Ghost Ship Resolven
It was a typical August morning in 1884 when the HMS Mallard sailed into Newfoundland maritime mystery. The Mallard, a Royal Navy ship was enforcing fishing treaties in Newfoundland waters, was patrolling Trinity Bay when in the distance, about 40km off Catalina, they spotted a ship, all sails set, moving erratically. The Mallard moved closer.
It was a merchant brig, the Resolven. The ship was Welsh but had arrived in Newfoundland June of 1884 with a load of salt from the Mediterranean. It left Harbour Grace bound for Snug Harbour, Labrador just three days before being spotted. It had set sail to pick up a load of salt fish for transport to Europe.
As the Mallard drew closer, the crew could see no reason for the unusual behaviour of the ship. They attempted to make contact. Nothing. Unable to communicate with the vessel, the crew of the Mallard sent a boarding party to investigate.
In many respects, everything seemed like business as usual: the lamps were illuminated, in the galley the fire was burning, and there was food on the table. The only thing missing was the crew. The Resolven was empty. It was a ghost ship.
The Resolven had been significantly damaged but it remained afloat.1 According to an article in the Harbour Grace Standard published at the time, the stem was smashed, the rudder unshipped, its jib boom and bowsprit were carried away. The lifeboat was missing as well but it appeared the crew had inflicted some damage to the ship deliberately so they might better launch the escape craft.
The Mallard remained in the area, thinking the crew might return to the still-floating vessel, but that was not the case. The hope then shifted. They thought, perhaps, the crew had been picked up by a passing ship. That hope failed as well. The Resolven’s crew was never seen again.
What happened to them has become the stuff of legends. (Continued Below)
What is a Ghost Ship?
The term ghost ship has multiple meanings. Perhaps the meaning that most readily pops to mind is a supernatural ship like the legendary Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman is said to be a spectral ship, doomed to sail the world, never able to make port. Newfoundland has many such ghost ships.
The Resolven is a ghost ship in the sense that is was found sailing without a crew, much like the famed Mary/Marie Celeste. In 1872 the Mary Celeste was found drifting in off the Azores. It was in good shape but completely abandoned. None of the crew were ever seen again.
The Resolven Mystery
Some claimed the Resolven struck an iceberg. They said the crew, who had little experience with bergs, abandoned ship and their lifeboat swamped. This was an early theory, appearing in news coverage at the time. Apparently there was a late-season berg in the area at the time.
As time has passed, others suggested criminal intentions played a role in the crew’s disappearance. The words mutiny and piracy have been used. Reportedly, the captain of the Resolven was carrying a significant sum of gold coins which, according to some accounts, was never seen again. Was this gold motive enough to dispose of the crew? And how does that figure into the ship’s damage? Did an empty ship strike the iceberg? If theft was a motive, it wasn’t a thorough job — a small package containing £100 was found aboard, as well as a gold watch belonging to the captain.
To this day no one knows what really happened to the Resolven’s crew during its fateful voyage. As for the ship, it was towed back to Harbour Grace where it was auctioned. Four years later, while carrying lumber from Nova Scotia, it was wrecked.
For over a century that was the whole story but, thanks to the internet there’s a new chapter opening.
The Resolven Resolved?
Will Wain, a Welsh writer and great grandson of the Resolven’s captain John James, shared his story online and it captured the interest of former residents of Deer Harbour on Random Island. They had a mystery of their own. At right about the same time the Resolven disappeared, the body of a man in a captain’s uniform was found on the beach near Deer Harbour. The dead captain was supposedly found sitting under a tree, facing out to sea. The people of Deer Harbour buried the man, never knowing who he was. The story stayed alive as a mystery within the community — could he have been from the Resolven?
Adding to the intrigue, the Deer Harbour folklore also suggest that one of the men who found the mysterious body seemed to come into some money. Could that have been the captain’s gold?
It remains a mystery.
Will Wain maintains a website and social media presence through which he shares his Resolven investigation. It’s worth checking out and, if you have any stories that hold clues to the mystery please share.
I’d love to hear.
You can read a full account of the Resolven in M.F. Harington's Sea Stories of Newfoundland (1958).
1. Many accounts, including an article in the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, say the Resolven had minimal damage. An article in the Harbour Grace Standard published September 6, 1884 says the injuries inflicted upon the Resolven were ‘serious ones.’
