#ghost ships

[heretherebedork]

Alright, how are we ghost shipping the other boys in the band in ThamePo? Are we waiting to see how they puppy pile or are we already picking pairs just based on the fifteen seconds of them existing on our screen?

[midnightfire830]

😏

Stay tuned…It’s new AU time…

[honourablejester]

A thought for a sci-fi ghost story.

I was thinking about science fiction and horror in proximity, how to do gothic in space, and I’ll come back to that, I’m percolating on it. But I was sidetracked by a thought about ghost ships. Which can mean anything from an abandoned ship drifting without power, to a ship full of ghosts, to the ghost of a ship. And that. That last one.

You all remember in Event Horizon (1997), when they realise that the rescue ship’s scanners are registering the Event Horizon itself as ‘alive’? The idea of the ship itself as the ghost.

And I’ve been watching some air crash investigation stuff lately, including some tragic CVR recordings, and I remembered one which was just the pilot pleading something along the lines of ‘come on, girl, don’t do this to me, don’t crash on me’.

And in the animated anthology series ‘Love, Death and Robots’, there was a short called ‘Lucky 13’, about an unlucky ship that got a pilot that cared, and may or may not have been sentient enough to make its death count to try and save said pilot.

So I was thinking. There’s a hulk, drifting in space. It’s an old, old hulk, a ship from centuries ago. It’s been spotted here or there a couple dozen times throughout galactic history. Nobody who goes near it comes back. But the thing about it is, it’s not drifting. It can’t be drifting. Because plotting the locations it’s been seen, assuming that the reports are real, it’s been covering a lot of distance in those centuries. Nowhere close to what a ship under actual power would cover, it’s heartbreakingly slow, but it’s covering ground. Or space, rather. It’s moving. Almost as if it’s still being piloted.

And that’s not really possible. Every scan of the ship from someone who survived shows that it’s dead. Dead dead. Whatever power plant was in there is gutted or gone. There is not a shred of motivating power left in her. She’s a hulk. There is no power, there are no life signs, there is no motivating force. Now, granted, every scan of the ship that survived came from ships that kept their distance. Nothing’s out there from someone who got close. But still. She’s dead. She’s a hunk of floating metal. There is nothing in her that should be able to let her move.

But she is. She’s moving. Slowly, oh, so achingly slowly, but she’s moving. She’s going somewhere. Power or no power, life or no life. Four hundred years down the line, she still has somewhere to go.

And maybe we follow a team who spots her. Maybe they were hunting her, the mysterious white whale of the salvaging community, or maybe it was a ship on its own business who stumbled across her, but they see her. And they get close. And they board her.

And things happen. Terrifying things. Things in their heads, things not in their heads. A hulk that’s been dead and powerless and airless and frozen for four hundred years, but things move inside her. Things open. Things close. Systems flare with phantom life. She wants them out. She wants them gone. Get out, get away, leave me alone. Leave me and mine alone.

But someone’s stubborn. And someone stays, someone keeps pushing. Someone finds the thing at the core of her that she was so desperate to defend.

Her power plant is gone. Damn near ripped apart. Whatever happened to her, whatever she ran into all those centuries ago, it did catastrophic damage to her. Absolutely unsurvivable damage. But not instant damage. Not enough to blow her up on the spot. She fought all the way down. And so did her crew. So did her crew. Because the bodies are still there. Scattered, here or there, lying where they fell, the trail of breadcrumbs across the ship that she was doing everything in her power to drive intruders away from. Guarding their bodies. Guarding their rest.

There’s a recording. When they find the first of the bodies, and they don’t touch them, when she realises they’re not going to touch them, she lets them onto the bridge. There’s a ‘recording’. Nothing real. Nothing recoverable. There’s no power. Nothing left alive to record anything. But the boarding team ‘sees’ the recording anyway, phantom signals on a black screen. Phantom voices over dead comms.

“Come on, girl. Come on, girl. Give me just a little bit more. Come on. Come on. We’re so close. One more jump and we’re home. Come on, girl, you can do this. Just a little bit more. Please.”

And she couldn’t. She couldn’t. She didn’t have a little bit more. But by god, by god, she will get them home now. The slow way. The hard way. No engines. No jumps. By no power but her own sheer determination. Desperation. Loyalty. She couldn’t save them. But she will get them home.

