Ghosts of the USS Yorktown

by Bruce Orr

  SHADOW ED: ONE VISITOR’S ENCOUNTER

  On the Veterans Forum on the “USS Yorktown Sailor” website, a visitor posted her encounter with Shadow Ed during one of her visits to the ship. The following is her story, in her own words from the posting.

  I think I have seen him. I was in Charleston, in 1988 and 1989 and visited the USS Yorktown. I had been to visit her many times but this was the first time I had been there when the engine room was open. You have to forgive me due to this being so long ago I am a touch fuzzy. Anyway, while I was down in the engine room, I was looking out over a catwalk type thing/viewing area. Well, this “person” came out from below the cat walk, bent down like it picked something up, looked at a pipe and went back under where I was standing. I don’t know how far that platform is where you stand to how far down “this person” was but I remember thinking when I saw him that it must be kinda dark since I never saw any colors on his clothes or hair color, etc. I never saw anything but a dark outline of a person. My first thought was/ is that a homeless person living there without anyone knowing? What’s that person doing down there and where did he go? Why didn’t he make any noise? Now I wonder if it wasn’t a shadow person. I was there in the middle of a weekday so there weren’t very many people there. Neither the other couple of people nor my boyfriend saw it but I saw it clear as day. I guess because when I am in these places, as I am looking around, I am picturing what was going on, what they were doing as their ship was being bombed and how in the heck would they get out of there if the ship started sinking.

  I love this ship and have visited her many times. Every time I visit Charleston, I find myself wandering around on her or sitting on the fantail. Last time I was there was in the Summer of 2003. Didn’t see anything except the sweat rolling in to my eyes!

  Thanks for letting me share.

  —Crystal Kell, December 8, 2008

  JUST AROUND THE CORNER

  Bruce M. Frey is a clinical pharmacist in pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. As such, he is used to dealing with science and with tangible and “explainable” reality. He is also a volunteer for Patriots Point and has been for quite some time. In this capacity, he has experienced some things that he cannot readily or scientifically explain.

  As a Patriots Point volunteer, Bruce has logged many hours onboard the USS Yorktown. He has frequently been approached by small children and asked the inevitable childhood maritime question: “Where are the pirates?” The good-natured gentleman then takes the time to explain about pirates and piracy on the seas before transitioning back into the USS Yorktown’s place in history. Sometimes there is that rare occasion when a young adult or a parent or two during the tours has approached. Often times the reason is as simple as asking for a restroom to clean up a child or advising him that a child has just puked in the back of the group. Other times, he can often tell by their expressions, there is a more pressing issue on their mind. The question is often asked, “Is this ship haunted?”

  That answer is a tad bit more complicated, and quite frankly, he would rather deal with an onslaught of armed pirates by himself than to try and answer their inquiry.

  Often times, the adult will go a little bit further and ask about the voices they just heard. Many times, he has had to reassure them that they are not crazy and that they are definitely not hallucinating. He has heard them too.

  He has had several experiences of hearing the voices, not just one but several, around the corner as he has been traveling around on the ship. He will hear the voices speaking in low tones, accompanied by movement and footsteps. He will turn the corner expecting to run into another tour only to find the corridor empty. He says that either the tour group consists of “the fastest humans on Earth,” or there is something else occurring.

  He has had these experiences in several locations onboard the USS Yorktown, but most often they occur below deck in the Boiler Room, near the turbines or in the pilot ready area. The voices are numerous, but the words cannot be made out. They are a constant murmur combined with shuffling, papers moving and numerous footsteps.

  He, like many other employees, has made attempts to locate the party, but the scientific and analytical side of Bruce Frey has already determined that an unnoticed escape by such a large group is impossible. “There is simply no place for them to go.”

  In discussing the matter with Bruce Frey, he will tell you that if there are really such things as ghosts, then these are men just going about the performance of their duties just as they had in life. He states that these men had lived—and suffered—through the Great Depression. They left behind lives where things were difficult, and perhaps they were struggling to support their families. On the USS Yorktown, they had a purpose in life, were able to support their families and were a part of something even bigger; they belonged to a larger family here on the USS Yorktown. They lived their lives here, fought side by side with their brothers and some even died here. If there are such things as ghosts, then why would a person not want to return to a period in their life where what they were doing in that moment was the most important thing they ever did in their entire existence?

  When speaking of what he has experienced onboard, he believes that the phenomenon is more natural than supernatural. Paranormal means something beyond normal scientific explanation. He truly believes that the events he and many others experience on the ship are beyond current scientific explanation.

  He believes that the sounds are quite possibly an echo from the past. As explained earlier in this book, an echo is defined as a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener sometime after the direct sound was created. The sound, or series of sounds, is caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener. Perhaps these sounds are an echo in time created decades ago, reverberating through the steel walls and decks of the enormous ship and arriving to be heard in the present.

  Bruce believes that one day there will be a scientific explanation for the paranormal experiences he and many others have experienced onboard the USS Yorktown. Much like the phantom voices in the corridors, he believes that a plausible scientific explanation is just around the corner.

