Parts of Europe, Asia and Africa During a Series of Thirty Years and Upward". According to tradition, "a Dutchman who arrived at the Cape on a stormy day wanted to enter the harbour, but found no pilot willing to accompany him, which led to the loss of the ship."

But barely five years later, the Englishman George Barrington in his book A Voyage to Botany Bay (A Voyage to Botany Bay) presents a different version. According to him, it was sailors from a Dutch warship who gave rise to this superstition, as their ship allegedly suddenly appeared as a ghostly silhouette.

The curse at the Cape of Good Hope

In May 1821, the legend appeared again, this time in the British magazine Blackwood's Magazine. The article by an unknown author is about a captain named Vanderdecken (or Van der Decken). When he attempted to round the Cape of Good Hope, he is said to have braved a devastating storm and refused to change course, much to the chagrin of his crew. The captain is said to have challenged the powers of heaven, which is why the ship was in danger of sinking.

A luminous apparition allegedly stood opposite him and the captain is said to have angrily threatened, insulted and shot at it with a pistol. A relentless curse is said to have been imposed on the irascible sailor as a result: Since he had taken so much pleasure in tormenting sailors, he must now, as the evil spirit of the sea, bring misfortune with his ship to all who laid eyes on it. As punishment, Vanderdecken was condemned to sail the oceans forever. His curse forbade him to rest, instead he had to sail on without ceasing. His only salvation lay in the faint hope of finding someone willing to take his place.

This version, which has been known in France since 1832, has inspired numerous modified versions, all of which have in common the Dutch flag under which the ship sailed and the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa as the location of the events. For the rest, the events unfold according to the authors' imagination: the captain smuggles or is murdered by his crew, the devil puts obstacles in the way of the ship, or one makes the acquaintance of pirates or suffers from a plague epidemic.

According to historians, the story of the "Flying Dutchman" is really just a legend, as it has no historical basis whatsoever. However, as it is well known that there is no smoke without fire, some authors have hypothesised that the story was inspired by tales of sailors who had experienced terrible storms or unusual adventures on the high seas. Over time, these tales are said to have been mixed together, giving rise to the legend as we know it today.

Royal eyewitness: Did George V see the ghost ship?

There are numerous reports from sailors and other seafarers who claim to have encountered the "Flying Dutchman". However, these are not proof, just anecdotes that have been passed down from generation to generation and have changed in the process. Among all these sometimes nebulous accounts, however, one testimony stands out in particular, as it comes from the young Duke of York, who later ascended the English throne under the name George V.

While serving in the British Navy, the young man sailed with his brother Prince Albert Victor on the training ship "HMS Bacchante" in 1881. At around 4 a.m. on 11 July, as the ship was sailing towards Sydney in Australian waters, the future king reported seeing a ghost ship with his own eyes, which he identified as the "Flying Dutchman". Without warning, the wind came up and the "Bacchante" began to lurch violently. She only made slow progress in the now choppy water, and suddenly another ship appeared out of nowhere, hurtling towards the training ship at full speed.

The Duke of York wrote this detailed note in his travel diary:

A brig passed about 200 metres off our bow and set course for us. A strange red light illuminated the mast, the bridge and the sails. The lookout reported the approaching ship and the officer on watch could also see it clearly from the bridge. An ensign was sent to the foredeck. But he saw nothing, there was no sign of a real ship. 13 people witnessed this apparition. The night was clear and the sea was calm. The "Tourmaline" and the "Cleopatra", which were travelling ahead of us on starboard, asked us with hand signals whether we had also seen the strange red light.

Shortly afterwards, the sailor, who was standing on a mast in the lookout, fell to his death. A consequence of the encounter with the ghost ship or pure coincidence?

Previously, in 1835, a British captain had reported a ship that had raced towards him but then mysteriously disappeared again. Later, in 1939, a dozen people are said to have sighted a similar ship from Glencairn Beach, a beach south-east of Cape Town in South Africa. If the witnesses are to be believed, the unknown ship was travelling through the area at high speed, with all sails unfurled, even though there was not the slightest wind.

