The Ghost Ship of the Caroll A. Deering

In December of the crew of
the merchant ship de Gratia was 

sailing along the Portuguese 
volcanic archipelago of the Azores when they spotted a large
vessel drifting. 

The mysterious vessel was 
sailing erratically hadn't 

 
responded to the signals from 
the de Gratia and had no 

 
visible crew on deck. 
Concerned that the vessel might 

 
be in distress or abandoned the
crew of the de Gratia decided to

 
board. 
Inspecting the ship they found 

 
that there was no crew on board
that it was largely intact and 

 
seaworthy and that its cargo 
and supplies were still present.

 
The ship's lifeboats navigation
equipment and chronometer we're

 
all missing and the last log 
entry was about days before 

 
the ship was found. 
No trace of the crew was ever 

 
found and the circumstances 
surrounding their disappearance 

 
were never answered. 
The story of the ghost ship Mary

 
Celeste enthralled the public 
and it soon became one of the 

 
world's most notorious maritime 
mysteries. 

 
Little did we know that only 
years later another ghost ship 

 
would appear in similar and just
as mysterious circumstances on 

 
the Diamond Shoals of North 
Carolina. 

 
A shipwreck missing lifeboats 
a missing crew and no 

 
explanation. 
The ghost ship of the Carolais. 

 
Deering today on shipwrecks and 
sea dogs. 

 
Hello and welcome to Shipwrecks 
and Sea Dogs tales of mishaps 

 
misfortune and misadventure. 
I'm your host Rich Napolitano. 

 
On Monday January st 
United States Coast Guardsman CP

 
Brady held the early morning 
shift at Cape Hatteras Life 

 
Saving Station. 
The early morning was misty and 

 
cold with strong winter winds 
blowing the tops off the waves. 

 
The gathering morning light was 
just enough to see the coast he 

 
was keeping watch on. 
He watched as the cawing 

 
seagulls flapped circled and 
hung in place suspended by the 

 
wind. 
With only an hour and a half 

 
left on his watch he rose from 
his lookout and went downstairs 

 
for a good old cup of morning 
coffee. 

 
Coming back to his perch coffee
in hand he looked through his 

 
stations telescope an important
tool for keeping watch over the 

 
dangerous mile diamond Shoals
that are dreaded and feared by 

 
Mariners all over the world. 
Scanning the Shoals Brady 

 
mostly gazed into the thick 
morning mist expecting nothing 

 
new. 
Suddenly a strange shape caught 

 
his attention and the growing 
light. 

 
He set his cup down rubbed his 
eyes and checked again. 

 
He hadn't seen anything before 
his coffee break. 

 
Rockets flares and distress 
signals had been absent through 

 
the night. 
As the wind peeled away the 

 
mist the truth became 
undeniable. 

 
A large masted schooner sails
raised was trapped on the 

 
Diamond Shoals. 
Brady had no option but to shout

 
the word. 
Every seafarer dreads shipwreck.

 
But to truly understand the 
danger this ship and its crew 

 
now faced we need to step back 
and look at where this was all 

 
happening. 
The Diamond Shoals isn't just 

 
any stretch of water it's among
the most treacherous in the 

 
world. 
For thousands of years North 

 
Carolina's barrier islands 
widely known as the Outer Banks

 
have protected the mainland 
coast and offshore sounds as an 

 
important part of the region's 
marine ecosystem. 

 
The barrier islands long 
stretches of beach sand dunes 

 
marshes and Woodlands were set 
aside and were officially 

 
established as a part of the 
Cape Hatteras National Seashore 

 
on January th the 
United States First National 

 
Seashore. 
This national seashore preserves

 
the portion of the Outer Banks 
from Bodie Island to Ocracoke 

 
Island covering over miles 
of coastline and acres of

 
beaches. 
The environment provides 

 
valuable habitats for wildlife 
including more than 

 
documented bird species one of 
the most notable being a 

 
wintering area for migrating 
waterfowl as well as seals 

 
dolphins whales sea turtles 
land turtles alligators and 

 
other land animals. 
Located in the Cape Hatteras 

 
National Seashore the Diamond 
Shoals is a dangerous mile 

 
long sandbar off Cape Hatteras 
formed by the collision of the 

 
Gulf Stream and the Virginia 
Drift a branch of the Labrador 

 
Current flowing from the Arctic.
When these currents collide 

 
they create a strong turbulence 
that essentially pushes 

 
southbound ships into the 
treacherous sandbar. 

