The Ghost Ship of the Arctic

The Ghost Ship of the Arctic

The Baychimo

In 1914, the Hudson Bay Company built an icebreaker ship sturdy enough to withstand the treacherous waters and crushing ice packs of the Canadian waters. They called the ship theBaychimo, and she was to deliver supplies to the Eskimo villages in exchange for pelts, thus pioneering the fur trade in the area.

The Baychimo had made several relatively uneventful trips until 1931, when she set off in July on her usual route towards the Victoria coast. On the return trip, the ice became so packed around the Baychimo that she stalled and was stuck tight. Luckily, the ship was close enough to a small Alaskan village that the captain and crew walked on the ice and sought shelter with the Eskimos there.

Two days later, the ice began to melt around the ship, and the captain and crew set off. Three hours later, the ship became impacted again, and the captain sent out an SOS. The date was October 8, and it wasn't until October 15 that the men were rescued by air. Fifteen men opted to stay behind to guide the ship home after she became free.

The ice was so thick, that the men built a shelter of wood on the ice, and hunkered down for a long, dangerous winter. A great blizzard blew in on November 24, and the men huddled in the wooden shelter. The storm over, the men emerged to find the Baychimo gone. Disheartened, the men made their way inland on the ice.

Now here is where the story gets amazing!

A few days later, the ship was found 45 miles south of where she was lost, but was again ice-packed.

After several months, she was spotted again but about 300 miles to the east.

In March 1932 of the following year, she was seen floating peacefully near the shore by a man travelling to Nome with his dog-sled team.

A few months after that, she was seen by a company of prospectors.

March of 1933, she was found by a group of Eskimos who boarded her and was trapped on-board for 10 days by a freak storm.

August 1933, the Hudson Bay Co heard she was still afloat, but was too far a-sea to salvage.

July 1934, she was boarded by a group of explorers on a schooner.

September 1935, she was seen off the Alaskan coast.

November 1939, She was boarded by Captain Hugh Polson, wishing to salvage her, but the creeping ice floes intervened and the captain had to abandon her.

After 1939, she was seen floating alone and crewless numerous times, but always eluded capture.

March of 1962, she was seen sailing along the Beaufort Sea coast by a group of Eskimos.

She was found frozen in an ice pack in 1969, 38 years after she was abandoned, and this is the last recording sighting of the ghostly Baychimo.

In 2006, the Alaskan government began work on a project to solve the mystery of "the ghost ship of the arctic" and locate the Baychimo, whether still afloat or on the ocean floor. As of yet, she has not been found.

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