Since then, the Flying Dutchman has plied the seas, spreading death and destruction. As the legend says, the ghost of the Flying Dutchman portends certain death for the ship or part of the crew. Therefore, the sailors were afraid of him, like fire, superstitiously nailing horseshoes to the masts.

"... And if at a transparent hour, in the morning, Swimmers in the seas met him, They were forever tormented by an inner voice With a blind harbinger of sadness ..."

There is another, quite real precedent of the "Flying Dutchman". In 1770, an epidemic of an unknown disease broke out on one of the ships. Being in the vicinity of Malta, the sailors asked for asylum in the local port. The authorities refused for security reasons. The ports of Italy and Great Britain acted in a similar way, dooming the inhabitants of the ship to a slow death. In the end, the ship really turned into a floating island with a pile of skeletons on board.

Interestingly, one of the representatives of the English royal family. On July 11, 1881, the British ship Bacchae, carrying the young prince as a midshipman cadet, encountered a ghost ship. By the will of fate, the prince was destined to live for many more years and become King George V. But the sailor, who was on patrol that fateful day, soon fell off the mast and hurt himself to death.

But the most amazing thing about this whole story is that the legendary ship was met even in the 20th century! So, in March 1939, many South African bathers witnessed his presence with their own eyes. This event is documented, as all the newspapers wrote about it that day. A similar story happened to one of

The formidable "Flying Dutchman" has been terrifying superstitious sailors all over the world for more than 400 years. Even a mere mention of this ship during the voyage was considered a bad sign, not to mention a direct meeting with him in the open ocean. This is the most famous ghost ship that has ever been described in the history of mankind.

"Flying Dutchman"

Under black sails, hoisted even in the most terrible storm, a ship with a half-rotted hull confidently floats on the water. On the bridge near the helm is the captain. He looks doomed only forward, not noticing the sailors around him - very colorful characters in the form of skeletons in old rags. The crew manages the sails with confidence, not paying attention to the storm. This is how the surviving eyewitnesses describe the meeting with the Flying Dutchman.

Replenishes the ranks of this team is usually the captain of a lost ship. Moreover, a higher degree of abomination of the deceased during his lifetime gives him more chances to be on the "Flying Dutchman".

Curse of the Flying Dutchman

According to the curse, the entire crew of the ship, led by the captain, cannot land on the shore. These people are doomed to eternal wandering on the seas. Cursing their unfortunate fate, the crew members of the sailboat take revenge on all oncoming ships. They have been sowing death and destruction for centuries.

Most often, the "Flying Dutchman" is met just at the place where the legend originated - near the Cape of Good Hope. This sea ghost created insurmountable difficulties for everyone who tried to go around the cape.

A chance to end the curse

This curse can be lifted. For this, the captain of the ship is allowed to go ashore once every ten years. He is free to choose any port in the world or the bay he likes. During the night, he must find a deeply religious woman who will agree to marry him. Only the fulfillment of this condition will break the curse. Otherwise, the ghost ship will again go on an endless voyage.

How did it all start?

The history of the "Flying Dutchman" began in the distant XVII century. The impetus for creating the myth of an unusual ship was the story of the Dutch captain Philip van der Decken. Various sources offer several options for the name of the captain.

The legend of the "Flying Dutchman" says that a young couple was on a ship sailing from the shores of the East Indies under the control of Captain Philip van der Decken. To their misfortune, the cap decided that the girl should become his wife. He killed the young man and offered himself as a future husband. The unfortunate woman preferred death in the waves of the raging sea.

This did not affect the captain's plans at all, and he continued on his way to the Cape of Good Hope. A strong storm and a stormy current did not allow the ship to go around the cape. All attempts by the crew to convince the captain to wait out the storm were unsuccessful. Moreover, the navigator and one of the sailors paid with their lives for the offer to enter a bay that was safe for the ship.

The captain had the imprudence to utter fatal words about his readiness to fight the sea for at least an eternity, but to go around the ill-fated cape. It was they who became a curse, under which not only the captain fell, but the entire team of the Flying Dutchman. It turns out that Philip van der Decken himself caused his misfortunes.

Other versions of the appearance of the "Flying Dutchman"

This was the basic myth. The "Flying Dutchman", with all the ensuing consequences, could have appeared for other reasons:

• The captain shouted that he would try to get around the Cape of Good Hope until the second coming. To the blasphemous statement, the heavens answered: "So be it - swim."
• Hurrying home, the team broke the unwritten rule of all sailors - to come to the aid of a dying ship.
• The captain played badly on his own soul with the devil in the dice.
• Because of terrible disease, which struck the team, the ship was not allowed into any port, and everyone died.
• The "Flying Dutchman" met with the pirate ghost ship "Kenaru" and defeated him, but along with the victory received a curse.
• The captain promised the devil his soul for the opportunity to go around the ill-fated cape, the price for the fulfilled desire was eternal wandering around the seas-oceans.