The ship is a ghost. There’s no crew. They’re all dead, they’re all gone. They didn’t stay with her. No spirits linger except hers. She’s all alone. But it doesn’t matter. She failed them then. She won’t now. The ghost of a dead ship will carry their bodies home. No matter how long it takes, or how far she has to go. Some loyalties last beyond death. And hers is one of them.

Leave her alone. Leave them alone. She has to carry them home.

… Yeah. I had a thought for science fiction ghost story? The story of the ghost … of a ship. Heh.

[scarefox]

Someone under a PopTopten post suggested that Michael and Lee should become a (ghost) ship too. And now I am sitting here thinking about it's possibilities 🤔 Do they have, ya know, the vibes? the chemistry?

[stuckasmain]

3001 has me thinking about graves.

Are astronauts adrift in space any different from the body’s of sailors adrift at sea? Would disturbing them to either bring them home or revive them be disturbing a grave? Is it like a shipwreck where sometimes it’s just best to let them lie there?

Everyone knows where the spot is, it’s well marked and most divers and boats will steer clear to let them rest. Would space be any different? Would all of the solar system be a resting place?

Discovery is referred to as “the Mary Celeste of space” a ghost ship. When they are found they’re explored, and what happened can be speculated. The ship can even be brought back if possible but what happens if you ever find one of the ghosts adrift?

Does Frank feel as though his rest has been disturbed? As if he’d been pulled from the grave without much regard for his own thought? Or is that just an idea we have for people we cannot recover as they can’t say way they think?

[eldritch-macabre]

[myhauntedsalem]

Ghosts of the Queen Mary

On May 27, 1936, the RMS Queen Mary set sail from Southampton, England, completing her maiden voyage in New York just a few days later. For the next three years, the ship was the height of luxury, transporting such notable passengers as Clark Cable, Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, and Winston Churchill. Its elaborate facilities included two indoor swimming pools, beauty salons, libraries, tennis courts, and more. However, the luxurious amenities didn’t last.

In 1939, the Queen Mary was stripped down and began service as a World War II troop transport ship. For the next eight years, the ship hauled tens of thousands of servicemen across the sea, earning the nickname the Grey Ghost due to its color and speed. After the war ended, the Queen Mary was refitted for passenger travel and again served as a luxury liner until retiring from service in 1967.

Now permanently moored in Long Beach, California, the Queen Mary serves as a popular tourist attraction, complete with restaurants, a museum, and a hotel. Legend has it the historic ship is also haunted by the men, women, and children who died aboard.

A little girl named Jackie reportedly haunts the second-class swimming pool. Legend has it she drowned there, though there are no historical records of such an event. Nevertheless, staff and visitors report seeing a child’s ghostly figure near the pool. An elderly woman in black and white also haunts the area.

On October 2, 1942, the Queen Mary accidentally rammed and sank her escort ship, the HMS Curacoa, as she carried over 10,000 troops to Europe. More than 200 men died in the collision, and now Queen Mary staff and visitors reportedly hear strange sounds coming from the ship’s bow.

In 1988, a former marine engineer told Unsolved Mysteries he once heard the sound of water pouring into the Queen Mary. Thinking there had been a rupture of some kind, the man rushed to investigate but found nothing unusual. The engineer later learned he’d been in the part of the ship that had collided with the Curacoa. Unsolved Mysteries also left a voice-activated recorder in the same area and reportedly captured the sounds of rushing water, tearing metal, and crying men.

A man named John Peddler reportedly haunts the lower area of the ship. It seems John was crushed by Door 13 during a routine drill and now lingers near the site of his death. The legend got its start after witnesses claimed to see a bearded man in blue overalls disappear in front of the ill-fated door.

According to a plaque on the ship, at least 16 crew members died on the Queen Mary, succumbing to everything from tetrachloride poisoning to a fall from the gangway. Some reports place the total number of deaths, including passengers and servicemen, at 49. Is it possible the men, women, and children who died aboard still roam the ship today? Or are the stories nothing more than fanciful legends?

