The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke and New Bern, NC

This is another excerpt from one of my upcoming books. It is only the rough draft but, it is still a fun read!

Ocracoke Island These next accounts may seem a bit on the verge of the fantastical. Not because the stories are about flaming phantom ships, there are quite a few of those; it is because it occurs in an area with high tourist traffic and there are very few eye witness accounts. I include it only because it is a local legend of the Outer Banks and also, a former anonymous member of the Coast Guard claims to have seen something unusual on the waters around North Carolina.

There are two ships matching the same description and with an identical legend; which leads to the conclusion that they are one in the same. One is called the Flaming Ship of Ocracoke and the other is the Flaming Ship of New Bern. As the legends state: every year a flaming ship appears off the island of Ocracoke or at the mouth of the Neuse River at the Pamlico Sound (which is the sound between Ocracoke and the mainland.) The ship never appears to be consumed by the fire; it just burns until it fades away. On board the ship was a group of Palatines who set sail in 1710 from England to America.

This part of the story does hold a basis in historical records. The Palatines were German Protestants from the Palatinate region of Germany. As with many other travelers during this time period, the Palatines were fleeing their homeland for a very specific reason, war! When Philip V, the grandson of the French King Louis XIV, ascended to the Spanish throne following the death of Charles II in 1700, the reason for the war was sealed. Even though it was at Charles’ bequest that Philip follow his rule; other countries in Europe feared that the relation between Spain and France would lead to an empire. The event was called the War of Spanish Succession in Europe; and in America, it was considered a part of, and called, Queen Anne’s War. Though, this latter war was more about who would take control of the American continent. The War of the Spanish Succession lasted from 1701-1714 and pitted France and Spain against England, Austria, Portugal, and the Netherlands. During this, France invaded the Palatinate region of Germany, forcing the citizens there to flee to Holland and then to England. In 1709, the English government issued sixteen hundred tents for the Palatine encampments; and welcomed the victims of their enemies.

Quickly, the influx of the Germans into England became too much for the country to bear. In 1710, it is estimated that between ten and thirty thousand people immigrated to London. To combat this influx, the government began sending the refugees to America. In 1710, three large groups of Palatines sailed from London, one of which sailed to Carolina. The other two went to Ireland and New York where there was already a large number of Palatines. To protect themselves from thieves on their voyage, the people pretended to be poor; with only enough money to make a voyage to the New World. In actuality, the Palatines aboard the ship were quite wealthy. It was only when they caught sight of the shoreline did they reveal their true wealth. In their excitement to go ashore, they began to carry their precious items on to the deck of the ship, showing off their fortune to every crew member aboard the ship. This proved to be their fatal error. Instead of allowing the people to unload, the captain announced that they would not land until the next day.

The people made haste to hide their valuables again and then settled down for the night. After it was believed that all the men, women, and children were asleep; the captain and his crew murdered every last one of them. Most of the Palatines throats were slit before many of them could awake. Using the lifeboats to escape, they loaded the cargo into the boats and set fire to the ship. As they rowed away from the flaming ship, the crew turned to look back. In amazement, they discovered that the ship was not sinking. Instead, it began to move and screams echoed from the hull as if the passengers were still alive. This site absolutely terrified the crew of the ship, who discarded their misbegotten treasures immediately upon landing on the shore.

Every year the ship re-appears, waiting for the blood stolen from to be repaid. There are no recordings from this time that mention a ship sinking during this year; let alone a Palatine ship. This does not mean that the ship did not exist. During the 1700s, it was not uncommon for a ship not to be logged or for the sinking of a ship to not be recorded. Quite often, ships would fall victims to pirates or mainland scavengers who would not want the final location of the vessel to be known. Back in a day and age where it would take days for any news to travel throughout a single colony; hiding vessels were fairly easy and they were either set on fire, ripped apart, or left to the waves. There is another Palatine ship in Rhode Island; although this one comes with a little more legitimate history… ________________________________________