 
It also doesn't help that while 
most sandbars are relatively 

 
stable the Diamond Shoals 
constantly shift due to storms 

 
and changing currents making 
navigation extremely difficult. 

 
Between the current pushing 
ships towards the sandbar and 

 
the sandbar constantly moving 
it's no wonder that the Diamond 

 
Shoals have been the site of 
hundreds if not thousands of 

 
shipwrecks earning it the 
nickname The Graveyard of the 

 
Atlantic. 
And on the morning of January 

 
st it was Coast 
Guardsman CP Brady who found the

 
graveyard's latest victim. 
Once Brady raised the alert of a

 
shipwreck the rest of the Coast
Guard made quick work of getting

 
ready for the rescue. 
Time was of the essence and the

 
lifesaver stationed at Cape 
Hatteras were ready to risk 

 
their lives to save those 
stranded among the Shoals. 

 
Jacob A Miller the keeper or 
commander of the Cape Hatteras 

 
Life Saving Station quickly 
took charge and directed his men

 
to prepare a surf boat. 
Once the surf boat was ready 

 
the crew loaded it onto a boat 
carriage with a horse leading 

 
it across the sand and a half 
dozen men pushing it from 

 
behind. 
Together they hauled the 

 
station's power boat to the 
South hook of the Cape but they

 
already encountered a problem. 
The sea was running pretty high 

 
and they decided to check the 
North Point to see if it would 

 
have better launching 
conditions. 

 
Unfortunately they found that 
the sea level was even higher in

 
the north and they had to return
to their original plan of 

 
launching at the South Point. 
They were joined by two other 

 
crews from nearby stations 
Kinnekeet and Creeds Hill who 

 
were also set to help with the 
operation but couldn't launch 

 
from their own stations due to 
the sea conditions. 

 
When the rescue boat was loaded 
into the water Keeper Miller 

 
picked rescuers and two bosons
to head out toward the wreckage 

 
and attempt to rescue. 
However while they had 

 
initially launched the rescue 
boat at that morning 

 
rough seas made it difficult to 
get past the Breakers and it 

 
wasn't until that the boat
began approaching the wreckage. 

 
When they reached it they soon 
faced another problem. 

 
Two to three story high waves 
were making it impossible to get

 
closer than yards to the 
ship. 

 
But despite being forced to keep
a considerable distance from the

 
ship the rescuers could see 
that with all the sails set the

 
ship appeared to have been 
abandoned in a hurry. 

 
They could all see that the 
schooners lifeboats were gone 

 
and the Davit Falls were hanging
over the side. 

 
They circled the ship over and 
over again looking for any 

 
movement or signs of life on 
board. 

 
But after several attempts to 
get closer with no signs of the

 
crew and unable to identify the 
vessel's name or home port they

 
had no choice but to head back 
to shore. 

 
The rescuers reached the shore 
at PM and Keeper Miller 

 
notified the Coast Guard's th 
District Superintendent and 

 
division commander of the 
results of his crew's efforts. 

 
He knew there was nothing they 
could do until a larger vessel 

 
arrived to help them reach the 
wreckage. 

 
The following morning the US 
Coast Guard Cutter Seminole 

 
Captain by Lieutenant Commander 
Dench arrived to assist with 

 
the rescue. 
On their way there they passed 

 
the ship mistaking it for a 
ship underway and had to turn 

 
their ship around and head back 
to the wreckage. 

 
At PM that night Dench 
sent a telegram to Norfolk VA 

 
the closest major registry and 
crew signing port detailing the

 
condition of the schooner and 
the crew stating no trace of 

 
crew. 
Schooner stranded about center 

 
of outer Shoal apparently not 
badly damaged and all sail set. 

 
Unable to approach closer than 
one mile in present sea as seas 

 
are breaking over her at present
but not breaking up. 

 
At this point they didn't even 
know the ship's name. 

