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    The Flying Dutchman: Sea Mysteries: Mary Celeste: Bermuda Triangle: Eilean Mor: Buster Crabb: USO
    The Flying Dutchman: Sea Mysteries: Mary Celeste: Bermuda Triangle: Eilean Mor: Buster Crabb: USO
    The Flying Dutchman: Sea Mysteries: Mary Celeste: Bermuda Triangle: Eilean Mor: Buster Crabb: USO
    Ebook70 pages2 hours

    The Flying Dutchman: Sea Mysteries: Mary Celeste: Bermuda Triangle: Eilean Mor: Buster Crabb: USO

    By Albert Jack

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    About this ebook

    From the Author of the Internationally Bestselling Books - Red Herrings & White Elephants, What Caesar did for My Salad, Shaggy Dogs, Pop Goes the Weasel, They Laughed at Galileo:

    We all love a good mystery don’t we? And by all, I mean each and every one of us are, or will be, captivated at one time or another by a decent, real-life, scary mystery; either one of the world’s most famous or something on a much smaller scale. But, writing a book on just one of these would have been relatively easy.

    The challenge came from researching many of them and then condensing them down in a way that I know you, my reader, will enjoy them. And that is in short, sharp informative sections that can be read on the train, bus, queue or whilst you are waiting to pick the kids up from school.

    In other words, the challenge was to explain each mystery in a way you can enjoy, and absorb, in about ten minutes flat. Therefore, inevitably, some information will be missing, for which I apologise in advance. But the missing detail isn’t critical to the basic story; the core details of the mystery in question should all be in there. And this brings me to an important point. Given that I am a fan of the unknown and unexplained, I have not set out to be a mystery buster in this series.

    Instead I just wanted to tell the story, reveal some little-known detail and offer a rational explanation wherever I could. I wanted to provoke a bit of thought and conversation wherever I could, but leave you to decide the answer for yourselves; does the story remain a mystery, in your view, or have you managed to piece together a theory of your own that you can share with friends.

    Although, to be fair, I must admit there are some cases where I just couldn’t resist presenting some of my own ideas and giving full rein to my scepticism. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying yourselves. Here then are six of the world's most famous mysteries of the sea.

    Contents

    1. The Flying Dutchman
    2. The Mary Celeste
    3. The Bermuda Triangle
    4. The Eilean Mor Lighthouse
    5. Buster Crabb
    6. Unidentified Submerged Objects (USO)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlbert Jack
    Release dateDec 14, 2015
    ISBN9781310435270
    The Flying Dutchman: Sea Mysteries: Mary Celeste: Bermuda Triangle: Eilean Mor: Buster Crabb: USO

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      Book preview

      The Flying Dutchman - Albert Jack

      Introduction

      We all love a good mystery don’t we? And by all, I mean each and every one of us are, or will be, captivated at one time or another by a decent, real-life, scary mystery; either one of the world’s most famous or something on a much smaller scale. But, writing a book on just one of these would have been relatively easy.

      The challenge came from researching many of them and then condensing them down in a way that I know you, my reader, will enjoy them. And that is in short, sharp informative sections that can be read on the train, bus, queue or whilst you are waiting to pick the kids up from school.

      In other words, the challenge was to explain each mystery in a way you can enjoy, and absorb, in about ten minutes flat. Therefore, inevitably, some information will be missing, for which I apologise in advance. But the missing detail isn’t critical to the basic story; the core details of the mystery in question should all be in there. And this brings me to an important point. Given that I am a fan of the unknown and unexplained, I have not set out to be a mystery buster in this series.

      Instead I just wanted to tell the story, reveal some little-known detail and offer a rational explanation wherever I could. I wanted to provoke a bit of thought and conversation wherever I could, but leave you to decide the answer for yourselves; does the story remain a mystery, in your view, or have you managed to piece together a theory of your own that you can share with friends.

      Although, to be fair, I must admit there are some cases where I just couldn’t resist presenting some of my own ideas and giving full rein to my scepticism. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying yourselves. Here then are six of the world's most famous mysteries of the sea.

      Contents

      1. The Flying Dutchman

      2. The Mary Celeste

      3. The Bermuda Triangle

      4. The Eilean Mor Lighthouse

      5. Buster Crabb

      6. Unidentified Submerged Objects (USO)

      The Flying Dutchman.

      The ghostly captain and his crew condemned to sail the seas for ever.

      There are many Flying Dutchman pubs throughout Britain and as many theories supporting the origin of the name. Steam-train enthusiasts will point to the legendary locomotive of the same name operating mainly along the London to Exeter route between 1849 and 1892, although, in fact, like many steam trains of the period, it was named after a famous racehorse.

      Bred in Yorkshire, the Flying Dutchman triumphed in every race he entered, bar one, including the Derby and the St Ledger in 1849, the year the train was first launched. (If that’s what you do with trains.)

      Both the locomotive and the racehorse may well have inspired a few inns and taverns to bear their name. But the name itself goes back much further, to events alleged to have taken place four centuries ago, somewhere near the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South Africa.

      The most celebrated ghost ship the world has even known takes its name from a Dutch captain, a man called Van Something or Other (opinions vary), who was famous for the speed at which he was able to travel between Holland and the Far East along the trade routes of the seventeenth century.

      Legend has it that on one return journey he ordered his crew to tackle the Cape of Good Hope in the teeth of a storm, instead of taking shelter in nearby False Bay. His crew, suspecting the belligerent captain to be more interested in his own reputation than the safety of his men, pleaded with the old seadog, but Captain van Cantankerous refused to change course.

      As he left the quarterdeck, he swore a blasphemous oath, challenging the might of God, and then attacked a man who had dared question his decision, running him through with his cutlass and throwing him overboard.

      The moment the body hit the water, the dead sailor immediately reappeared on deck and Captain van Reckless drew his pistol, only for it to explode in his hand. The ghostly fellow now spoke: ‘As a result of your actions you are now condemned to sail the oceans for eternity with a crew of dead men, bringing death to all who sight your spectral ship. You will never again make land or know a moment’s peace.’

      And ever since, the ghostly Flying Dutchman has been trying to sail around the Cape into the teeth of fierce winds, or leading other ships on to the rocks, condemning to death any sailor who lays eyes upon her and, strangely enough (according to those who lived to tell the tale), passing on letters addressed to people long dead.

      There have been many supposed sightings of the ghost ship, including one by a young midshipman who later became King George V and who recorded, on 11 July 1881, exactly what he and the duty lookout had witnessed on that dark night: ‘A strange red light, as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the mast, spars and sails of a brig two hundred yards distant stood out in

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