The mystery of the 'ghost' mahogany ship at sea

Maritime history of the world contains many mysteries about ghost ships, mysterious missing ships. There are stories that have found answers, but there are still many to this day still making an unexplained mystery.

The most prominent is the mysterious disappearance of the "mahogany ship" in southern Australia. After hundreds of years, the mystery of this ship is still in darkness.

Appears and then disappears again - ghostly loop .

About 3 - 6km west of Warrnambool, Southwest Victoria, Armstrong Bay owns the most dangerous coastline in Australia. It is estimated that there are about 200 different boats and ships killed in this sea. All of the wrecks were discovered, except for the ' Mahogany Ship ' (Mahogany Ship).

The story begins in January 1836, Captain Smith, who is in charge of the whale fishing station at Port Fairy, with two men, Wilson and Gibbs, shipwrecked.

On the journey to find their way home, they discovered an old ship, different from the structure of a conventional ship at the time of the 1800s. Wood ships were dark and many people thought it was made. from mahogany - a wood that almost never appears in shipbuilding technology. Since then, the name 'Mahogany Ship' was born. Surprisingly, after the discovery of the three men, no one saw the corpse of the 'Mahogany Ship' .

Photos of "Mahogany Ship" corpses in paintings

Ten years after Captain Smith's discovery, the story of the "Mahogany Ship" once again rippled public opinion in South Australia. Another captain named Mills saw the "Mahogany Ship" again.

He even stood up on the deck of the wreck on the sand. He is also the person who specifically describes the location of wrecks in later texts. However, the wreck disappeared afterwards, just like what happened 10 years ago.

Mahogany is said to be the raw material to build this strange ship

This mysterious episode kept repeating during the 1800s. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was estimated that more than 30 corpses of the "Mahogany Ship" appeared and disappeared.

The first expedition to find the 'Mahogany Ship' was conducted in June 1890 led by museum curator Warrnambool - Joseph Archibald but failed to produce any results.

Following this event, people rushed to search for the body of the legendary ship, but they all worked. Gradually, the ambiguity and ambiguity of this story made it suddenly fall into oblivion. What remains about the "Mahogany Ship" is only folk tales.

Later, by the end of the twentieth century, people once again reopened the story of the 'Mahogany Ship'. In 1992, the Victorian state government awarded a prize of $ 250,000 (equivalent to nearly VND 5.2 billion) to find the "Mahogany Ship". Despite the involvement of many prestigious archaeologists, this mysterious ship remains in the dark.

Scientific hypothesis .

As early as the nineteenth century, most ancient documents believed that 'mahogany Ship' was a Spanish ship. According to local writer Jack Loney, there are two theories about the origin of the 'Mahogany Ship'. It could be the Santa Ysabel boat departing from Peru in 1522 or Santa Anna - the ship was wrecked in 1812 when carrying 45 tons of sperm whale oil.

Model of Santa Anna ship of the Spanish empire

Many people believe that it is not necessary to explore the area, the source of the truth about a rumored ship like 'Mahogany Ship' . However, in fact, if this is a ship that exists, it will change many maritime history of the world.

If the 'Mahogany Ship' is not of British origin, one will have to re-examine who is the one who mapped the South Australian coast instead of taking it as the famous British captain James Cook .

If the "Mahogany Ship" is true, James Cook's reputation will have to be studied again

Many experts believe that the "Mahogany Ship" is part of a secret mission to find the legendary southern land of the ancient Portuguese empire. The ship could sink in 1522, on a voyage to find hidden islands. The secret of the trip was the reason the ship's disappearance was not recorded in ancient texts.

Boat model of the ancient Portuguese empire

In 2002, a theory was given by English writer Gavin Menzies: 'Mahogany ship' is a Chinese ship. He based on the evidence of the mysterious ship's construction: mahogany, leaves and strange, unique designs, unlike Western ones. Of course, this not-so-sharp argument is rejected and not many supporters.

Ancient Chinese ship model

Anyway, the hypothesis is still hypotheses. The story of the 'Mahogany Ship' is still in darkness and awaiting the answer in the future .