 
All they knew is that the ship 
seems to have been abandoned in 

 
a hurry both lifeboats were 
missing the crew seemed to have

 
simply vanished and that from 
what they could tell the ship 

 
was in pretty good condition and
was still seaworthy. 

 
Two days after the ship was 
found on the Shoals the 

 
wrecking tugboat Rescue 
commanded by Captain James 

 
Carlson was dispatched from 
Norfolk to assist in the rescue.

 
At the same time news of the 
shipwreck and rescue efforts 

 
began to break in the media. 
On the morning of Wednesday 

 
February nd the Ledger 
dispatch printed the headline 

 
Ship is abandoned crew is 
missing. 

 
All sails on schooner are set. 
Coast Guardsmen still can't get 

 
near enough to make out name. 
The associated article asked all

 
the questions the Coast Guard 
themselves couldn't figure out. 

 
Where is the crew of the strange
schooner wallowing helplessly in

 
the seas off Diamond Shoals? 
Why was the vessel deserted with

 
all sails set? 
A Coast Guard crew that has been

 
frantically trying for two days 
to reach the strange ship whose

 
name is still a mystery are 
puzzled by the peculiar 

 
circumstances under which the 
vessel was abandoned. 

 
Unfortunately a continuation of
bad weather and rough seas made 

 
it impossible to reach the 
shipwreck for several more days

 
and investigators were no closer
to discovering what had happened

 
to the ship than they were on 
the day was first found. 

 
It wasn't until the morning of 
February th that Captain James 

 
Carlson was able to lead the 
tugboat rescue operation and 

 
finally board the ship. 
But while investigators hope 

 
this milestone would at least 
shed some light on the 

 
circumstances that led to the 
shipwreck they were met with 

 
even more unanswered questions. 
On the ship Captain Carlson was

 
met with an eerie sight. 
The crew their personal 

 
belongings and the ship's 
navigational equipment were 

 
missing and food was in the 
middle of being prepared on the 

 
stove. 
Both of the ship's running 

 
lights and two red lights in the
rigging were lit. 

 
Rescuers found the schooner's 
steering equipment damaged the 

 
wheel shattered the binnacle 
box caved in and the rudder 

 
completely disengaged from the 
stock which Shields and 

 
provides rotational support for 
the rudder. 

 
A sledgehammer leaned ominously 
nearby. 

 
It appeared the ship was 
completely without steering 

 
ability or any means to 
navigate. 

 
If this were the case it might 
explain why the ship's two 

 
lifeboats the crew's personal 
belongings and the ship's 

 
navigational equipment would be 
missing. 

 
Rescuers searched and examined 
the ship's cabins and below 

 
decks but the only crew members
they could find were three half 

 
starved cats. 
The ship's papers nautical 

 
instruments chronometer and the
crew's clothing We're all 

 
missing. 
Meanwhile the ship's stores 

 
signal flags and other gear 
we're all intact and untouched. 

 
Pots of food including split pea
soup spare ribs and coffee. 

 
We're all still on the stove in 
the middle of being prepared. 

 
The crew's beds were unmade 
dishes were unwashed and 

 
navigation charts were found in 
the captain's bathroom. 

 
The discovery of the navigation 
charts fed the growing theory 

 
that something might have 
happened to the ship's captain 

 
before the ship ran aground on 
the Shoals and that someone 

 
perhaps the first mate had used
the captain's room and kept his 

 
charts in the bathroom. 
While rescuers investigating the

 
ship were unable to find any 
obvious evidence of foul play 

 
such as blood they noted that 
four days of the ship scouring 

 
by waves most likely would have 
erased all evidence of a fight 

 
or murder. 
After the search the Evening 

 
Star a local paper even 
speculated that there had been 

 
trouble among the crew. 
A fight perhaps and mutiny is 

 
the latest theory. 
Although the ship's search 

 
didn't help investigators get 
any closer to finding out what 

 
happened to the ship. 
Luckily they were able to at 

 
least identify the ship as the 
Carol A Deering a large 

 
masted schooner on its way back 
from Rio de Janeiro Brazil 

 
stopping in Barbados. 
The Deering was built in Bath 

 
ME in by the GG Deering 
Company for commercial use. 

