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SS Baychimo: Ghost Ship of the Arctic
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SS Baychimo: Ghost Ship of the Arctic

Unexplained Mysteries

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Historic Mysteries
Nov 12, 2024
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SS Baychimo: Ghost Ship of the Arctic
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The SS Baychimo is a 1,322-ton cargo ship that became trapped in an ice floe in 1931. The crew soon abandoned the ship, but the unmanned vessel continued to be sighted floating off the Alaskan coast for the next four decades. 

An aft view of the ship trapped in ice.
An aft view of the ship trapped in ice.

A Very Real Ghost Ship

There are many stories about ghost ships: phantom ships occasionally seen by people which, the stories go, foretell doom to those that encounter them.

However, this is not a ghost ship in the traditional sense, as it is/was very real.

About the Ship

Built in 1914 in Sweden, the 230 ft, 1,322-ton cargo steamer Angermanelfven sailed the trade routes between Hamburg and Sweden. After World War I, ownership of the vessel transferred to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The steamer, renamed SS Baychimo, made numerous sailings for Hudson’s, mostly delivering fuel, food, and supplies for pelts at Eskimo trading posts along the Victoria Island coast

The S.S. Baychimo in dock (1920).
The S.S. Baychimo in dock (1920). Photograph by Walter E. Frost.

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