Another Ghost Story For Saturday...!

When I was younger, my sisters and I loved to watch the scary movies on Saturday night television. Of course, they weren't filled with all the blood and gore that today's films seem to be cursed with. Fun days, for the most part!

Here is a story that could have been in a movie at that time. Weird and a little scary at the same time.

SS Ourang Medan

Ghostship6In February, 1948, distress calls were picked up by numerous ships near Indonesia, from the Dutch freighter SS Ourang Medan. The chilling message was, “All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead.” This message was followed by indecipherable Morse code then one final grisly message… “I die.” When the first rescue vessel arrived on the scene a few hours later, they tried to hail the Ourang Medan but there was no response. A boarding party was sent to the ship and what they found was a frightening sight that has made the Ourang Medan one of the strangest and scariest ghost ship stories of all time.

All the crew and officers of the Ourang Medan were dead, their eyes open, faces looking towards the sun, arms outstretched and a look of terror on their faces. Even the ship’s dog was dead, found snarling at some unseen enemy. When nearing the bodies in the boiler room, the rescue crew felt a chill, though the temperature was near 110°F. The decision was made to tow the ship back to port, but before they could get underway, smoke began rolling up from the hull. The rescue crew left the ship and barely had time to cut the tow lines before the Ourang Medan exploded and sank.

To this day, the exact fate of the Ourang Medan and her crew remains a mystery.

I may have posted this story before, but I don't remember. At my age, they say the second thing to go is the memory. What's the first...? I don't remember.

Coffee out on the patio for a change.