 
It was feet long feet 
wide weighed tons and was

 
designed to carry tons of 
coal. 

 
It was the largest ship ever 
constructed by the GG Deering 

 
Company and was one of the last 
wooden cargo ships that ever 

 
built. 
The Deering was first launched 

 
on April th and was only
around a year old at the time of

 
the shipwreck. 
It should have been in near 

 
perfect condition. 
So what could have happened to 

 
the Deering for it to shipwreck 
so close to its final 

 
destination? 
To understand that 

 
investigators took a detailed 
look at her journey to and from 

 
Brazil. 
The Deering's final voyage began

 
July th when the vessel
left from Puerto Rico and 

 
arrived in Newport VA to pick 
up a cargo of coal that was set 

 
to be delivered to Rio de 
Janeiro Brazil. 

 
At the time the ship was in good
hands Captain by World War One 

 
hero Captain William H Merritt 
with his son Sewell B Merritt as

 
first mate. 
Everything seemed to be going 

 
according to plan on August 
th when the Carol A 

 
Deering cleared the Virginia 
capes and started heading for 

 
Rio. 
However not long after Captain 

 
Merritt fell extremely ill and 
the ship had to turn back in an 

 
emergency to Delaware where 
Captain Merritt and his son left

 
the ship. 
The GG Deering Company replaced 

 
Captain Merritt with Captain 
Willis B Wormall a year old 

 
retired veteran sea captain and
appointed Charles McClellan as 

 
first mate. 
There's not much information 

 
regarding this part of the 
ship's voyage but we do know 

 
that the Deering's cargo was 
safely delivered to Rio de 

 
Janeiro on September th . 
After the successful delivery 

 
Captain Wormel granted his crew 
leave and met his good friend 

 
Captain Goodwin of the s s Lake 
Elon. 

 
Wormel complained to his old 
friend about his crew saying 

 
that they were unruly and that 
he didn't trust any of them 

 
especially not his first mate 
McClellan. 

 
The only crew member that he 
trusted was the ship's engineer

 
Herbert Bates. 
On December nd the 

 
Deering left Brazil and stopped 
in Barbados for supplies. 

 
Once again Captain Wormell gave
his crew a few days leave and 

 
took the opportunity of being at
port to write letters to the GG 

 
Deering Company complaining 
about discipline problems and 

 
tensions with members of the 
crew particularly involving 

 
first Mate McClellan. 
While in Barbados he also spoke

 
with another friend Captain 
Hugh Norton of the August W 

 
Snow and complained again about
his crew further documenting 

 
tensions with them. 
Wormel confided in Norton that 

 
he was especially having trouble
with his first mate who 

 
reportedly was habitually drunk 
while ashore and mistreated the 

 
crew. 
The drunken part of Wormel's 

 
complaint was proven to be true
at least in Barbados when 

 
McClellan got extremely drunk 
and complained about his captain

 
to the captain's friend Captain
Norton. 

 
So Wormel first complained to 
Norton about McClellan and 

 
later McClellan complained to 
Norton about Wormel. 

 
In drunken confessions. 
McClellan complained about 

 
Wormel's overbearing this and 
that he couldn't even discipline

 
the crew without the captain 
intervening. 

 
He also digressed that he had to
do all of the navigation due to 

 
Wormel's poor eyesight. 
There were obvious tensions 

 
between Captain Wormel and st 
Mate McClellan and McClellan 

 
was even later overheard by 
Captain Norton Norton's first 

 
mate and another ship's captain 
saying I'll get the captain 

 
before we get back to Norfolk. 
I will. 

 
During the crew's leave 
McClellan apparently got so 

 
drunk that he was arrested. 
He was taken to the local jail 

 
on January th where 
Wormell was contacted about the 

 
situation. 
Once Captain Wormell heard about

 
this he went straight to bail 
McClellan out of jail. 

