Hello everybody, welcome to part two of this three-part post on famous ghost ships. This post will go over the history and strange end to the Carroll A Deering. I hope you enjoyed the last post and if you haven’t read part one, please go back here and check it out before beginning part two.

By the early 1900s, the large multi-masted schooners that once defined transatlantic travel were quickly falling out of favor. Steel-hulled steamships were quickly becoming the dominant force on the Atlantic. Even so, wooden schooners were still being built even into the 1920s. One of the last and largest of these was the Carroll A Deering. The Deering was a massive five-masted schooner built by the Deering shipbuilding company in Bath, Maine. The Carroll A Deering would be the largest and last schooner the Deering company would make and despite the high hopes for the ship, she would only sail for less than a year.

After a few routine voyages, the still very new Deering began her final voyage on August 26^th, 1920. She was loaded with coal in Virginia and was bound for Rio de Janeiro. However, one week into the voyage the ship stopped in Delaware due to the captain falling too ill to continue the Voyage. While in Delaware tensions rose between the ship’s officers and the new Scandinavian crew that had been signed for the voyage. Threats were made but ultimately things simmered down and after a new captain was found the Deering continued on her voyage.

The Deering reached Rio in November without incident and unloaded her cargo. While in port the replacement captain of the Deering had dinner with a fellow captain and was noted to complain about his first and second mate. However, most noteworthy was his comment that if anything happens, he knows the engineer has his back. Not the comments you would expect to hear from a captain with full confidence in his crew. However, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary and on December 2^nd the Deering left Rio bound for Virginia.

The Deering stopped briefly in Barbados for supplies where an altercation broke out involving the ship’s first mate who was quoted to say, “I’ll kill you before it’s over old man”. The first mate and crew left the ship for five days after reportedly going on a bender. The captain again spoke with other captains in Barbados where he voiced his concerns with his first mate and openly discussed mutiny. However, the captain felt confident the ship was under control and that he could finish the voyage. After all, the ship was empty with no financial benefit for mutiny or piracy.

The Deering finally left Barbados for Virginia on January 9^th, 1921. On January 29^th the ship was spotted by the Cape Lookout lightship. The master of the lightship even took a photo of the schooner as she approached as seen below. As the ship drew near, a man on the Deering called out they had lost both anchors in a storm and asked the lightship to send work to the Deering Company. The master of the lightship would later say that the man’s way of speaking seemed off and that he spoke with a Scandinavian accent. Stranger still was that several crew members seemed to be in a part of the ship typically reserved for the captain. The lightship watched the Deering sail off and soon behind her, a steamship followed. As the lightship’s radio was down they signaled the steamship to send along the Deering’s message. However, the steamship ignored all signals and continued at speed away from the lightship following the Deering while the crew covered her nameplates with canvas.

Then on the morning of January 31, a coast guard lookout in Cape Hatteras, Virginia notices a figure beginning to break through the morning fog. A large five-masted schooner could be seen wrecked on the sholes and after the rough winter weather subsided on February 5, a rescue team was sent to assist the crew of the ship. As they approached, they could see the ship was the Carroll A Deering, and despite their calls and signals no response was given by the ship. Waves were crashing against the Deering as her decks were beginning to break apart. The ship was wedged between the rocks, and it was evident that she was a total loss.

Upon boarding the derelict Deering, the coast guard was surprised to find no crew aboard. Stranger still was that everything seemed like there should have been. Food was still sitting on the ship’s stove and her two lifeboats were missing. Stranger still was that many of the captains’ and crews’ belongings and the ships’ navigational equipment were also missing.

After an investigation, no positive explanation was ever found for the disappearance of the Deering’s crew. Whether mutiny, piracy, or a storm, it’s strange to imagine why the captain and crew would abandon a still-floating ship. As for the Deering herself, she was blown up by the coast guard to prevent her from becoming a hazard. No trace of the ship’s crew was ever found and even though we may never know the truth, theories remain. Could the crew have mutinied and taken off in the mysterious steamship seen by the lightship? Were all hands lost in a storm? We may never know, but the mystery of the Deering lives on in this strange and eerie tale.

Thanks for reading and if you enjoy this post, please feel free to leave a comment. A big thanks to Ocean Liner Designs and Big Old Boats for the information and inspiration needed to create these posts, definitely check out their channels and website if you like this type of content. Look forward to the last and most famous Ghost Ship in part 3!