The Octavius was an English, 3-masted schooner which operated in the mid 18th century. According to legend, she left England in 1761 headed for Asia with a full cargo to trade, its crew of 28 and the captain’s wife and young son. The weather was unseasonably warm for her return trip to England, so the captain risked traveling through the Northwest Passage, although it had not yet been fully discovered and its route still remained a mystery. During the 18th, 19th and early into the 20th centuries, many captains and countless sailors attempted to find the elusive route, and many of them lost their lives doing so. The Franklin Expedition, aboard the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, is probably the most infamous of these attempts, during which all 129 officers and men perished after being trapped in the sea ice. The Northwest Passage would not be successfully navigated until 1906 when Roald Amundsen discovered the route aboard the Gjøa.
The Ghost Ship is Found
The Octavius was not found until 1775, when the whaling ship Herald spotted her off the coast of Greenland. The crew of the Herald boarded the ghost ship and were shocked by what they found. All 28 of the ship’s crew were found below, along with a woman and a boy, all of them frozen to death where they lay. The captain of the Octavius kept his ship’s log, with the last entry penned 11 November 1762. The crew of the doomed ship remained frozen in time for 13 years. The captain was found with his pen still in his hand, diligently keeping his log to the end. Not wishing to disturb the bodies, or do a thorough search, the men took just the captain’s log. The boarding party took only the captain’s log before leaving the vessel, because they were unwilling to search it.
The last recorded position from the log was 75°N and 160°W, about 250 miles (402 kilometers) north of Utqiagvik, Alaska. During the 13 years since the crew perished, the Octavius floated and wandered aimlessly before being found near Greenland.
After being found by the crew of the Helena, the Octavius was never seen again.
That log should be published.