 
Unfortunately for the rest of 
the crew Mcclellan's arrest 

 
ended the crew's leave early 
and they immediately set sail 

 
for Norfolk. 
The next time that the Deering 

 
and its crew were seen was on 
January th off the 

 
coast of North Carolina when 
the Deering hailed the Cape 

 
Lookout Light ship. 
Captain Jacobson the Light 

 
ship's keeper later reported 
that a tall man with reddish 

 
hair and a foreign accent hailed
him from the Deering speaking 

 
through a megaphone. 
The ship had apparently lost 

 
both of its anchors and a storm 
off Cape Fear and asked that 

 
the ship's owners the GG 
Deering Company be notified of 

 
the situation. 
Unfortunately Jacobson was 

 
unable to report the situation 
because his radio was broken and

 
he couldn't return to shore with
the light ship abandoning his 

 
post. 
But the two lost anchors weren't

 
the only strange things about 
Jacobson's encounter with the 

 
Deering. 
Jacobson noticed that the man 

 
who held the light ship didn't 
look or act like an officer 

 
which was strange since an 
officer would usually be in 

 
charge of communication. 
Jacobson had noticed that the 

 
crew was loitering on the 
quarter deck a raised area of a

 
ship's upper deck behind the 
main mast that serves as the 

 
command center and is usually 
reserved for the captain or 

 
officers. 
Under normal circumstances a 

 
captain would have certainly 
reprimanded his crew for milling

 
around in a restricted area but
Jacobson saw no sign of the 

 
ship's captain. 
The next afternoon the crew of 

 
a different ship noticed the 
Deering sailing straight towards

 
the infamous Diamond Shoals. 
While the crew that spotted the 

 
Deering found this strange they
reportedly had not seen anyone 

 
on the Deering's deck and 
decided not to hail them. 

 
What happened to the Deering and
its crew between January th 

 
when the Deering was lost and 
the st when she was discovered

 
remains a mystery. 
The next time she would be 

 
spotted was when Coast Guardsman
CP Brady spotted the shipwreck 

 
and initiated the rescue. 
With the search of the ship 

 
coming up empty attention 
turned to what could be salvage 

 
from the ghost ship. 
Salvageable equipment such as 

 
sails furniture flags and a 
well stocked medicine cabinet 

 
was removed and sold at public 
auction. 

 
A Bible belonging to Captain 
Wormel was also removed from the

 
ship and sent to his daughter 
Lula Wormel. 

 
Later the United States Revenue
Cutter Manning tried to salvage 

 
the Deering and tow it out of 
the Shoals but the large ship 

 
was stuck hard and was unable to
be salvage. 

 
It's uncertain whether the 
shipwreck was left on the Shoals

 
to be destroyed by the waves or
whether it was initially blown 

 
up and then a larger part of the
wreckage that had drifted was 

 
dynamited again. 
What we do know is that the 

 
wreckage or at least part of 
it was deemed A navigational 

 
hazard and was blown up with 
dynamite on March st to 

 
keep the wreckage from posing a 
threat to other ships. 

 
Later a portion of her bow 
drifted ashore on Ocracoke 

 
Island and wooden Timbers from 
the wreck also washed up on 

 
Hatteras Island which were 
allegedly used by locals to 

 
build houses. 
Some of the Carroll a Deering's 

 
wreckage is still visible today 
as the ship's capstone and bell 

 
are on display at the graveyard 
of the Atlantic Museum in 

 
Hatteras. 
While the mysterious 

 
circumstances surrounding the 
Carroll A Deering shipwreck 

 
prompted a basic maritime 
investigation by the US Coast 

 
Guard authorities were making 
no progress and were unable to 

 
come up with a concrete 
explanation for the 

 
disappearance of the crew. 
But one person refused to give 

 
up on finding the truth. 
And that person was Captain 

 
Wormell's daughter Lula. 
As soon as she heard about her 

 
father's disappearance Lula 
refused to believe that the 

 
disappearance of the crew was a 
simple accident. 

 
But the authorities conducted 
their investigation and thought 

 
it was sufficient even if they 
never really knew what had 

 
happened. 
Lula took it upon herself not 

 
only to investigate the 
disappearance but also to 

 
campaign for a larger 
investigation. 

 
Months later Lula had a hunch 
that the disappearance of the 

 
crew was no accident and was 
finally given some credibility. 