  RUDE AWAKENING

  Several years ago, Patriots Point employee Brian Parsons was a young high school student working after school and weekends onboard the USS Yorktown. He loved the ship, and he spent as much time as he could working there or even just hanging out on the Fighting Lady after his shift. On some occasions, he even worked so late that he ended up sleeping onboard. One such night, Brian was in room 243, one of the smaller officer’s staterooms that the scouting department has set aside for Patriots Point staff to utilize on just such occasions. Brian had used this room before as a personal berthing room, and he realized that the door to this particular room did not seem to secure very well. He had wedged a couple of coins in between the door and the frame in order to prevent it from coming open, but he was not too concerned with anyone walking in on him because he was the only one in that immediate area.

  It was pretty late at night, and Brian was lying in the bunk, almost asleep. As he lay there, the door was suddenly—and forcefully—thrown open and struck the wall with a tremendous impact. Startled, Brian jumped from the bunk and immediately ran into the hallway.

  No one was there.

  The room is only approachable by two directions, through the corridor in which it is located. Both these directions are cordoned off by chains hanging across the passageways to keep visitors on the tour route away from these particular rooms. Brian immediately took note of the chains and the fact that they were hooked in place and not moving. It is impossible to get past the chains without causing them to sway, and had anyone fled in either direction, it would have been indicated by the chains either having been removed or at least swaying at having been touched. Not only were the motionless chains hard to believe, but there was also no noise of anyone moving about the corridor and there was no possible way for anyone to exit the corridor before B
rian had gotten to the door.

  Room 243. Courtesy of KOP.

  DRESSING THE PART

  Through the years, many visitors have expressed to the staff at Patriots Point that they thought it was a nice touch having some of the staff dress as sailors. The problem is that Patriots Point does not do this and never has. There are, however, mannequins on the ship dressed in period clothing. Perhaps some individuals have initially mistaken the mannequins for ghosts, but a quick double take soon reveals that they are secured behind Plexiglass and are part of the exhibit.

  Quite often, the Patriots Point staff has pointed out the mistaken identity of the mannequins, but there are other times when the visitors report that the people they saw were in motion. There has also been the occasion where a staff member has seen them too.

  There has also been an occasion or two when “living” active duty personnel in uniform have been mistaken for staff in costume, but that is rare and quickly resolved.

  Visitors have reported seeing such uniformed apparitions in the Boiler Room and the Engine Room. One visitor observed a sailor climbing a ladder leading from the Fantail of the ship.

  On one occasion, an employee arrived early one morning and observed a uniformed figure in a flight suit in the Hangar Bay. The person was moving about under a B-25 bomber that is on display in the area of the snack bar. The staff member observed the person moving about beneath the plane as he was traveling toward his office. As he passed the person, he had second thoughts and turned around to inquire why he was there. When he did so, the person was no longer there. The employee says he may have lost sight of the subject for ten seconds or less. He states he simply passed by the man, turned to speak to him and the man was no longer there.

  Another visitor reported that as she was passing through a corridor, she observed a sailor painting a door and door frame. His equipment, paint and ladder were partially blocking the hallway. As the sailor continued to paint, the lady leaned against the opposite wall and squeezed passed him. She continued down the corridor and turned around to glance back at the handsome young man. When she did so, she was shocked to see that there was no man, no equipment, no paint and no ladder in the doorway she had just squeezed past seconds earlier.

  Another employee report of an apparition occurred when staff members were clearing the ship after the overnight campers had left. The security team had already cleared and secured the billets (the living quarters the campers had stayed in), and a single staff member had begun touring the area while another waited at the base of the exit ladder.

  On this particular occasion, the inspecting staff member encountered a man in a U.S. Navy peacoat, the heavy wool coat worn by naval personnel. The inspecting staff member asked the man what he was doing there, and he turned away from her and went down the corridor that ended at the exit ladder leading to where her assistant was waiting. The subject descended, and the inspector quickly moved down the corridor and did likewise. When she reached the bottom, she was met by the other staff member at the bottom of the ladder. She asked if anyone had exited—in particular, a man in a navy blue peacoat. The answer was no. No one had exited at all after the inspecting staff member had gone up the ladder. Both staff members searched the area again, but no one was located.

  In the winter of 2004, Joe Venezia, a longtime volunteer, was walking to his office on the Hangar Deck when he observed an older male in a black navy uniform and peacoat walking through the Hangar Deck. As they were walking toward each other, Joe had an uneasy feeling. He noticed that the individual never blinked, nor did he turn his head toward Joe or the display of vintage aircraft. As Joe passed him, the man didn’t slow or acknowledge Joe at all. The subject stopped and stood looking out one of the Hangar Deck stairways toward the harbor. Joe entered the office just long enough to drop the papers he was carrying and reentered the Hangar Deck to approach and question the man. Joe states he was not in the office five seconds, and when he exited, the man was gone. There was absolutely no place for him to have exited the Hangar Deck in the five seconds Joe took his eyes off of him.

