Have You Ever Heard The Legend Of New York’s Ghost Ship?

Legends and stories about ghost ships are nothing new. However, did you know that New York's Great Lakes has a ghost ship story of it's own?

The legend of the "Ghost Ship of the Great Lakes" has mystified sailors and intrigued locals for centuries. If you've never heard of this ghostly tale, you're in for a treat if you love mystery, and appearances of a phantom ship that vanished without a trace. It all happened on Lake Ontario.

According to Barbara Smith's book, Ontario Ghost Stories, in August of 1910, eleven men not only saw but heard a ghost ship on Lake Ontario.

The men were out on the lake at night when they heard a repeated whistle. The men came on deck to see a clipper ship complete with oil lamps burning in the windows. They peered through the darkness towards the ship puzzled as the as the whistles meant that the ship was in distress.

A rescue team was formed and sent out in a boat to see what assistance they could render but when they arrived on the scene where the ship should have been, there was nothing to see. The ship simply vanished on a clear night bathed in moonlight.

Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes of North America, has been the stage for numerous shipwrecks throughout history. The origin of the ghostly ship varies in different tellings of the story. Some claim it to be a ship that met a tragic fate, sinking with all hands on board, while others believe it to be the apparition of a long-lost vessel from a bygone era. Online some date shipwrecks from the 1800s as the ghost ship, while others from the early 1900s could be the specific ship.

Many sailors, campers, and residents have sworn to have seen the ghost ship over the years, and their stories are remarkably consistent. According to ChatGPT, they describe a ship with tattered sails and a crew that appears as if frozen in time. Despite the numerous modern vessels that traverse Lake Ontario, the ghost ship continues to elude explanation and remains one of the most enduring maritime mysteries of the Great Lakes.

Have you ever heard of the ghost ship of Lake Ontario? Have you ever had any chilly experiences there? Text us on on our station app.