 
One on April th a 
message in a bottle was found 

 
detailing the events that led to
the disappearance of the Carol A

 
Deering's crew. 
Christopher Columbus Gray a 

 
local fisherman in North 
Carolina was fishing peacefully

 
when he suddenly found a small 
object floating in the water. 

 
Wondering what it could be he 
got closer and fished it out of 

 
the water realizing that it was
an empty bottle. 

 
As he picked it up he realized 
that something was inside a 

 
handwritten note. 
Opening the bottle the message 

 
read. 
Deering. 

 
Captured by oil burning boat. 
Something like Chaser taking off

 
everything handcuffing crew. 
Crew hiding all over ship. 

 
No chance to make escape. 
Finder please notify 

 
headquarters. 
Deering The mystery of what 

 
happened to the Carol A Deering 
and its crew had been plaguing 

 
the public for months with 
investigators getting no closer 

 
to answers than when the 
rescuers first boarded the ship.

 
Finally Gray had found the 
answer everyone had been looking

 
for. 
The Deering had been attacked. 

 
Gray turned the note into the 
authorities and the handwriting

 
on it was later identified by 
Captain Wormell's widow as that 

 
of Henry Bates the ship's 
engineer. 

 
How Missus Wormell was familiar 
with Henry Bates handwriting is 

 
uncertain but even the bottle 
the note was found in was 

 
manufactured in Brazil where 
the crew was given the longest 

 
leave time. 
The discovery of the note as 

 
well as the record of a 
mysterious steamer boat that 

 
arrived at Cape Lookout Light 
Ship right after the Deering 

 
seemed to support the message's 
allegations of hostile action 

 
towards the crew of the Deering.
Jacobson the Light Ship's 

 
captain whose radio was broken 
recalled that he attempted to 

 
hail the mystery steamer so that
they could relay the Deering's 

 
message that they had lost both 
of their anchors. 

 
But the steamer didn't respond 
and Jacobson was unable to get 

 
the name of the ship since it 
was covered with a canvas. 

 
And while a hostile takeover 
seemed like a plausible 

 
explanation for what happened to
the Deering and its crew 

 
especially since the notes 
handwriting had allegedly 

 
BeenVerified by Misses Wormell 
some thought that the 

 
explanation seemed a bit too 
convenient. 

 
And not everything was adding 
up. 

 
Despite these lingering doubts 
the discovery of the message 

 
brought the mystery back into 
the national spotlight. 

 
For Lula Wormel it was exactly 
the spark she needed. 

 
She wasn't ready to let the 
investigation fade away not 

 
when there were still so many 
unanswered questions. 

 
Lula began campaigning even more
intensively for an expansion of 

 
the investigation and in May 
 Lula herself Captain 

 
Merritt the Deering's former 
captain who fell ill and 

 
Reverend Dr. Addison Lorimer 
even visited Washington DC to 

 
meet with US Senator Frederick 
Hale. 

 
Together they convinced 
Secretary of Commerce Herbert 

 
Hoover to initiate a large scale
federal investigation involving 

 
 government departments the US
Navy Treasury Commerce 

 
Justice and State. 
Because of her persistence Lula

 
is credited by many historians 
as the one who kept the case 

 
alive in the press and with the 
government especially after the

 
message in a bottle appeared. 
Thanks to her efforts she 

 
turned the Deering case from a 
local maritime mystery into an 

 
interdepartmental national 
investigation led by Lawrence 

 
Ritchie Herbert Hoover's very 
own assistant. 

 
When the large scale 
investigation was initiated 

 
investigators were especially 
interested in the message in a 

 
bottle found by Christopher 
Columbus Gray in April . 

 
Since this was really the only 
lead they had the note was 

 
forwarded to the department's 
involved in the investigation 

 
and it received a more detailed 
analysis. 

 
Unfortunately investigators 
reached another dead end when 

 
handwriting experts concluded 
that the note was forged and not

 
written by Henry Bates as they 
had previously believed. 

 
In fact after further 
questioning from federal agents

 
Gray confessed to having forged 
the note himself apparently 

 
after having heard of the 
mysterious disappearance of the 

 
Deering's crew and Cape Hatteras
Light Station's involvement. 