Reasons for the birth of the legend

The sea has always attracted people, promising adventure and unexplored lands. Thousands of ships set sail. Especially stormy navigation was in the 16-17 centuries. Not everyone was destined to return to their native port.

Not seeing the bodies of the dead sailors, their relatives refused to believe in the worst. The most fantastic stories were invented to justify the "defectors". It was easier to assume that due to some incredible circumstances (the ghost ship does not let go) they simply cannot return home.

Logical explanations

Not everyone believed that the "Flying Dutchman" - a ghost ship - appeared because of the madness of one person or curses.

There are several logical, from the point of view of pundits, explanations for the appearance of ghost ships.

First, it could be a Fata Morgana phenomenon. The appearance of mirages on the water surface is not so rare. And the glowing halo around the ship is nothing but the fires of St. Elmo.

Secondly, the version about diseases on ships also has the right to exist. Mosquito-borne yellow fever could easily wipe out a crew on the high seas. An unruly ship with the bodies of dead sailors on board, of course, was an unpleasant sight and was a threat to the safety of ships.

Indeed, such an incident took place in 1770. An epidemic of an unknown deadly disease began on one of the ships. Attempts by the team to land on the shore were unsuccessful. Not a single port of Malta, England, Spain has given the ship permission to moor at its coast. The team was doomed to a slow death.

A meeting with an "infected" ship could be fatal for any ship. After all, the disease could pass, through objects or through the same mosquitoes, to members of another crew. Thus, a terrible curse about imminent death after meeting with the "Flying Dutchman" came true.

Thirdly, Einstein's theory of relativity, according to which our reality has a mass parallel worlds. Through temporary or spatial ports, strange ships appear and modern ships disappear without a trace.

This theory is supported by the case of coal king Donald Dukes of New Mexico. In 1997, in August, while traveling on his yacht (near the archipelago of the Bohemian Islands), he met a sailing ship.

In appearance, the ship belonged to the times of the 17th century; people in strange clothes were clearly distinguished on board. They also saw the yacht and were no less surprised. Moments before the inevitable collision, the sailing ship simply vanished into thin air. It has been suggested that the ship "got lost" in parallel worlds.

In 1850, on the coast of the American state of Roy Island, in front of the inhabitants gathered on the shore, the ship "Sea Bird" under full sail went straight to the coastal reefs. A powerful wave at the last moment carried the ship over the rocks and lowered it to the shore. During the inspection of the ship, not a single person was found. Traces of their recent presence were everywhere: a kettle was boiling on the stove, the cabins still smelled of tobacco, plates were placed on the table, all documents and instruments were in place.

Fourthly, academician V. Shuleikin, back in the thirties of the last century, put forward a version about the occurrence of low-frequency ultrasonic oscillations during storms with strong winds. They are inaudible to the human ear, but with prolonged exposure they can cause death. At a frequency of 7 Hz, the human heart is not able to withstand such a load.

Caused by fluctuations, unreasonable anxiety, up to insanity, can lead to a stampede of people from the ship. This is the explanation for why absolutely undamaged ships are found without a single person on board.

But some scientists saw another reason for the death of sailors. This is the fifth version of the development of events. It is possible that the crew members were simply poisoned by the meat of sleepy fish. It contains hallucinogens. In most cases, they cause nightmarish hallucinations. Under the influence of fear and an insane desire to leave the terrible place, the sailors lower the boats and flee from the ship.

In the Caribbean in 1840, a small ship, the Rosalie, was found abandoned. Full cargo holds immediately discarded the version of the pirate attack. The confusion on deck was proof that people were leaving the ship in panic. There was no information about the crew.

Sixth, according to the English poet and scientist Frederick William Henry Myers, the phenomenon of the Flying Dutchman phenomenon can be explained by the experiences of some forms of consciousness of one's death and the ability to telepathically project images for living people. In turn, the material world perceives this as ghosts, whether they are images of individuals or huge sailing ships.

There are many versions, and the mystery of the "Flying Dutchman" still does not have a clear explanation. Drifting ships, from small private yachts to huge liners, abandoned by their crews, are still found in the watery expanses of the oceans in our time. They are all united under one common name: the ship "Flying Dutchman".

Only the facts

Any ship left without proper care begins to break down. In extremely unfavorable conditions - sea water, storms, underwater reefs - destruction occurs much faster. But the paradox is that abandoned ships were found after many years, and they were afloat.

