NEW YORK FOLKLORE QUARTERLY
Vol. V, No. 2, Summer 1949

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PHANTOM SHIPS OF THE NORTHEAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA
Ralph deS. Childs

PHANTOM ships seem to be going out of style. I have not come across any phantom steamers— only sailing craft. For some reason the ghosts of great mechanical marine disasters have not gone in for haunting. There are no reports of ghosts of the Titanic, the Antinoe, the Atlantique, the Vestris, or the Morro Castle. Well-established ghosts of sailing ships are still being seen, however, and many of them are ghosts of ships that have met disaster.

That phantom ships are seen is a phenomenon as old as history and older. They are common to the earliest folklore of every literature. What is surprising is the virility of the superstition in the last few hundred years of so-called enlightenment on this, a new coast. There are instances of fifteen phantom ships north and east of New York.

These fifteen ships have certain characteristics that probably apply to phantom ships everywhere. One is that they tend to sail against the wind, or at high speed with no wind at all. A second is that there is no crew, or the crew is statue-like and inactive. A third is that several of them are fire ships. Fourth, they are prone to reappear after they have suffered disaster. Lastly, some are under the age-old curse of never making port. Of these fifteen, eight sail against the wind, five have no crew or an inactive one,...

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