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Old 04-05-2006, 12:56   #1
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Reappearing ghost ship - S.S. Baychimo

Ghost ship - S. S. Baychimo I will be quoting from an article that ran in today's Vancouver Sun. I found it interesting; there is no exact spot to post this in these forums so I thought I would post it here.

The Title of the article is: "Reappearing ghost ship still a mystery."

The Alaskan government is attempting to locate the last where abouts of the fabled "ghost ship of the Arctic." The steamer was a key player in the opening of Northern waterways with beginnings in 1920's; however in 1932 she was abandoned in an ice flow that locked her in. However after the abandonment, she became free and float around for decades with occasional sightings from time to time.

She was built in Sweden in 1914 and acquired by the Hudson Bay Company in 1919. The 1,300 tonne steel ship set several long distance records during its annual 3,000 kilometre runs between Vancouver and the North West Territories.

Each trip was dangerous and each year it had to escape the grip of the polar ice. In 1931, the steel ship encountered one of the worst years for ice flow and she was caught.

The Captain realizing he and his crew were in a "hard place" radioed for a rescue and the first "air lift" from the Arctic unfolded. Twenty of the ships crew were flown out in two air craft. The crew decided to winter in a close by coastal area and rescue the ship in the spring as she freed herself from the icy arctic grip. A severe storm in late November free the ship and she disappeared.

In 1932 an arctic explorer caught sight of her as he was sledding across the arctic. The next year, Inuit hunters saw the ship and boarded it just as a storm approached encouraging them to leave. The ship was spotted again in September of 1935 and November of 1939 near Wainwright Alaska. In 1962 another group of Inuit kayaking the Beaufort Sea, sighted it.

And the last sighting was in 1969 when a US oil tanker Manhattan was crossing the Northwest passage, a party of Inuit said they spotted the SS Baychimo once again.
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Old 04-05-2006, 13:11   #2
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And someone still thinks it is afloat after some further 35yrs????
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Old 04-05-2006, 17:25   #3
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I think they are trying to find its final resting place. What is weird to me is that this ship was Canadian so why is an American state looking for a Canadian ship?
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Old 04-05-2006, 19:11   #4
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For some reason, I find this story fascinating. Here is a link to a longer version of it, some one supplied on another forum. Take the time to read it, I think it might grab you as well.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...pt/ai_11323072
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Old 04-05-2006, 21:36   #5
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Ship

With all the satellites taking pictures I think it would be easy to find a ship in the ice and snow, but that's just my opinion. They showed us photos of trucks in Iraq and the ship should be a lot easier to spot.
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Old 04-05-2006, 21:46   #6
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Micheal.

It's not that easy. You can not just point and shoot a camera from space. And we're talking millions of square miles of ocean here. Not just knowing generally to find a fuel truck in Iraq?

It would take alot of effort to find a ghost ship. But, to actually make a spy satellite take a priority is another issue. So figure out the politics surrounding the use of the satellite?
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Old 10-01-2007, 15:16   #7
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For the full story of the life of the Hudson's bay Company steamship SS BAYCHIMO read BAYCHIMO, Arctic Ghost Ship by Anthony Dalton.
Published by Heritage House (Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd. British Columbia, Canada) in October 2006, the book will answer all your questions.
ISBN: 1-978-1-894974-14-1
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Old 10-01-2007, 16:42   #8
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Anthony, thank you for bringing this back up. The reason for the fascination is obvious. It is part of the mystique the sea holds for all sailors. It is so vast, and ever changing, that no sailor, regardless of the miles traveled, can claim to know every inch of it, or any inch of it for more than a moment.
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