Many people have tried to solve the mystery of what happened aboard the SS Ourang Medan. Urgent.” A second message followed saying “Probable second officer dead. Not exactly the most cheerful message to receive in the middle of the ocean. If you Google “Ourang Medan” you’ll get about 165,000 returns, almost all of which outline the 70-year-old mystery of a ship that may or may not have existed. Estelle theorizes that Silvio Scherli did in fact share the story with newspapers. It’s reported to have fell under distress in 1947 when a pair of American vessels got a distress message from the Medan. The details of the Dutch ship SS Ourang Medan are murky at best, but the generally accepted story is that sometime around 1947 or 1948, two American ships picked up the above distress call from the nearby SS Ourang Medan and rushed to find a ghost ship awaited them. The story of the Ourang Medan has, to some degree, become a legend. This is due to lack of official records of SS Ourang Medan in either Lloyd’s Shipping register, Dutch authorities or in the dictionary of disasters at sea 1824-1962. Asphyxiation due to methane gas occurs when methane gas displaces the surrounding oxygen until there isn’t enough for us to properly function. Personally I find it hard to believe that *everyone* was in a space small enough for this to happen. That is, the legend of the S.S. Ourang Medan. The first mention of the SS Ourang Medan and all its suddenly dead crew was in a periodical published by the United States Coast Guard. (However, don’t forget there could have been a coverup). The Silver Star crew then plunged into rescue mission only to find the ship littered with corpses including a dog’s carcass sprawled on their backs. Ghost ships are one thing, however, mystery of a ship with its entire crew dead onboard causes gossip churns like an undercurrent. However, this long held belief was actually refuted by historian and ameatuer sleuth Estelle. Additionally, the crew had no visible wounds, which has led many to believe something paranormal was involved. The eerie description of the crew is missing, the ship is a steamship not a freighter, and the location has changed once again, this time to the Solomon Islands. Ourang Medan Explained The SS Ourang Medan was a supposed ghost ship which, according to various sources, became a shipwreck in Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) waters, or elsewhere, after its entire crew had died under suspicious circumstances, either in 1940, 1947 or 1948, depending on the newspaper source. After the end of World War II, smuggling was extremely popular. The Straits of Malacca, Malaysia–Sometime between June 1947 and February 1948, the American Merchant ship, the Silver Star, received a distress signal from the SS Ourang Medan. The crew member explained the ship had been carrying an illicit load of sulphuric acid and the fumes killed everyone, but is this really all there was to it? We have ours, they have theirs. 20 Mystery Facts about the Skinwalker Ranch. In the late 1940s, the SS Ourang Medan, a Dutch freighter, sent out a distress signal seeking rescue. It suddenly ran into mysterious problems and sent a horrifying distress call to nearby ships. . This is the last but not the least theory about the whole story. If Bainton is correct in stating the Ourang Medan was carrying such a cargo, it would be a direct breach of the Geneva Protocol, something no country would want to own up to, and certainly not something they’d bother keeping extensive records of. The turret that finds itself in the bow of the freighter is the same one that knocked down the B-29 when it was going to rescue the already affected soldiers of the same maritime vehicle. The man told his story to a missionary who in turn told a native of Trieste, Silvio Scherli, who then gave the story to the papers. Mielke wrote that the ship was secretly carrying smuggled nerve gas from the Japanese scientific faction Unit 731. Honestly, not everything is true and accurate and if they are, chances of exaggerations and embellishment can’t be understated. While most of these tales originate from centuries ago, at least we have a recent one that we can relate. He stated that upon the occurrence of the accident, the poisonous fumes from the broken containers were the main cause of most of the crew. By the time they caught up with the vessel, what they found was beyond belief, if not beyond description. De acordo com estas teorias, a água do mar teria entrado pelo porão do navio , reagindo com a carga para liberar gases tóxicos, que, em seguida, levaram o grupo a sucumbir à asfixia ou envenenamento. One popular theory is that posited by author and historian Roy Bainton. The crew of the SS Ourang Medan was discovered dead, chillingly with their mouths and eyes still wide open. There exists hot debate amongst believers and skeptics about accounts of these natures. The SS Ourang Medan was a Dutch ship that was passing through the Strait of Malacca, sometime between June of 1940 and 1948. Thus, killing its crew and causing the final explosion that sunk the S.S. Ourang Medan. Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. However, depending on which report is accurate, it’s either in June 1947 or late February 1948 when a curious radio message was received by numerous ships traveling along the Straits of Malacca, situated around Sumatra and Malaysia. Beyond this, there is little to no record of a ship called the SS Ourang Medan. This version had a whole backstory with the Ourang Medan as a penal transport vessel with an enslaved crew. There were speculations that the ship could have been attacked by paranormal forces before their deaths. Additionally, there are varying accounts as to whether the Silver Star was still called the Silver Star at this point in time. The rescue ship was eventually renamed, and no connecting paper trail exists between the SS Ourang Medan and the Silver Star, or any of its other names. Some believe that methane bubbles could have suddenly escaped from a fissure on the seafloor and poisoned the sailors. The theory for the crew death of the S.S. Ourang Medan states the experiments and biological weapons of Unit 731. There were no signs of injuries on the frozen bodies as they laid facing the sun. A boarding party was sent across to investigate, and sure enough the message was true. The captain of the Silver Star was naturally disturbed and had just resolved to tow the ship to shore when smoke began pouring from the cargo hold. In the