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| Not The Ourang Medan - Source: Historic Mysteries |
The above picture is not the Ourang Medan. It is featured in many articles about the ship. No actual picture of the ship exists. All images of the ship that can be found online are fake and/or photoshopped, as is the one above.
The Ourang Medan ("Ourang" means man in Indonesian and Medan is a city on the island of Sumatra) was a ghost ship. Its name means "Man of Medan." According to many stories, it came to grief in the Straits of Malacca, under very curious circumstances.
While traveling through the straits, two American ships received a terrifying SOS. The text of the message is generally described as something similar to, "All officers, including the captain, are dead. Lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead. ... I die."
One of the American ships, the Silver Star, assisted by British and Dutch listening posts, headed in the direction of the distress call. When they arrived, the Ourang Medan was dead in the water and there was no activity to be observed on deck. In other retellings, smoke was still coming from its smokestack. In any case, a search party was assembled.
When the search party boarded the ship, they encountered a scene right out of a horror movie. The entire crew was dead. The officers were found deceased in the chart room. The captain had perished on the bridge. Worse, all the victims appeared to have met a terrible fate - their faces were frozen in looks of terror. Even the ship's dog had not been immune to whatever tragedy had fallen. It was found in mid-snarl, as though facing down whatever had caused the calamity. To its credit, some sources state that it "died on its feet."
The Silver Star decided to tow the Ourang Medan to port for salvage. Towing gear was attached, and the Silver Star was preparing to get underway. Unfortunately, smoke was observed rising from a cargo hold, and the Silver Star was forced to cut its towing gear loose. Just then, the Ourang Medan exploded with enough force to raise it out of the water. It quickly sank.
The Ourang Medan mystery (ca 1947-1948) has always interested me. Again, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), it's probably just a ghost story. No evidence has ever been found that the ship even existed. I will display several links below that give the story and various other details.
The Strange Tale of the Mysterious Dutch Ghost Ship Ourang Medan | HowStuffWorks
SS Ourang Medan, The Corpse-Strewn Ghost Ship Of Maritime Legend
Tragedy on the S.S. Ourang Medan - Fact or Legend? - Historic Mysteries