From sailor's yarn to cultural icon

Of all the stories about ghost ships, it is undoubtedly that of the "Flying Dutchman" that has had the greatest impact on pop culture and inspired numerous works of literature, cinema and music. The respective authors have often taken great liberties with the original narrative.

As early as 1797/1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge incorporated a ghost ship, inspired by the "Flying Dutchman", into his famous epic poem The ballad of the old sailor flow into it. The first explicit novel about the "Flying Dutchman" is The ghost ship (1839) by the writer and ship's captain Frederick Marryat. Its protagonist, Philippe Vanderdecken, is the son of the captain of the cursed ship. As his ship passes the Cape of Good Hope, it encounters a large ship:

[It] seemed to be fighting against a violent gale, even though there was no wind. Soon it submerged, soon it reappeared, always on perfectly calm water: sometimes it disappeared under the waves, sometimes it reappeared on the surface. [...] Finally she was seen turning; and during this manoeuvre she was so close that you could have counted the men on the bridge. But at that moment it was suddenly shrouded in darkness, and you never saw it again.

A year earlier, in 1838, Edgar Allan Poe had written in the tenth chapter of his novel The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym tells of an encounter with an abandoned Dutch ship on which corpses lay strewn about. Although the "Flying Dutchman" is not mentioned directly, the allusion is obvious.

Even Victor Hugo helped the legend to fame. In one of his poems from the collection The legend of the centurieswhich was written between 1855 and 1876, the author of The labourers of the sea with the following words on the "Flying Dutchman":

The Dutchman, the boat

Flames point to him so red!

Damned ship cursed!

Ominous, indeed!

The captain is a sinister pirate

Seeking his way out of hell.

The "Flying Dutchman in pop culture"

In the cinema, the film "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman", directed by Albert Lewin in 1951, revisits the myth of the ghost ship. Pandora Reynolds (Ava Gardner), an American singer who is temporarily staying in Spain and fascinates all men, swims towards a strange boat off the harbour of Esperanza one day. There she meets a strange sailor, Hendrick Van der Zee (James Mason), with whom she falls in love. The story is told to us by Geoffrey, who has accidentally discovered an old manuscript containing a previously unpublished version of the legend of the Flying Dutchman.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" saga, better known to the general public, which began in 2003 and so far comprises five films, has re-popularised the myth, even if the version of the traditional legend on offer retains only the cursed ship ("Black Pearl"), whose crew is made up of the dead and damned. The scriptwriters imagined the "Flying Dutchman" as a legendary ship created by the nymph Calypso, on which the pirate Davy Jones has to bring the souls of sailors who have died at sea to the end of the world. If he successfully fulfils his mission for ten years, he will be granted immortality. However, Calypso fails to turn up at the agreed time, and the pirate, in his insatiable longing, finally tears out his heart, which is then buried in a chest on Isla Cruces. As a result, Davy Jones and his crew are cursed and transformed into terrible sea creatures.

The "Flying Dutchman" is also the protagonist of numerous cartoons, from the comic strip "Scrooge McDuck" (Scrooge's ghost ship, 1959) about the comic "Silbersurfer" (episode Now Strikes the Ghost from September 1969) to some episodes of the world's best-selling manga "One Piece" (published since 1997).

After all, the myth has also inspired many more or less popular songs, including The Flying Dutchman by the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1979 and the famous opera The Flying Dutchmanwhich Richard Wagner composed in 1843. The latter was inspired by the novella "The Memoirs of Mr von Schnabelewopski" by the German poet Heinrich Heine to find the theme for the libretto. In this short story, a ghostly captain is condemned to sail the seas forever in order to win back the love of a woman. Despite his enthusiasm when he first read it in 1838, Wagner only began composing it after his trip to England. At that time, a violent storm had arisen, forcing the ship to seek refuge in a Norwegian fjord. There, the composer heard the songs of the local sailors and found the name of the heroine, Senta. He composed the music for his opera within seven weeks.

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