 
Being the station that first 
spotted the shipwreck Gray came

 
up with a scheme to help him get
publicity while simultaneously 

 
solving the Deering case. 
He had hoped that the publicity 

 
would help him secure a job at 
Cape Hatteras Light Station 

 
something he had been vying for 
for quite a while but was 

 
always turned away because there
were no open positions. 

 
In the end his scheme backfired
and it seems he was unable to 

 
get the job at the Cape Hatteras
Light Station leaving 

 
authorities once again back at 
square one with their 

 
investigation. 
With nowhere else to turn 

 
investigators attempted to chart
exactly what happened to the 

 
Deering between her being 
spotted at the Cape Hatteras 

 
Light Ship and her running 
aground on the Shoals. 

 
He and several other government 
investigators spent months 

 
reading the log books of Coast 
Guard light ships that were in 

 
the area at the time and 
tracking down every possible 

 
lead. 
Investigators including FBI 

 
Agent Thompson the agent 
initially signed to examine the 

 
note spent months in Dare 
County the closest county to 

 
the shipwreck chasing down 
leads interviewing lighthouse 

 
and light ship crew tracking 
down fishermen who may have seen

 
the ship and investigating 
rumors about the crew reaching 

 
shore. 
Agent Thompson even asked local 

 
Coast Guardsmen whether it was 
possible that the crew had 

 
mutinied and abandoned the ship 
before striking Shoals. 

 
They responded that it was 
impossible since the coast was 

 
too rough for lifeboat landings
that any good crew would have 

 
known that. 
Although authorities were able 

 
to confirm that there were 
hurricanes nearby when the 

 
Deering shipwrecked no other 
leads panned out and 

 
investigators were faced with 
dead end after dead end with no 

 
new leads to go on no trace of 
the crew no ships logs or the 

 
missing navigation equipment. 
The investigation eventually 

 
fizzled out in late without
citing any official finding for 

 
the disappearance of the crew in
the subsequent report and the 

 
public accepted mutiny as the 
unofficial explanation for the 

 
Deering crew's disappearance. 
To this day there are main 

 
theories that could explain the 
disappearance of the crew. 

 
The most plausible theory is 
that the crew abandoned ship due

 
to a particularly strong 
hurricane. 

 
Hurricanes are not uncommon on 
the East Coast of the US and 

 
the US government specifically 
the weather Bureau was adamant 

 
that a series of powerful 
hurricanes was plaguing the 

 
Atlantic at the time. 
According to this theory the 

 
Hurricanes would not only 
explain the disappearance of the

 
crew but also other ships 
disappearances as well. 

 
Specifically the S S Hewitt 
which disappeared under similar 

 
circumstances not long after the
Deering. 

 
However if we look closer at 
the Deering and Hewitt's 

 
trajectory both ships were 
sailing away from the 

 
Hurricanes. 
This would make the hurricane 

 
theory less likely. 
Another possible and highly 

 
popular theory is piracy. 
This theory was very popular 

 
among the public and Lula Wormel
was a strong advocate for it. 

 
It was even believed that a 
group of pirates was responsible

 
for many other maritime 
disappearances. 

 
Piracy being the cause of the 
cruise disappearance would be a 

 
good explanation. 
The Deering's wheel was smashed 

 
and meals had been left in the 
middle of preparing. 

 
This was even more popular when 
news of the message in a bottle 

 
circulated. 
But when the note was proven A 

 
hoax there's simply no evidence
to support the theory of piracy.

 
On a similar note some members 
of the public considered whether

 
Russian or Communist piracy 
could be to blame. 

 
While the Deering shipwreck 
occurred before the Cold War 

 
the United States was still in 
its first wave of the Red Scare.

 
This began in triggered by
the Russian Revolution and post 

 
war labor strikes and it 
continued into the s. 