  In March 2012, Joe was working the information booth when he was approached by a very excited couple from Wisconsin. They had been touring the ship and were on the Flight Deck when they approached the SH-3G Sea King, an enormous helicopter stationed on the deck. The aircraft is an extremely large one, and although it is not impossible, it is very difficult for shorter people to be able to view the cockpit area through its Plexiglass windows. The woman had been having difficulty in doing so herself, so she lifted her camera up and snapped a picture of the interior. When she looked at the picture, she and her family were amazed at what they discovered. The photo appeared to have captured a person in a flight uniform inside the cockpit. The person also appeared to be transparent.

  SH-3G Sea King helicopter, where visitors claim to have encountered a ghostly pilot. Courtesy of KOP.

  The couple rushed back to the information desk and showed their camera to Joe Venezia. He also could not believe what the image appeared to be. In the excitement, he forgot to get their names and information. Perhaps it was an optical illusion played on the Plexiglass by the sun, or perhaps it was something else the woman encountered. After his encounter several years earlier, Joe Venezia believes that, quite possibly, they may have encountered something else.

  A FAMILY CONNECTION

  There are as many reasons an individual person may visit the USS Yorktown as there are stars in the sky. In 1996, one visitor, a former sailor, came to Charleston, South Carolina, and felt compelled to visit her. As most folks do when they arrive at the ship, he spent the better part of the day wandering around. Later, as he started following the designated tour pathways of each of the ship’s sections, he had an eerie and overwhelming feeling that someone—or something—was trying to contact him. He felt as if he was being called to a certain area of the ship, and he ended up following that feeling. As he did so, he was surprised to find himself in the hangar bay. He stated that the hair on the back of his neck was standing up for no apparent reason, and as he walked through the hangar, he continued to feel as if something was leading him there to show him something.

  The visitor was attempting to shake the eerie feeling and compose himself when he stopped in front of a memorial to four members of VT-1 Torpedo Bombing Squadron who were shot down in July 1944 in a mission over Guam. As he read the four names—Lieutenant Leonard E. Wood, Edward C. Donahue, Alfred Sabol and Owen L. Smith—he was shocked to see that one of the four deceased crew members bore his last name. Just as quickly as the feeling had come upon him, the eerie feeling completely vanished as he stared at his family name on the memorial.

  The Carrier Aviation Memorial. Courtesy of KOP.

  The man returned home and researched the name he had seen on the memorial. As he inquired about the name to his family members, he was not at all surprised to discover that the deceased crewmember was a cousin he had never known. Although a little unnerved by the experience, this particular visitor will tell you that he has no doubts that he was led to the Hangar Deck and that particular memorial on the USS Yorktown by his cousin and his cousin’s comrades, even though they had been shot down and had died on a mission fifty-two years earlier.

  A mannequin dressed in a marine uniform stands guard behind Plexiglass over one of the USS Yorktown’s weapons lockers. Courtesy of KOP.

  THE WEAPONS LOCKER

  One former crewmember was visiting the USS Yorktown and requested assistance from Patriots Point staff in locating his former berthing and work areas. While exploring the ship, the individual and the staff member assisting him passed by the small arms locker on the fourth deck and something jarred the former sailor’s memory.

  The sailor explained that this was an area where one of his close shipmates had once worked. He stated that one day his friend had received a “Dear John” letter from his girlfriend back home, and this sent the young man into a severe state of depression. The man eventually took his own life w
ith one of the pistols at his work station.

  Ironically, the employee had experienced very uncomfortable feelings in that particular area of the weapons locker and had also experienced the sensation of someone touching them while passing through this area. It has become an area that this particular Patriots Point staff member now chooses to avoid.

  THE HAUNTED HEAD

  In the vicinity of the beginning of Tour 1 is a stairwell that leads below the Hangar Deck to a set of restrooms. It is in this area that many people claim to feel an ominous and oppressive spirit. Both staff and guests have reported that they feel as if they are being followed and watched in the area. One staff member reports that she and others have been known to walk all the way to the opposite end of the ship in order to avoid going down the stairs to the restrooms, also known as the “head.” The term comes from the days of sailing ships, when the place for the crew to relieve themselves was all the way forward on either side of the ship’s bow, the forward-most part or the head of the ship. It was also the end of the ship where the figurehead was fastened, and therefore there was actually a head at the head of the ship.

  In researching the material for this book, this author was told time and time again about the area and warned of the ominous presence. The warnings were given so often that I personally went out of my way to place myself in that area to perhaps experience something.

  The restroom known as the ship’s head was located above the ship’s figurehead on sailing vessels. Courtesy of Lost in Legend.

  This author never experienced a thing there.

  When the day came for my photographer to board the USS Yorktown, this author purposefully took her to this area when “nature called.” She—also purposefully—was not informed of the ominous presence to see if she may have an actual (non-suggestive) paranormal experience with the oppressive entity. As I went toward the men’s restroom, she headed down the long corridor to the women’s restroom alone. She states that she was immediately overcome by a feeling of dread and a feeling that she was no longer alone. The photographer, my eighteen-year-old daughter, stated that there is no worse feeling than having to go to the bathroom and feeling like someone is watching you.