In 1947, someone sent an SOS signal from the Dutch ship Ourang Medan. Why was the crew calling for help? When the rescue team arrived, only the bodies of the sailors were found on board, their faces were frozen in horror. What happened aboard the mysterious vessel? Did the ship really exist?
There are many maritime legends and riddles, for example about the famous Flying Dutchman. However, the story of Ourang Medan is extremely terrifying. And it is not excluded that everything really happened. In June 1947, ships traversing the Strait of Malaka (between the coasts of Sumatra and Malaysia) received SOS signals. Someone using Morse language sent the message: "All the officers, including the captain, are dead, in the map room and on the bridge. Presumably, all of the crew are dead." Then, after a series of other messages that could not be deciphered, came the last one: "I am dying."
The tragic news was picked up by two American ships as well as British and Dutch listening stations. Their employees determined that the signal was most likely from the SS Ourang Medan. The American merchant ship Silver Star was closest to the ship's established location. His crew immediately rushed to the rescue. No sign of life was noticed after the Ourang Medan sailed to the SS. Silver Star seamen tried to contact the crew of the abandoned ship but to no avail. They decided to go onboard. What they found there was a reflection of their worst nightmares. Everywhere lay the bodies of Dutch sailors, eyes wide and arms raised as if to fight. Their faces had frozen grimaces of terror and pain. The communications officer died, the telegraph still clutched in his hands. Even the ship's dog was dead. Interestingly, no wounds were found on the decomposing corpse, and the ship was not damaged. The captain of Silver Star decided to tow Ourang Medan to the nearest port. After the towing rope was tied up, however, billows of smoke were noticed emerging from the lower decks. The sailors immediately returned to the Silver Star. After a while, Ourang Medan exploded and went down in no time.
The sinking of the Ourang Medan and the fact that there are not many records documenting the existence of this ship make it virtually impossible to confirm this story. The only trace describing the rescue operation of the Silver Star is a short report published by the US Coast Guard in 1952. Historians speculate that if Ourang Medan really existed, it was most likely from Sumatra, which was a Dutch colony at the time. The writer and historian Roy Bainton carried out a long investigation into the ship. The British tried to find any information confirming this legend, searched the archives of the United Kingdom's Admiralty, the Maritime Transport and Sailing Register, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and the Singapore Maritime Authority. Without result. Bainton was about to give up his search when he was contacted by the German professor Theodor Siersdorfer, who devoted 50 years of his life to unraveling the mystery of Ourang Medan. Siersdorfer presented the British with a small book entitled "Ship of Death in the South Sea" released in 1954. The author, Otto Mielke, described in detail the technical data of the ship there and also stated that there were deadly illegal substances on board.
There is a deceptive possible explanation for the death of the crew and the disappearance of Ourang Medan from the documents. Mielke mentions the mixed, lethal cargo of the Dutch ship, consisting of potassium cyanide and nitroglycerin, Bainton said about the results of his research. The British, however, made even more terrifying conclusions - Ourang Medan was transporting paralyzing gas or biological weapons. According to Bainton, that would explain why there was not even a trace of the ship's existence. The seller, buyer, and shipowner could make every effort to destroy all documents confirming this fact. It's also possible that the whole story was just made up. Sailors like stories like that ...
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