[awiderangeofgreen]

Writing something (and being really invested in it) when you're not even sure to ship this, is a strange feeling. But I'm having fun with this VegasPeteBig 🤣 and I might be the only one enjoying it when it will be done but it's ok

[heretherebedork]

There are three levels of ghost ship in Only Boo

ShoneKang: We know Shone genuinely has a crush on Kang but got turned down because of Moo.

JangPayos: Alas, we know Payos is in love with Potae and that Jang is an idol they're going to dance with so... just a ghost and wishful thinking.

JangShone: HEAR ME OUT... they both get turned down by the younger men they're trying to flirt, meet at an afterparty for influencers and idols and the rest is history.

[ann-i-inthestars]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & ARC Commander Colt, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & Clone Commander Thorn, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & Clone Troopers Characters: CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, Clone Commander Thorn (Star Wars), ARC Commander Colt (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Waxer (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Keeli (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Hardcase (Star Wars), Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2 (Star Wars) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Past Character Death, Ghosts, ghost ship - Freeform, Space Bermuda Triangle, Clone Troopers Deserve Better (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Culture & Customs (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Inhibitor Chips (Star Wars), Background Relationships, Mentioned CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Mentioned CC-1010 | Fox, Mentioned Clone Trooper Boil Series: Part 1 of Haunted Clone Week Summary:

The Force has gathered all of the fallen clone troopers on one ghost ship with the promise of a second chance. The only catch: first they have to convince Anakin Skywalker to kill Chancellor Palpatine.

written for day one of @clonefandomevents haunted clone week! prompts are ghost ships and space bermuda triangle!

[dntclosemt]

Who are your ghost ships in 19days?

woah okay i have a couple of them!!

-jian yi x shi li

-shi li x brother qiu

-shi li x he cheng

-Mo x he cheng

-Mo x Zhan zheng xi

-He tian x Jian yi

I think that's about it on all my ghost ships (^^ゞ

[etakeh]

I'm curious how they end it, considering how the Demeter showed up in dock.

[archivist-crow]

The Palatine Light

A phantom ship, seen off Block Island, Rhode Island, in the North Atlantic waters. The story of the Palatine, like many folk tales, is based on fact but probably is greatly embellished with fancy. There are different versions of the tragedy.

According to one version, the Dutch ship, the Palatine, left Holland in 1752 with a load of immigrants bound for Philadelphia. Off the coast of New England, the ship suffered damage by storms. Then the crew mutinied, killed the captain, robbed the passengers, and abandoned them, taking off in the lifeboats. The ship ran aground on Block Island, off Rhode Island, a place so notorious for shipwrecks that it supported a band of land pirates called the Block Island Wreckers, who made their living salvaging wrecks. This time, however, the Wreckers humanely saved the survivors before plundering the wreck. One survivor, a woman who had gone insane from the trouble at sea, refused to leave the ship, even though the Wreckers planned to set it afire once they had finished scavenging. She remained aboard, and as the tide carried the flaming wreck out to sea, her screams could be heard by those ashore.

According to another version, the ship bore German immigrants and was deliberately run ashore by the captain and crew for the sake of plunder. Still another version holds that the ship was lured aground one stormy night by the decoy lights of the land pirates. In both of these versions, the pirates did not save the survivors, but plundered the ship and set it afire with the living still on board.

The blazing Palatine light, as thr phantom is called, was seen periodically by the inhabitants of Block Island in the late 18th through 19th centuries, and came to be a harbinger of stormy weather. Family recollections recorded by one Thomas R. Hazard in Recollections of Olden Times by 1579 tell of one unnamed resident "who was generally well and in his right mind except at the season of the year when the Palatine ship was wrecked." At that time, the old man:

“became madly insane, and would rave about seeing a ship all ablaze, with men falling from her burning rigging and shrouds, and ever and anon shrink in horror from the spectres of two women, whose hands he cut off or disabled by blows from a cutlass, as they sought to cling to the gunwale of the last boat that left the burning ship and all on board to their fate that not one might remain alive to bear witness of the terrible catastrophe and crime.”

During the 19th century, it was believed among Block Islanders that the Palatine light had been sent by God to punish the wicked men who murdered her passengers and crew, and that when the last of the pirates was dead the ship would be seen no more. Reports of the Palatine light continue into contemporary times.

Text from The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Checkmark Books - 2007)