Astonishing Legends11 Maj 2024

The SS Kamloops and Old Whitey

When most of us think of shipwrecks, images of rough ocean waves and sailing vessels of yore come to mind. But those familiar with the Great Lakes region of the north-central United States and southern Canada know all too well that these massive bodies of fresh water produce devastating storms and treacherous swells to rival any sea. Estimates are that around 6000 vessels and 30,000 lives have fallen victim to their notoriously severe weather and deadly waters. In December 1927, a "raging blizzard" on Lake Superior claimed the steamship SS Kamloops and all 22 souls aboard. But was she really a "Ghost Ship," as the legends often describe? The ship went missing and remained undiscovered until 1977 but is in unusually, reasonably intact condition. So, although the wreck was found, the SS Kamloops is still known for a ghost of its own. At least one crew member remains, still manning his station, who is perhaps both a ghost and a corpse. Some divers on the wreck have claimed that the body of this crewman follows them around as they explore, known as "Old Whitey" because of his appearance. Others have also claimed to see a spirit nicknamed "Grandpa" because of his appearance, still on duty in the icy depths. Are these beings the same, and are their perceived actions the result of fluid dynamics and decompression sickness? Join us as we take a deep dive to get to the bottom of the legend of the SS Kamloops and Old Whitey.

Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(473)

S2 Ep38: Hello, James.

In tonight's dead letter, our listener TM was the office manager at a Catholic parish in the upper Mississippi river area, and part of her job was digitizing the cemetery's paper records, so she'd wal...

13 Okt 50min

Your True Halloween Stories IV Part 1

In 1933, a Scottish botanist watched a seemingly abandoned steamship drift past the Alaskan coast on an ice floe. It appeared upside down in a strange mirage, with no crew and no one at the wheel. Thi...

11 Okt 3h 4min

S2 Ep37: The Old Man on the Gravestone

In tonight's dead letter, Corey takes us back to Omaha, Nebraska in the year 2000, when he was the overnight host on a Top 40 station and a call-in topic about haunted places kept circling back to one...

6 Okt 51min

A Tale of Ghost Ships Three!

27 Sep 2h 16min

S2 Ep36: The Mimic

In tonight's dead letter, our listener Ed and his wife are newlyweds, sharing the apartment he's lived in for about two years in Clay Center, Nebraska. One morning in early 2020, he hits snooze on his...

22 Sep 32min

S2 Ep35: The Benevolent Warning

In tonight's dead letter, our listener named Mark is driving through western Michigan at two in the morning in 1978, working off a paper map and handwritten directions to a house he's never been to. H...

15 Sep 40min

S2 Ep34: The Lady in the Rocking Chair

In tonight's dead letter, listener Mothmaiden remembers a time when she was four years old and an only child in a neighborhood with no other kids, and she had an imaginary friend named Cindy Cora who ...

8 Sep 46min

Special: Richard Hatem's Light in the Dark Tour 2026

Hey folks! We're gearing up to go to the Wet Hot Bad Magic Summercamp next week but after that we're back on our regular schedule! In the meanwhile here's a chat Scott and Richard had just a week ago ...

4 Sep 52min