The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that is said to bring death to all who see it. Although much of its story is legend, it is based on fact. The Flying Dutchman was a 17th century Dutch merchantman class ship known as a Dutch fluyt. The story begins in 1680 as The Flying Dutchman sets sail from Amsterdam to a port in Dutch East India known as Batavia. The ship was captained by Hendrick Van der Decken.
According to the legend, Van der Decken’s ship encountered a severe storm as it was rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Van der Decken ignored the dangers of the storm, thought by the crew to be a warning from God, and pressed on. Battered by the tempest, the ship foundered. As the ship plunged downwards, Captain Van der Decken knew that death was approaching. He was not ready to die and screamed out a curse: “I will round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until doomsday!” there were unfortunately, no survivors. Van der Decken had doomed his ship and his crew to ply the waters near the Cape for eternity.
The Flying Dutchman has been the subject of many sightings and stories throughout history, adding to its paranormal reputation. One of the first recorded sightings was by the captain and crew of a British ship in 1835. They recorded that they saw the phantom ship approaching in the shroud of a terrible storm. It came so close that the British crew feared the two ships might collide, but then the ghost ship suddenly vanished before impact.
The Flying Dutchman was again seen by two crewmen of the H.M.S. Bacchante in 1881. The following day, one of those men fell from the rigging to his death. In March 1939, the ghost ship was spotted off the coast of South Africa by dozens of bathers who provided detailed descriptions of the ship, although most had probably never seen a 17th-century Dutch fluyt before.
The British South Africa Annual of 1939 included the story, derived from newspaper reports: “With uncanny volition, the ship sailed steadily on as the Glencairn beachfolk stood about keenly discussing the whys and wherefores of the vessel. Just as the excitement reached its climax, however, the mystery ship vanished into thin air as strangely as it had come”.
Another sighting was in 1942, again off the coast of Cape Town. Four witnesses saw the Dutchman sail into Table Bay and simply disappear.
The last recorded sighting was in 1959 by The Straat Magelhaen, which almost collided with the ghost ship. Some superstitious sailors still claim that the Dutchman has led ships astray, causing them to crash on hidden rocks or reefs. They say that if you look into a fierce storm brewing off the Cape of Good Hope, you will see the Captain and his skeletal crew. But beware, legend has it that whoever catches sight of the Dutchman will most certainly die a gruesome and untimely death.
