Smyrna times., 1934-09-13
OCEAN GUARDS
HER SECRETS
Many Legends Inspired By
Crewless, Ghostly Ship
At Sea
STRANGER THAN FICTION

Washington.-The greatest sea
mystery of the decade may be near
solution if it can be proven beyond
doubt that wreckage recently
washed up on the coast of Aus
tralia is from the lost Kobenhavn.
The sea guards well her secrets,
and the world has waited FIVE years
for news of the Danish training
ship which sailed out of Montevido
in December, 1923, bound for an
Australian port.
'The Kobenhavn," says a bulletin
from the National Geographic so
ciety, was a new. five-masted, steel
bark, the largest sailing vessel In
the world, equipped with auxiliary
engines and a powerful radio. On
December 21 she reported all well.
She was then 400 miles out, well
started on her course through the
South Atlantic. the loneliest wa
ters In the world. That was the
last word that was ever heard from
her.
"One month later the settlers on
Tristan da Cunha, an isolated rock
halfway between Brazif and Good
Hope, were greatly excited by the
approach of a sailing vessel. She
seemed to be steering aimlessly,
with a light sail set. before a gale
which was driving her straight for
the islands jagged reefs. Just as
disaster seemed inevitable she
veered aside and drifted safely
past. not 400 yards offshore.
There was no sign of life on
board, and she was riding far down
at the stern, indicating some dam
age. Otherwise all was in good or
der, and there could be no doubt of
her identity. She was the lost
Kobenhavn. BY the next day when
it was calm enough to put out in
boats she had vanished forever.
Stranger Than Fiction.
Many are the legends, songs,
and stories inspired by ghostly,
crewless ships, wandering on year
after year, alone on wide. wide
sea-
Even stranger than ghost ships
of fiction are the ships of wood and
steel, ships of fact, which in mod
ern times have sailed our seas un-
manned. One of these. the Hud-
sons bay steamer Baychimo. has
haunted Arctic waters for the past
three years. Loaded with a valu-
able cargo of furs she was caught
in the ice off Wainwright, Alaska.
Her captain and crew went ashore,
resolved to wait until the spring
breakup to work her free, One
night terrific stom broke her
loose from her moorings and set
her on her wandering course. At
intervals she is reported by the
captains of whalers and trading
vessels. Eskimos have salvaged
most of her cargo, and twice she
has been boarded by parties of
white men from passing ships. But
always she eludes capture.
Some ten years ago Atlantic
shipping was for months endan-
gered by the erratic behavior of the
Governor Parr, a disabled British
schooner, abandoned by her crew in
mid-ocean. Superstitious sailors
credited her with supernatural con-
troll over storms. She carried In
her hold a fortune in Canadian
lumber. Twice steamers put off
from Nova Scotia to tow her ashore !
and salvage her cargo, but each |
time after they had boarded her
sudden storm forced them to aban-
don the attempt. Months later she |
appeared off the Azores, where |
again efforts at salvage met with |
the same defeat. Her final fate, |
like others. remains mystery.
Mary Celeste Mystery.
Perhaps the most famous mys-
terry of all. puzzle that has defled |
(Coptiprad On Pnua Stxt