History Main / GhostShip

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyVuuXUR7Lc Dawson's Christian]]" describes a space-age version of this trope in the form of the eponymous ''Christian''. A spaceship crewed by an AcePilot and his fearless crew is destroyed in a heroic LastStand against an emeny force during an interstellar war. It was a three-to-one battle, and though the ''Christian'' was apparently destroyed so thoroughly that no trace of it was ever found, all of the enemy ships were cut to shreds. Yet still, they say that the wrecked ''Christian'' roams space with shields glowing red and beam weapons brighter than any other, destroying pirate ships before they can prey on the innocent and then fading from sight.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyVuuXUR7Lc Dawson's Christian]]" describes a space-age version of this trope in the form of the eponymous ''Christian''. A spaceship crewed by an AcePilot and his fearless crew is destroyed in a heroic LastStand against pirates. It was a three-to-one battle, and though the ''Christian'' was apparently destroyed so thoroughly that no trace of it was ever found, all of the Pirate ships were cut to shreds. Yet still, they say that the wrecked ''Christian'' roams space with shields glowing red and beam weapons brighter than any other, destroying pirate ships before they can prey on the innocent and then fading from sight.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E104TheThirtyFathomGrave The Thirty-Fathom Grave]]", the submarine ''714'', which was sunk by the Japanese in 1942, is seemingly haunted by its crew.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': DoubleSubverted when the cast is retrieving a crashed experimental aircraft from the ocean floor, only to be boarded and attacked by ghost pirates. They find out pretty quickly (after Brock kills one) that the ghost pirates are just normal pirates pretending to be ghosts, but then the experimental aircraft actually turns out to be a ghost ship, complete with ghost pilot... who isn't really interested in doing anything other than floating around and screaming.

* ''Film/TheBlackHole'' is about a Ghost Ship InSpace The crew discovers the USS ''Cygnus'' devoid of its people, except for the Captain and his crew of robots. Except that many of the robots are [[spoiler:the zombified remnants of the original crew]]!

* ''Film/EventHorizon'' is all about a Ghost Ship, basically a HauntedHouse InSpace Except it's being haunted [[spoiler:by Hell itself]].

* ''Literature/DeadSilence'' has the Aurora, a ghost ship [[RecycledInSpace in space!]] Notable for being a luxury liner meant to cater to the ultra wealthy. It was even built explicitly to look like a sea ship, in an attempt to appeal to potential passenger's sense of nostalgia and pageantry.

* The ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Lyubov_Orlova Lyubov Orlova]]'', a Yugoslavian cruise ship which became the subject of a brief media frenzy when ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun]]'' falsely claimed that it was infested with man-eating rats and was about to run aground on the British coast, which just happened to be the plot from an episode of ''[[RadioDrama Suspense]]'' starring Creator/VincentPrice.
* [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-449670/Three-sailors-vanish-modern-day-Mary-Celeste-riddle.html In 2007]], the catamaran ''Kaz II'' was found deserted with the engines running and all the life jackets still on board. Like the ''Mary Celeste'', the three crew members were never found. What ''was'' found was a video camera containing footage of said crew members [[TooDumbToLive conspicuously not wearing said life jackets whilst up on deck]], making their probable fate fairly easy to guess.

* Since 2015, a flotilla of wooden boats has washed ashore in Japan with their decaying crews still aboard. The Korean writing on one the boats (which read "Korean People's Army") and the clothing of the deceased suggests that they were civilian defectors who were fleeing North Korea's oppressive regime. However, that doesn't explain why the occupants of one ship appeared to have been decapitated -- or why another contained [[http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/asia/japan-ghost-ship/index.html six human skulls]].

* Easily one of the creepiest of all time is the 1947 Dutch merchant ship ''Ourang Medan'', which was discovered by two American vessels in the Pacific after receiving a radio message from the ship that ended in an ominous "''I die''". In the ship, the crew found the crew's corpses in a frozen state of terror (including their dog) and pointing at something with no visible injuries on their bodies. The ship was also in fine condition and for some reason, an unnatural chill emanated from the still-burning boiler room. The crews prepared to tow the ''Orang Medan'' to shore, but the ship mysteriously exploded and sank shortly afterwards. Theories range from leakage from an illegal cargo of toxic chemicals, to inevitable UFO claims, to supernatural attacks by ghost pirates. However many believe the story was simply a hoax, as no records of any ship with that name exist beyond repetitions of the spine-chilling tale.\\
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What makes the tale even more dubious is that there is no reference to the ship in ''Lloyd's Shipping Register'' (a register of ''every'' merchant ship above 100 gross tonnes, [[LongRunners first published in 1764]], made to help merchants check and see what sort of shape a ship they are thinking of hiring is in), and there are no records of it being registered in any nation, including the Netherlands. [[http://skittishlibrary.co.uk/the-myth-of-the-ourang-medan-ghost-ship-1940/ One recent researcher]] concluded the story was a hoax after discovering a nearly-identical story (albeit in a different part of the Pacific Ocean) published in English newspapers a few years earlier, and that the same man (an Italian writer named Silvio Scherli) claimed to be a witness to both events.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'': One sequence has the main characters boarding an apparently derelict steamer, with the only passenger being an orangutan. [[spoiler:The steamer is actually the orangutan's Stand, Strength. The ape is extremely intelligent by lesser-primate standards and not too fond of people.]]

* ''Manga/Overlord2012'': The Katze Plains have been a designated battleground for centuries, to the point where undead spawn constantly there. There's even a flying ghost ship that is said to appear [[spoiler:and later shows up having been enthralled by Ainz offscreen.]]

* ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'', the lesser-known sequel to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. Haunting by Bowman. The BigDumbObject that turned Bowman into an [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended being]] in the first film [[spoiler:turns Jupiter into a star in this one]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'': The series has had several ghost ships. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters 2'' had ships that still sailed with an undead crew. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' had a sunken ship you could explore once you gained the ability to travel underwater.
* ''VideoGame/{{Duskers}}'': You roam the universe full of these, and [[AfterTheEnd very little else]]. Except they are not as empty as they may seem...

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'':

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': The Republic Navy frigate ''Harbinger'' arrives at the Peragus fuel depot during the prologue apparently manned by nothing but corpses. According to the ship's ApocalypticLog, the Sith vessel the assassins came from was no different. Then, there's the ''Ravager'', which, while not really a ghost ship, it's got the look of one, and its crew is made up of zombies, with an actual ghost/HumanoidAbomination for a captain.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', the direct sequel to ''Wind Waker'', has a literal ghost ship which is ''called'' [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Ghost Ship]]. It sails around abducting people and stealing their life force, and is overrun by deadly ghostly enemies called Reaplings as well as the Diabolical Cubus Sisters. It serves as the [[FourIsDeath fourth]] dungeon in the game.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilGaiden'' is set entirely on a ship, the ''Starlight''.

* ''VideoGame/SonicRushSeries'': ''Sonic Rush Adventure'' has the Haunted Ship stage, culminating in a boss battle against a robotic pirate.
* ''VideoGame/SpaceGriffonVF9'': Imagine if a Tyranid Tyrant manifested into an ever-evolving monster by not only understanding but controlling and absorbing energy from The Warp, enough to inflict long-distance mind control and mutation upon your fellow soldiers, and change the Genestealers to rogue machines and BodyHorror Silent Hill creations. There's a reason why you'll brick the toilet with this game despite the fact it places you in a [[{{Anime/Macross}} vaguely familiar transforming mecha.]] Though, a good half of it IS atmosphere. If you aren't really 'feeling' it, it just won't affect you as much aside from the long-range powers thing.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'': The entrance to the Valley of Bowser is protected by a ghost ship, that appears deserted at first, but then suddenly the room fills up with ghosts. It's all but stated, [[AllThereInTheManual at least in the manual]], that it may well be one of the flying ships used by Bowser's minions [[ContinuityNod in Super Mario Bros 3]].

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars'': Mario and company have to explore one of these to retrieve the Star Piece that landed in the ocean.

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* In addition to the above cases, there have also been several instances of ghost fighter aircraft that managed to regain control through sheer physics alone and keep flying after their pilots ejected.
** By far the most famous example of this is the case of the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber Cornfield Bomber]]", an F-106 Delta Dart which was caught in a flat spin during a training flight in 1970. After the pilot did everything he could to try to stop the spin, he determined that recovering the plane was impossible, and ejected. The ejector seat's mechanism managed to exert enough force on the aircraft to arrest the spin, pushing the nose downward enough and lightening the plane enough for it to gently descend back to the ground and land gear-up in a cornfield. Miraculously, the plane suffered so little damage in the incident that it was easily recovered, repaired, and continued to fly for 18 more years before earning a well-earned spot in the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

* In 2016, the ''Sayo'' (spelled ''Sajo'' in some sources) was found adrift. There was a crew member, Manfred Fritz Bajorat, on board, but he was deceased and mummified.

* ''[[Film/LastSentinel2023 Last Sentinel]]'' (2023) is set on a tiny sea fort on a FloodedFutureWorld. The crew of the fort was supposed to be relieved three months ago. They detect the relief ship drifting nearby, fully stocked with supplies but with no-one on board. This starts an argument with their commander over whether they should use the ship to abandon their post and return home, while the CO would prefer to strip the ship for parts and try and find out what happened.

-->-- '''Boat Puller''', ''VideoGame/ReturnOfTheObraDinn''

* ''Film/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'': Docking with an old NASA shuttle near the dark side of the moon brings [[spoiler:TheDevil]] on board.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' has the ''Harbinger''. According to the ship's ApocalypticLog, the Sith vessel the assassins came from, was no different. Then, there's the ''Ravager'', which, while not really a ghost ship, it's got the look of one, and it's crew is made up of zombies, with an actual ghost/HumanoidAbomination for a captain.

See also SendInTheSearchTeam and LateToTheTragedy. Not related to {{shipping}} two [[GhostShipping dead characters]].

** Similarly, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522 in 1999]], a Learjet carrying PGA golfer Payne Stewart lost pressurization and remained on autopilot long after the crew and passengers lost consciousness, flying for four hours and more than 1,500 miles before running out of fuel and crashing in South Dakota.

* ''Series/BronBroen'': The second season begins with a ship colliding with the titular bridge, which proves to be completely deserted [[spoiler:apart from a group of young people chained up in the hold, who have been infected with plague]].

%%* 'VideoGame/SystemShock'': The ''Von Braun'' of ''System Shock 2''.

** ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'': The U.S.G. ''Ishimura'' is essentially one huge Ghost Ship.

* ''Film/{{Sphere}}''. BigDumbObject [[spoiler:grants uncontrollable psychic powers]]. Monsters.
* ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'' (2007). The crew comes across a distress signal from one of these. They would ignore it if not for the fact that their own mission was a consequence of its unexplained disappearance and its cargo could be of immense assistance to them. Everything that goes wrong thereafter, whether by accident or malice, stems from this well-meaning decision.
* ''Film/{{Supernova}}''. BigDumbObject [[spoiler:makes people younger, or something, ... until it blows up]].

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' novels:

* The ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Lyubov_Orlova Lyubov Orlova]]'', a Yugoslavian cruise ship which became the subject of a brief media frenzy when tabloids falsely claimed that it was infested with man-eating rats and was about to run aground on the British coast.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' takes place on the Bottle Ship, which is essentially this.