Hauntings don’t just happen on land, but ghosts seem to favor the seven seas! Unsurprisingly, it seems that the majority of haunted ships are tied with the military and combat. There are theories as to why this is, which I’ll get into throughout the list. I’ve had the honor of investigating four of the ships on this list. Some officially, and another unofficially. I’m excited to say that I’ll check another one off this list on Saturday, March 17th, 2018. I’ve always had a fascination with haunted ships. Perhaps it started with my fascination with the Titanic. I became enthralled with the different histories of ships and how mysterious they were as they went about their business in the open ocean. I’ve tracked down ten of my favorite. Well, I should say nine, as one of them is a submarine!

USS Lexington

By M. Hansen, U.S. Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

USS Salem

By U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships – This media is available in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 7577535.

The USS Salem is located in Quincy, Massachusetts and it is the world’s only preserved heavy cruiser. The ship was built in the 1940’s and was nicknamed the “Sea Witch.” In 1953, the ship rescued earthquake victims in 1953 in Greece. It also served as a hospital as well as a morgue for the earthquake victims. This was where the USS Salem apparently gathered their spirits from this occurrence. The lives lost during the earthquake have seemed to call the ship their permanent home in the afterlife.

H.L. Hunley

via National Geographic

Perhaps this is a form of cheating since this isn’t technically a ship…but a submarine for the Confederate States of America. The H.L. Hunley was the first combat submarine to sink a warship, but it disappeared right after. The submarine was built in 1863 and launched in 1864. The Hunley sank two previous times before and killed her entire crew each time, including Horace Hunley himself. That alone showed the dangers of undersea warfare and perhaps something that the CSA shouldn’t have pursued. On February 17, 1964, the Hunley shot a torpedo at the USS Housatonic and sank the warship. The Hunley then disappeared and the fate of her third crew remained a mystery. The Hunley was located in 1995 with the remains of all eight members still inside. At first, it was believed that the crew died from running out of oxygen. It was later determined that the crew died from the blast of the torpedo that struck the Housatonic. You can see their facial reconstructions here.  In terms of paranormal activity, this is really under the radar as this information was divulged to me by a third part. But phantom voices have been heard around the original submarine as well as shadow people. Even if it’s not haunted, the Hunley has an amazing story.

SS William A. Irvin

via museumships.us

In Duluth, Minnesota, the SS William A. Irvin has been delivering scares and frights for a while. In 1964, a seaman was scalded to death in the boiler room, which is nothing short of a terrible end of life. Other former crew members are rumored to be haunting the flagship of the U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Fleet. The ship worked as a lake freighter from 1938 until 1975 before becoming a workhorse fleet until 1978. It just goes to show that not all haunted ships are warships, nor do they have to see any combat.

USS Yorktown

Something Original at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Star of India

via Wikimedia

Located in San Diego, California, the Star of India is one of those landmarks I grew up with. Built in 1863, the ship sailed the world 21 times before calling San Diego home. School trips, acting gigs, and more…the Star of India is one of the most fascinating places in the world. At least to me. The haunting that lives on the ship is rather malevolent though according to my comrades. I didn’t experience that when I investigated the ship. The ghost is believed to be of a stowaway who hid in the ship and then fell to his death, and there are cold spots where he hit the deck. The ghost has been blamed for the death of a volunteer who fell to his death from the ship’s rigging in 2010. Do I believe that? I don’t know. It’s a coincidence at most and a tragic accident.

USS Hornet

via uss-hornet.org

The USS Hornet was the first aircraft carrier that I officially investigated. Officially meaning that I was there to ghost hunt and not me sneaking in an audio recorder just to see what I can capture. It was an incredible experience once I went about on my own with another person. The ship does have a “ghost tour” where they will tell you where things happen and what to expect. While I was in the sick bay, I saw anomalies that were ever-present in front of my eyes. You can read more about my experience at The Paranormal Can Be a Gift. People have reported hearing voices, footsteps, and apparition throughout the ship. Considering the ship’s history with World War II and the subsequent awards that were earned for her valor, I’m not surprised.

USS Midway

via Alex Matsuo Photography

Another San Diego staple is the USS Midway. While I was living in America’s Finest City, the Midway Museum was not receptive to having any sort of paranormal team investigate the premises officially. I believe this may have changed but the only sanctioned investigation that occurred was by the San Diego Ghost Hunters. The ship was commissioned one week after the end of World War II and it was the largest tonnage ship in the world until 1955. The Midway saw action during Vietnam and was the flagship during Desert Storm. Stories of the haunting on the ship include the sighting of over 30 ghosts in the halls. However, as mentioned before, the staff and volunteers stay mum about paranormal activity. For me personally, I have recordings of strange voices, but given it was in a public location, it’s easily debunkable.

