Ghost Ship Lady Lovibond and Goodwin Sands

Three-Masted Schooner’s Phantom Appeared Every Fifty Years

May 15, 2009

Three Masted Schooner, http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/542101

The dangerous sands claimed many vessels. Lady Lovibond was the most famous of the phantom ships there. Some speculate that the sandbar is the legendary island, Lomea.

There are legends about the ships Lady Lovibond and the Goodwin Sands. There’s scientific and historical evidence that Lomea might have existed. There are documented sightings of the phantom ship by credible witnesses.

The Goodwin Sands

Legends exist about how the Goodwin Sands originated. Both agree that the sandbar was Lomea, a small island. Some say that it was swept away by a powerful storm in 1099; others that an abbot in Canterbury or the Earl of Goodwin did not repair the sea walls, so the island was lost by being submerged. Although there is no official documentation of Lomea’s existence the island, people have heard phantom bells ringing.

There is a postulation that the Goodwin Sands were not created by currents and tides affecting the bottom of the sea. The British lighthouse authority had a plan to build a one on the Sands. Borings were made. They found a stratum of London clay over a chalk basement. This was believed to be the remains of a clay island. Based on this and the fact that the Romans referred to an island they called “Infera Insula,” or Low Island, it’s speculated that Lomea did exist.

The Shipwreck of Lady Lovibond

The ship sank on Friday, February 13, 1748 in the most treacherous and haunted area of the English Channel, the Goodwin Sands, off of Kent County, near Deal. Captain Simon Peel and his bride, Anneta were on board. He and his bride were taking a cruise to celebrate their marriage. According to one legend, there were also wedding guests aboard. The festivities were held below the deck. Superstition was that a woman on board meant bad luck. This time, the fallacious belief prevailed.

Accounts vary as to which crew member ran the ship aground. The legend has it the helmsman or the first mate was in a jealous rage because he was enamored with Anneta, killed the Peel and steered the ship to run into the Goodwin Sands. Another version is that that mate murdered the helmsman and grounded the ship. All aboard were drowned.

The Phantom Ship of Lady Lovibond

The ghostly ship was said to appear every fifty years.

The first sighting of the Lady Lovibond was in 1798 and was confirmed by the crews of two ships. She was so realistic that the Edenbridge’s Captain thought they were going to collide.
In 1848, local seamen saw the shipwreck and sent lifeboats to rescue the survivors.
She appeared in 1898.
In 1948, Captain Bull Prestwick saw her and said that she appeared to be real, but emitted an unearthly green glow.

There was no sighting in 1998.

Goodwin Sands, Other Phantom Ships

According to local legends, there are a number of other ghost ships in the area including:

An unnamed Spanish galleon sunk during the Armada because of an attempted mutiny;
HMS Northumberland, a frigate lost with all of her crew during the Great Storm of 1703;
Four other warships also sunk during the 1703 deluge;
The steamship Violet and loss of her entire crew in 1857, and;
A small unnamed Italian merchant ship in 1948 whose crew survived.

Ghost Ship Theory

The Flying Dutchman and the Palatine light are probably the most famous phantom ships. The phenomenon is a haunting.

Hauntings are energy imprinted in time and space, like a video tape. Theory is that an emotion of the haunter creates the otherworldly event. This type of ghostly event can repeat itself for centuries.