Not far from the coast of Greenland (in 1775), the English ship Octavius ​​was discovered. The last entry in the ship's log indicated that the ship's crew would attempt to pass through the Northwest Passage. It seems that there is nothing supernatural in this recording, except for one thing: it was made thirteen years earlier - in 1762.

On a January morning in 1890, the Marlborough, loaded with frozen mutton and wool, left the port of New Zealand. The ship was seen on April 1 of the same year near the shores of Tierra del Fuego. The next Marlboro meeting took place 23 years later. The British rescue team of the steamer "Johnsons" was able to board the half-rotted ship. The remains of the crew members and ship's documents were found. Unfortunately, they could not be read due to poor condition.

In 1933, they found a small empty lifeboat of the passenger ship SS Vlensia, which sank in 1906.

All found ships could not stay afloat for so long. This is inexplicable, common sense speaks of the impossibility of the existence of such facts. This riddle is still waiting to be solved.

Consequences of meeting with a ghost ship

The sailboat "Flying Dutchman" brings only troubles. Absolutely all sailors are convinced of this. And it does not matter at what moment this rendezvous happens - in a terrible storm or under a cloudless clear sky. After this fateful meeting, any ship is doomed.

Even if the team gets to the port, it is immediately written off to the shore, and it becomes almost impossible to recruit new people on the “tagged” ship. Precautions in the form of a horseshoe nailed to the mast do not help either.

Only under one condition can a ship safely reach the shore: when the ship "Flying Dutchman" uses the oncoming side as a postman. At the time of passing the ships side by side from the "Flying Dutchman" they throw a barrel with letters written back in the first year of the voyage. Mail, in no case opened, must be delivered to the shore. This is a kind of guarantee of the safety of both the vessel and its crew.

Theme of the "Flying Dutchman" in the cinema

Of course, filmmakers could not ignore such a bright legend. Films based on the plot of the Flying Dutchman have found their fans in all countries of the world.

The most famous - "Pirates caribbean". About popularity American painting say several (from 2003 to 2011, 4 full-length series were shot) films with excellent computer graphics, colorfully telling about the adventures of pirates.

There is everything here: mysticism, love, betrayal, excellent acting, sparkling humor, an exciting plot. The film company plans to release the fifth film "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" in 2017.

The theme of the ghost ship was also played up in animated films.

"Flying Dutchman" and music

Richard Wagner wrote one of his first operas, The Flying Dutchman, inspired by his trip to England. Having survived a storm on the ship, the composer wrote music very quickly. The opera was presented to the public in 1843 in Dresden.

More than once, the theme of the ghost ship was used in their compositions by rock bands at different times and in different countries.

Computer games

It would be strange not to develop such a fertile theme in modern computer games. There are quite a lot of them with different plots. Players are invited to go through several levels of challenges and help the crew get rid of the curse.

Writers and poets

Books and poems, ballads and poems have been written about the legendary sailing ship. At various times, this theme inspired E. McCormack, S. Sakharnov, A. Green, A. Kudryavtsev, L. Platov.

The answer to the phenomenon of the "Flying Dutchman" is still waiting in the wings. Perhaps it is already close, or perhaps this mystery will not be revealed for several more centuries.

Legend of the Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that is doomed to sail the oceans forever and can never land on the shore, and a meeting with this terrible sailboat always promises terrible troubles. The story goes that he only appears on a stormy night...
With all his might, he strives to get closer to the desired shore, but as soon as this happens, the ship disappears, as if it never existed. The reason is a terrible curse placed on him...
So what happened? Previously, the "Flying Dutchman" was an ordinary Dutch sailing ship that calmly plowed the waters of different oceans. But one day, in 1641, when the ship was on its way from the Dutch East Indies colonies to Europe, its captain Van Straaten took on board several passengers. Among them was a young beautiful girl(she, by the way, traveled with her fiancé), which the captain of the ship really liked. Passion completely captured the madman: not knowing what he was doing, Van Straaten killed the young man, and then told the girl who charmed him that he himself would take the place of her fiancé. However, the girl did not share his plans for the future and, saying that she wanted to be with her beloved forever, she jumped overboard.

The captain is completely mad with unrequited love! And then, as luck would have it, the ship was caught in a severe storm. It happened not far from the Cape of Good Hope, in places famous for hurricane winds and strong currents. All the sailors understood that they needed to return and wait out the storm in some quiet place, they, along with the passengers, began to beg Van Straaten to do this. But he, pumped up with alcohol, decided that he didn’t care. He gathered a team and said that let everyone before him die in a storm in these ominous waters, and he will do everything to go around the Cape of Good Hope! Everyone asked him to take pity on them and turn back, but Van Straaten, angry at everyone, only cursed and threatened to kill those who would not take his side. A riot broke out on the ship - the captain, without a drop of regret, shot all the instigators. And he told the rest that no one would leave the ship until it rounded the cape, even if it would take forever to swim. Either the creator did not like these words and he cursed the captain and his ship, or for some other reason, but at that moment a huge wave rose and swallowed the ship with everyone on board. Obviously, the captain is guilty of rudeness, murder, and most importantly, pride: he considered that he alone could compete with the powerful forces of nature and not rely on God's help.

