The Ghost Ship Octavius
An artist’s interpretation of what the ghost ship Octavius may have looked like. Image: The Archaeologist
In 1775, a ghost ship named Octavius was discovered stranded off the coast of Greenland, with the frozen remains of all 28 crew members found below deck.
History of the Octavius
The Northwest Passage the Octavius ghost ship took shown in red. Photo: Ancient Origins
The Octavius was a renowned sailing ship built during the mid-18th century. The ship embarked on a voyage to Asia from England in 1761 with a crew of 28 members.
While the ship successfully reached its intended destination a year later, its return journey was marred by tragedy. Despite the calm seas and warm weather, the captain of Octavius made the risky decision to navigate through the Northwest Passage. The passage was unexplored and uncharted at that time, and he sought to be the first captain to make a successful voyage through the route.
The decision to take this route would have cut down their return time considerably. As fate would have it, the journey did not end well. The ship disappeared without a trace after reaching northern Alaska in the fall of 1762, and its last known location was approximately 250 miles north of Utquiagvik, Alaska.
Discovery of the Ghost Ship Octavius
In 1775, a whaling ship named the Herald stumbled upon a chilling discovery off the coast: a ship stuck in the ice. It was none other than the infamous Octavius, which had disappeared without a trace 13 years earlier in 1762.
Despite the decay on the ship, the crew of the Herald decided to explore it for goods. What they found inside would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Below deck, all 28 crew members of the Octavius were frozen solid to death, as if time had stood still since they last took breath. The scene was unsettling, with each crew member sitting or lying exactly where they were when they died. The captain of the Octavius was found at his desk, pen still in hand, with his wife and child huddled together under blankets as if they were taking a nap.
Nearby, a sailor with a tinderbox seemed to have been trying to warm them all before succumbing to the cold. The crew of the Herald, spooked by the discovery, decided to take nothing from the ship except the captain's log. The log revealed that the last entry was made on November 11th, 1762, indicating that the crew had been dead for 13 years, waiting to be discovered by the first unfortunate ship that came across them.
Theories About What Happened to the Ghost Ship Octavius
The mystery of the Octavius and its ill-fated crew still baffles historians and medical experts to this day. While death by freezing is a well-known danger in the Arctic, the way the crew members were found frozen in position remains inexplicable. The captain sitting at his desk, pen in hand, and his wife and child huddled together under blankets, suggest a sudden and eerie demise.
It is possible for the temperature to drop very suddenly, especially in the Arctic. In the US in February 2019 a polar vortex caused the death of 21 people due to unexpected extremely low temperatures. While these deaths can happen very quickly it’s more likely that the details of the story have been exaggerated over time to make for a better story.
What do you think really happened to the crew of the Octavius? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed learning about the Ghost Ship Octavius you might be interested in other ghost ships such as The Jenny, or the Mary Celeste.
