A Mysterious Wartime Disappearance On The Ghost Ship SV Zebrina
YouTubeThe ship SV Zebrina was found without its crew in 1917.
It’s no secret that sailing during wartime comes with dangers. During World War I, German U-boats sank about 5,000 ships that belonged to the Allies.
In the case of the SV Zebrina, a British schooner originally built to travel to South America and transport products there, German U-boats may have been responsible for the incident that occurred in October 1917.
At that point in time, the Zebrina had been repurposed for shorter trade trips around Europe. The ship’s captain and his crew of five were supposed to journey from Falmouth, England to Cherbourg, France to drop off some coal. But two days after the vessel took off, it was discovered to have run aground in Rozel Point, which was south of Cherbourg.
Surprisingly, the ship itself was in good condition. But the crew was missing.
Puzzled by the scene, authorities in France initially believed that a German U-boat had attacked the vessel. After all, Europe was embroiled in a deadly conflict, and all ships on the water were potential targets.
Theories emerged that the crew members had abandoned the Zebrina after being fired upon by a U-boat and then later went missing in their lifeboat, leaving the Zebrina a ghost ship. But other theories suggested that the crew members had actually been kidnapped by the Germans.
However, after the war was over, German officials stated that there was no record of an attack on the boat. Furthermore, it was unlikely that the Zebrina would be in such good condition following an attack, and there was also valuable cargo left on board. Germans maintained that the Zebrina case was just as mysterious to them as it was to the Allies.
A later theory suggested that the crew on the Zebrina was not attacked by an enemy ship at all, but that they instead accidentally fell overboard during a squall, leaving their ship to drift and eventually run aground.