 
This form of mass hysteria 
driven by intense fear of 

 
communist infiltration led to 
intense government raids of 

 
Russian organizations. 
In a raid of the headquarters of

 
the United Russian Workers 
Party officers allegedly found 

 
papers that called on members to
seize American ships as part of 

 
a Bolshevik plot. 
U.S. government officials who 

 
took a hard stance against 
communism were very supportive 

 
of this theory. 
But while the paper seized in 

 
the raid called for American 
ships to be seized there is no 

 
evidence to prove that one of 
those ships was the Carol A 

 
Deering. 
Another possibility was that rum

 
runners were to blame. 
The disappearance of the daring 

 
occurred during the Prohibition 
era in the United States a 

 
nationwide constitutional ban on
the production importation 

 
transportation and sale of 
alcoholic beverages between 

 
and . 
Because the production and 

 
transportation of alcohol was 
illegal during Prohibition rum 

 
runners played the critical role
of smuggling large amounts of 

 
foreign alcohol into the US via 
ships. 

 
Rum runners mainly operated 
along the Atlantic Coast and 

 
from the Bahamas both locations
that were part of the Deering's 

 
route back to Virginia. 
This led to speculation that 

 
liquor smugglers working out of 
the Bahamas wanted to steal the 

 
Deering and use her to run rum. 
Since the Deering was a very 

 
large ship it was thought that 
smugglers might want her in 

 
order to transport large amounts
of liquors all at once but rum 

 
runners typically didn't choose 
such large and conspicuous 

 
ships. 
There was also a rumor that the 

 
Deering was carrying $ 
worth of liquor in her cargo. 

 
Since her cargo hold would have 
been empty after her delivery in

 
Brazil it is possible that the 
crew was attempting to smuggle 

 
$ worth of liquor into 
the US but the supposed liquor 

 
was never found during the 
investigation. 

 
While this was never proven it 
could have further incentivized 

 
the Rum runners to target her 
or members of the crew could 

 
have been working with the Rum 
runners. 

 
The last theory is often 
considered the unofficial 

 
explanation for the abandonment 
of the Carolais Deering mutiny. 

 
The conflict between Captain 
Wormel and his first mate were 

 
well documented with several 
reports having been made 

 
throughout the Deering's journey
and suggested that there may 

 
have been trouble between Wormel
and the crew. 

 
Captain Jacobson at Cape 
Hatteras Lookout remarked that 

 
the Deering was a bit off. 
He recalled that the man who 

 
hailed the light ship was 
definitely not Captain Wormel 

 
and did not seem like an 
officer. 

 
Senator Frederick Hale who was 
instrumental in convincing 

 
Herbert Hoover to launch a 
nationwide investigation 

 
believe that what happened to 
the Deering was a clear case of 

 
mutiny that ultimately led to 
the crew's disappearance. 

 
While the crew's discontent with
Captain Wormel could have been 

 
the root cause of such mutiny 
there was still no concrete 

 
evidence that mutiny occurred or
that it led to the crew's 

 
disappearance. 
There are also some that believe

 
a paranormal or supernatural 
event is to blame for 

 
everything. 
The most popular of these 

 
explanations is the Bermuda 
Triangle an urban legend 

 
focused on a loosely defined 
region in the western North 

 
Atlantic Ocean where numerous 
aircrafts and ships are said to 

 
have disappeared under 
mysterious circumstances. 

 
Over years later we still 
continue to be fascinated by 

 
this story and speculation about
what happened remains strong. 

 
With the passing of time we 
have some emotional distance 

 
from the events and we re 
examine the story through a more

 
analytical lens. 
It is now largely believed that 

 
the Deering's crew might have 
simply abandoned ship after the 

 
Deering was grounded on the 
Diamond Shoals and that the 

 
crew was unfortunately unable to
make it to shore in the rough 

 
conditions and were swept out to
sea. 

 
Sadly to this day there is no 
official explanation for what 

 
happened to the Carol A Deering 
or its crew and it's unlikely 

 
that we will ever have one. 
The Carol A Deering Go ship is 

 
considered one of history's 
greatest maritime mysteries. 

 
That's going to do it for the 
ghost ship of the Carol A 

 
Deering. 
Thank you so much for listening.

 
This episode was written by 
Madeline Gassen and edited and 

 
produced by me Rich Napolitano.
Original theme music is by Sean 

 
Siegfried. 
Last but not least please be 

 
sure to rate and review 
Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs on 

 
Spotify Apple Podcasts or 
wherever you listen to podcasts.

 
Please join me again next time. 
And as always don't forget to 

 
wear your life jackets.