RMS Queen Mary

By RMS_Queen_Mary_Long_Beach_January_2011.jpg: David Jones from Isle of Wight, United Kingdom derivative work: Altair78 (RMS_Queen_Mary_Long_Beach_January_2011.jpg) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

USS North Carolina

via wwaytv3.com/

The USS North Carolina is one of the most decorated warships of World War II. She was one of the first battleship to arrive in Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was welcomed with a celebration and sailors said that the ship was “the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.” The ship was active between 1941-1947 and sat dormant until 1960. She was saved from being used for scrap metal thanks to the people of North Carolina. She participated in every in every official naval offensive in the South Pacific and was even present during the armistice between the United States and Japan. She was considered to be the protector of aircraft carriers and fueled the tanks of destroyers every 3-4 days. In August 1942, she first saw combat while protecting the USS Enterprise. The USS North Carolina is the fourth vessel to bear the name, with the first USS NC being launched in 1820 and then sold for scrap in 1867. There was another ship named North Carolina, which was a CSS for the Confederacy and built in Wilmington, North Carolina. She sank in 1864 near Southport, North Carolina. The second US Navy ship named North Carolina was an Armored Cruiser 12 commissioned in 1909 and decommissioned in 1921. The third ship was known as Battleship 52 and it was never completed. In terms of hauntings, people have reported hearing voices, seeing shadow figures, full body apparitions, and even being touched. There have been numerous deaths associated with the USS North Carolina, and you can see a comprehensive list here.

The post 10 Ships That Will Haunt Your Dreams appeared first on Association of Paranormal Study.

For as long as I have been investigating, about ten years now, I have longed to have a face-to-face encounter with the unknown.  Preferably a benevolent encounter.  Most of us who investigate will often see things out of the corner of our eye and we will look to the side a second too late, we’ll process the strange sound we hear about five seconds later.  Overall, having a face-to-face encounter is rare, at least for me.

While I was on Field Trip 14: San Francisco with the Paranormal Research Society, we had the opportunity to investigate the USS Hornet.  The “ghost hunt” was in a group setting, and it was a little difficult for me to investigate the area the way that I’d like to.  I usually prefer a quiet area with a few people so that the sounds can be heard, and everyone’s focus and energy can be dedicated to the task at hand.  But alas, I didn’t get that chance.  However, I try to be open to different styles of investigating and some people prefer to have a large group around them with a leader telling them what to do, what they should experience, or smell..in this case.  Not my personal style, but it can work for others.  The biggest drawback was being unable to do a good EVP session in the sick bay…

The first place we went to was the sick bay in the USS Hornet.  There, our leader was communicating with a spirit of a young sailor.  The tool he used was the old flashlight trick.  You ask the spirit questions and they manipulate the flashlight by turning it off or on…or when saying yes or no.  This method became very popular after it was seen on Ghost Hunters.  It’s a controversial technique and not always dependable in my humble opinion.  It’s very easily to manipulate the trick because when you unscrew the head, it creates an open current where a bump or anything really can make the flashlight turn off or on.  I’ve been reading up on people actually using magnets to manipulate the flashlight as well.  Now, supporters of the flashlight method can easily refute me by saying the flashlight is sensitive enough where a spirit can easily manipulate the device.  And if people believe they have had a legit paranormal experience using the flashlight method, than who am I to say no?

Then we moved on to the engine room where the leader’s friend apparently committed suicide.  He told us that we would smell something when we got down there, but he wouldn’t tell us what until we told him what we were smelling.  Evidence and experience were already tainted, my friends.  When you do that, people will be on high alert for smells and literally anything they smell could be interpreted as paranormal.  I’m not a fan of telling people what they will experience before investigating.  At least if you want to take the evidence seriously.  It’s important to not taint anything so that, say we were never prompted about the smell, and several of us were smelling something, then those experiences are much more real.  I’ve been on ghost hunts and tours where the leader will take note of our experiences and then tell us afterward that others experienced the same thing.  That is more legitimate for me.  Also, I had an ethical issue with investigating someone’s suicide location for a ghost hunt for tourists.  It’s one thing if it’s a client-based investigation, but asking your dead friend to do tricks for tourists?  I had an ethical issue with that…I felt it was border-lining (if not completely) disrespectful.

After all that, I was a tad disappointed that I couldn’t do a good EVP session in the sick bay.  But then me and my friend Tiffany were able to go back down there with some other people.  We actually got to lay down in the beds and we began our EVP session.  About ten minutes later, I experienced my first face-to-face paranormal experience.  While I won’t elaborate on what I saw, I will say that it was a special experience.  Tiffany and I agreed to not tell a lot of people about our experiences.  But during the circle talk the next day, others had experienced the same thing we did at other times.

I had been so frustrated with the ghost hunt earlier and I felt like there was definitely something in the USS Hornet, but I wasn’t given an adequate opportunity to investigate like I had wanted.  I always try to investigate with the utmost respect for the unknown being in the location.  These spirits that dwell on the Hornet were men who served our country.  I tried to have a conversation with these men.  I asked them about the war, Pearl Harbor, etc.  I told them about my grandfather who was a Japanese-American who served.  I also thanked them for their service.  It was about that time when Tiffany and I had our experience.  I felt like that experience was a gift.  Maybe even a thank you?  I don’t know.  I was blown away.  I was a little freaked out, but I was also emotional.  I had never looked at anything like this dead-on before in my life.  It wasn’t in the corner of my eye, I was facing it.  And Tiffany was there to validate my experience.  I will say this:  Sometimes a paranormal experience can be a gift.  We need to keep an open mind and be ready to experience the unknown and accept the gifts that they may give us.  It can be a positive experience, and not always scary.  I believe the spirits on the USS Hornet want to communicate…they are just waiting for the investigators that don’t treatment like a carnival side-show expecting them to perform tricks, but instead, just talking to them like the physical human beings they once were.

The post The Paranormal Can Be a Gift appeared first on Association of Paranormal Study.