This famous ghost picture reveals two faces of men, seen in the ocean waves, who died while cleaning a storage tank of the ship SS Watertown.
The SS Watertown was an oil tanker which had a tragic accident occur while at sea. Two men were cleaning an empty cargo hold when they were both overcome with gas fumes and died. At the time, the ship was steaming toward the Panama Canal. The sailors were buried at sea December 4, 1924.
Beginning the next day, crewmen reported seeing the faces of the men in the water. Imagine the horror the ghost sightings created when word spread aboard between the remaining crewmen.
How the SS Watertown Ghost Photo Came to Be
When the SS Watertown arrived in New Orleans, the captain reported the incident to the company who owned the tanker. It was suggested he photograph the faces should they re-appear in the waves on the ship's next voyage. And so, the good captain armed himself with a camera and set sail with his crew, determined to validate the phantom seamen once and for all.
Captain Tracy took six photographs of the waters when and where the faces were said to be seen by the crew; then, he locked the camera in the ship's safe. Upon return, one of the photos recorded the faces of James Courtney and Michael Meehan.
The men's faces were never seen again after the SS Watertown's crew was changed. Perhaps, the specters became invisible to those who could not recognize Courtney and Meehan.
For more info on hauntings at sea...go to Ghost Ships