El Caleuche - Chiloé Island, Southern Chile

According to Chilean legend, based on the mythology of the people of Chiloé Island, located about 600 miles south of Santiago, a ship sails the oceans of the world manned by those who have drowned at sea. The ship is El Caleuche, the ship of the dead.

El Caleuche, or the ship of the dead according to Chilote mythology, sails the oceans collecting souls that have drowned

The ship is actually a figure or being of the Chilote Mythology that appears as a brightly glowing, lively masted sailing ship.  It is said that when it is approached, it will suddenly turn into a marine animal or an inanimate object to disguise itself.  It sometimes travels under the water where it cannot be seen.

According to the legend there are three ghostly figures of the Chilote Mythology that carry the drowned victims to El Caleuche.  They are siblings, two sisters and a brother:  La Sirena chilota who is a mermaid, La Pincoya chilota who is another type of water spirit, and the El Pincoy who is the brother, a merman.  Once they place the drowned victims on El Caleuche, the victims come to life again and live happily and celebrate with the other crew.  However, they can never leave except once a year to visit their family.

Depiction of La Sirena chilota

It is said that another type of crew that visits the ship and those are Brujo chilote, a type of sorcerer that are said to be carried to El Caleuche on the backs of Caballo Marino or a type of phantom sea horse that dwells in the ocean.  These visitors are different than the drowned in that they are of the evil sort and like to try and spoil the party.

The Octavius - London, England

In 1761, a sailing ship named The Octavius departed London loaded with cargo bound for China.  Having safely arrived at it's destination and taking on another load for the return trip, the captain decided to take advantage of the unusually warm weather and chance an attempt at the shorter route via the northwest passage which until that point, had never been done successfully.  So in 1762, The Octavius departed China with a load of goods for the return trip to the Atlantic and headed northward to attempt an Arctic passage.  The ship made it through the passage...  thirteen years later as a ghost ship.

This is the fate that most likely came of The Octavius on her attempt at the Northwest Passage in 1762

It had been some time since anyone had heard word from or even sighted The Octavius.  It was assumed She had been overtaken by the Arctic and was lost along with her crew.  On October 11, 1775 the whaling ship The Herald was working waters west of Greenland when it spotted a ship adrift that seemed unmanned.  Pulling along side of the derelict vessel, they boarded her only to find the entire crew below decks frozen solid as if trying to escape the cold.  The captain was found in his cabin sitting at his desk frozen stiff with pen in hand apparently dying in the middle of a log entry.  The ship was The Octavius and according to the last log entry the captain was writing in 1762, his chancing the northwest passage failed as the ship had become locked in the Arctic ice. Apparently, after the ship's stores had run out and the crew long since had frozen to death, thirteen years later had become unlocked from the thawing ice pack that sealed her fate and completed the northwest passage manned by a crew of dead sailors.

Somehow The Octavius, manned by a crew of dead frozen sailors, managed to escape the Arctic ice and completed the Northwest Passage and was discovered in 1775

The terrified crew of The Herald fearing of a curse and wanting nothing to do with the ship, left it abandoned touching nothing.  Neither The Octavius or her ghostly crew has ever been seen again.