Dutch-Indonesian newspaper De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad three articles were published about the sinking of the Ouran Medan (03 February 1948, 28 February 1948, 13 March 1948).. Obviously all of the above was horrible, but with the arms race against the Soviets about to kick into high gear, the US secretly granted immunity to the group in exchange for their research. Another, simpler, theory suggests a more natural cause for the death of the crew. 20 Mystery Facts of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Disregard medical consultation. Perhaps the most fear-provoking theory proffered by those who believe that the demise of the Dutch freighter was explicable by natural means is that the crew of the Ourang Medan was asphyxiated by clouds of noxious methane that gurgled up from a fissure on the sea floor and poisoned the sailors before eventually engulfing the ship. Other members crew also killed. Additionally, though methane is highly flammable, the crew of the Silver Star claimed they saw smoke coming from the cargo hold and had time to evacuate; the explosion from igniting the gas should have been immediate. They claimed to experience an “extreme chill” when moving below decks, despite the fact that it was a 110℉ day. The sources are yet to be documented. Just as we could have expected, the mystery of the SS Ourang Medan led to development of several theories which include: There are hypothesis that Ourang Medan was smuggling chemical substances or wartime stocks of nerve agents. The story in this case comes from an officer of the rescuing ship, but once again hails from Trieste. It details that the man was found by a missionary and natives in the Marshall Islands. The Silver Star’s crew moved throughout the ship, becoming more concerned at each moment. It suddenly ran into mysterious problems and sent a horrifying distress call to nearby ships. By this time, the Geneva Protocol to the Hague Conventions had banned the use and production of chemical and biological weapons. The Ourang Medan then exploded and sunk. They were “I die.” Then, nothing more. There were allegations that it was carrying nerve gas which Japanese military had been storing in China during the war, which was given to U.S military after the war. The second and third articles were about the experiences of the accident’s sole survivor of the Ourang Medan crew. Search for: Categories. Records on the Ourang Medan aren’t the easiest to find, which could certainly suggest a cover-up. A merchant ship known as the Silver Star was closest to the presumed location of the Ourang Medan – 400 nautical miles south-east of the Marshall Islands. Post navigation. The SS Ourang Medan was a supposed ghost ship which, according to various sources, became a shipwreck in Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) in the Straits of Malacca waters, or elsewhere, after its entire crew had died under suspicious circumstances, either in 1940, 1947 or 1948, depending on the newspaper source. Monsters (92) Mysteries (138) Mysterious Places (43) Sky Monsters (4) Underwater Monsters (67) We have ours, they have theirs. This theory/legend is not as popular as the others I've covered so far but is very mysterious and ranks high on my list of favourites. On a chilly morning of February 1948, a number of ships near the coasts of Indonesia received a … The SS Ourang Medan. Authors Robert V. Hulse and Frank Edwards wrote that they believe something supernatural may have been involved in the deaths of the Ourang Medan’s crew. They were secretly shipped from the country to another that ended up leaking onto the ship. Allegedly, the ship sent out a distress call, it went something like this: "All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. According to this theory, the act of the radio operator to sense and say he is going to die is suspicious as there was no evidence of sensible reasons. Explore the universe and the unexplained. These substances, such as nitroglycerin and potassium cyanide, could have reacted with seawater in the event of a breach to form poisonous gas. However, the location of the encounter is approximated at around 400nautical miles southeast of the Marshall Islands. admin. Once there, a game of telephone ensued. Most of us will be familiar with the story of the Jamestown settlement, be it the factual or fictional version, from history classes and movies . SS Ourang Medan, The Death Ship In Feburary, 1948, eight ships in the Malacca straight came to a stand still, as they listened to a distress call coming from the SS Ourang Medan, a dutch freighter. Don't miss out on the latest from Historically Strange! Another theory is that some methane bubbles had risen from the seabed and was released into the air around the Ourang Medan, and was like an 'overdose' to the crew, which once again had no connection to the terrified faces. The details of the Dutch ship SS Ourang Medan are murky at best, but the generally accepted story is that sometime around 1947 or 1948, two American ships picked up the above distress call from the nearby SS Ourang Medan and rushed to find a ghost ship awaited them. In June of 1947, the Dutch freighter ship Ourang Medan sent a series of ominous distress messages from a position 400 nautical miles south-east of the Marshall Islands. Though there are significant differences, the story was very related to the later version. Whichever you believe, it’s certainly been aptly dubbed a ghost ship by its followers. I think I found the origin of the Ourang Medan story, and it looks like a hoax. “SOS from Ourang Medan…we float. He tried again later, this time embellishing the story; the papers accepted the story as we know it today. Oddly, the crew of the Silver Star could see no visible damage to the ship when they arrived. It observes that those events never took place. However, other accounts claim it was actually February 1948 and the ship was in Indonesian waters in the Straits of Malacca. That is what’s known as infinity. Somehow one man had escaped the gruesome fate of his shipmates and swam to an island. Before perishing he managed to narrate to the missionary about the details of the ship. S01E05 - The Curse of the Ourang Medan - In 1947, a ship was found drifting in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The information contained included the ship’s route, tonnage, engine power, and, of course, its illicit cargo. It’s the unknown that draws people. 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