So Van Straaten, his crew and passengers gained immortality. It is said that once every ten years the captain gets the opportunity to go ashore. He goes to land to find himself a new bride. And as soon as there is a girl who sincerely loves this presumptuous arrogant and murderer and marries him, the curse will be lifted and all the prisoners of the ghost ship will be able to return to their homes. In the meantime, the "Flying Dutchman" has been plowing the oceans for several centuries and cannot land on the shore.

Since then, the "Flying Dutchman" began to appear in a storm, especially often he is seen precisely at the Cape of Good Hope. In these latitudes, any ship caught in a storm is almost certainly doomed. BUT horror stories about a ghost ship, above which a luminous halo is visible, and its insane captain, they completely panic the superstitious sailors.

Among all maritime myths and legends, perhaps one of the most famous is the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Many people have reported seeing Captain Van der Decken's ship since it sank in 1641. For their insolence and blasphemy, the captain, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman, and his crew are doomed to surf the sea until Judgment Day.

The Flying Dutchman by Howard Pyle

Van der Decken's ship was on a trading voyage from Holland to eastern India. After the holds were filled to the brim with silk, spices and other expensive goods, the ship headed back to Amsterdam. Rounding the southern coast of Africa, the captain thought that it would not hurt to arrange a resting place near the Cape of Good Hope, where you can moor and rest before storming the raging waves.

Cape of Good Hope

Fatal flight and damnation

When the ship began to round the cape, the captain was deeply immersed in his thoughts. Suddenly a terrible gust of wind came up, threatening to capsize the ship. The sailors urged the captain to turn back, but Van der Decken flatly refused. Some believe that he fell into madness, others - that he was drunk, but in any case, the captain ordered the team to move forward. He lit his pipe and smoked, watching the huge waves crash against the side. Werther tore the sails, and water entered the hold, but the captain stubbornly followed his course, spouting blasphemous curses.

Portrait of Captain Van der Decken

Pushed to the limit, the team rebelled. Without the slightest hesitation, the captain shot the instigator of the riot and threw his body into the raging waters. The moment the corpse touched the water, a voice was heard asking if Van der Decken would like to wait out the night in the bay. But the impudent sailor replied: “Damn me if I turn off the path, even if I have to hang out here until the day of judgment! »

The Flying Dutchman by Albert Pinkham Ryder

And then the voice spoke again: “Yes, you are destined to forever sail the ocean with a team of the dead, bringing death to everyone who sees your ghostly ship, and you will never land in any port, and you will not know a second of peace. Bile will be your wine and red-hot iron your meat!” Hearing this sentence, the captain, without batting an eyelid, exclaimed: “So be it!”

Ghost ship

Since then, Captain Van der Decken, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman, has been sailing on his ship. Experienced sailors say that ships that meet him go astray, running into reefs and rocks hidden under water. It is believed that if you peer into the waves raging at the Cape of Good Hope, you can see the captain at the head of his team of skeletons. But be careful, according to legend, anyone who notices the Dutchman is sure to die a terrible death.

The legend of the Flying Dutchman gained fame in 1843 thanks to Wagner's opera of the same name. But the reason why this legend lives on to this day, inspiring many authors (from Wagner and Coleridge to the creators of the Spongebob cartoon) lies in the fact that many are convinced that they saw a ghost ship.

Last scene from Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (1843)

One of the most famous meetings took place on July 11, 1881. The Flying Dutchman was encountered by Prince George of Wales (the future King George V) and his brother Prince Albert Victor, who were sailing off the coast of Australia. After Prince George wrote in his diary:

“July 11th. At 4 am we met the Flying Dutchman. A strange red light surrounded the ghostly ship with its masts, spars and sails. The schooner was two hundred yards astern and to port, where the officer of the watch could see her. The stern midshipman was immediately sent to the forecastle, but when he arrived there, he did not see the slightest trace of any ship, only a clear calm sea to the very horizon. A total of thirteen people saw the schooner, and at 10:45 in the morning the sailor who first reported the appearance of the Flying Dutchman fell from the main mast onto the forecastle and hurt himself to death.

Modern scientists are of the opinion that the Dutchman's ship is nothing more than a mirage, a reflection of rays of light from ocean water.