From the spooky decks of

USS ORLECK

and the other ships of the haunted museum fleet!

We scoured the internet looking for any stories about the USS Barry to confirm what we were told in the past but were unable to locate any. When the US Navy decided to scrap the USS Barry several years back, members of the Jacksonville Naval Museum went to the Navy Yard in Washington, DC and obtained a 26ft box van full of equipment from the ship. Originally the equipment was to be used on the USS Charles F. Adams DDG-2. That equipment has now been placed on the USS Orleck.

During our time there, the MM1 who was in charge of the small crew of Navy personnel who ran and maintained the ship, pointed out a berthing area that we really should not enter. This berthing area was just aft of the after-engine room. When we inquired about the berthing compartment and why we should stay out, he had said that the compartment was extremely haunted! He had said that the space was so bad that the only way that his staff would enter the space was in a minimum of a group of three. While it has been a while since we visited the ship, we believe that some of the things that happened to those who entered that space were people being grabbed and pushed around. Voices and shadows moving about and a very heavy feeling around you.

Since we were strapped for time, we ourselves never went into the compartment to check out his claims. As first mentioned, we did bring back equipment from the USS Barry. Right now, a great deal of damage control equipment from the USS Barry is staged in Repair 5 just forward of the mid-ship passageway. This is also the area on the USS Orleck as mentioned above, that the motion activated voice boxes are located and constantly go off on their own without a human walking by to trigger them.

Could it be that the equipment brought from the USS Barry and placed on the USS Orleck has spirits attached to it and they are now enjoying their new home on the USS Orleck? We will never know!

The first Hornet was christened in 1775, and along with the Wasp, were the first two ships in the new Continental Navy. There would be eight Hornets,(the seventh was sunk during WWII) before the name was decommissioned. The eighth, and final, USS Hornet set a number of Naval records, including plucking the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 crews out of the sea upon their splashdown returns to earth – before being moored near San Francisco as a maritime museum. The Hornet is also considered one of the most haunted ships open for tours, anywhere in the world.

It is widely rumored that the Hornet rests a bit uneasy to this day, for many reasons. With the ship’s namesake dating back to the 1700’s, many lives have come and gone over the years, across the decks of “The Gray Ghost.” WWII would see 140 men lost when the (seventh) ship was sunk in 1942, with reports of over 300 lives total lost during the Hornet’s commission.

But it’s the grisly string of accidents and, regrettably, suicides onboard that cause many to say the proud ship keeps a powerful grip on the souls who sailed with her.



Snapping flight arrest cables decapitated three men, while others were sucked into air intakes, or blown off deck by aircraft exhaust. A few unfortunate souls met their ends by accidentally walking into aircraft spinning props from planes on deck. In 2007, a museum volunteer committed suicide in an engine room, well below deck.

Paranormal enthusiasts who have never actually experienced a ghostly event may get their first chance aboard the USS Hornet. The volunteers who work the ship in Alameda, California, commonly show visitors how their flashlights will turn on by themselves when left alone -- but flashlights are just the beginning.

The Hornet (CV-12) is one of the most storied ships in American military history. Built after the start of World War II, it was a U.S. Navy workhorse for the most important campaigns of the war, serving in the fights for New Guinea, Palau, the Marianas and the Philippines, just to name a few.

Its service didn't end with the war. The Hornet returned to action in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and was used to recover command modules and crews during the Apollo Program, including the crew that first landed on the moon in 1969.

A ship that earned nine battle stars in World War II is going to carry its share of combat casualties, but the ship also lost an estimated 300 sailors to accidents and suicides throughout its service history. During its tenure, it had one of the highest suicide rates in the Navy. People are still dying by suicide aboard the Hornet, even though it's now a museum ship.

For those who believe in this kind of thing, it's no wonder that the Hornet is considered the most haunted ship in the Navy, and one of the most haunted places in America. It's a place where switches allegedly turn on, lockers doors open and objects move by themselves, often by two feet or more. When you're ready to meet some Navy ghosts, you can see it for yourself.

Pasadena's California Institute of Technology maintains a website for visitors to send in their paranormal experiences and ghost stories while aboard the Hornet. Many of these come from the ship's sleepover events, where visitors stay on the carrier overnight.

On the site, a woman recalls the night her Girl Scout troop spent aboard the Hornet. She and her friend were returning to their berthing (sleeping quarters) after using the head (bathroom). As they passed a galley (kitchen) on the way back to their room, they heard a man scream for help. Later that night, a man entered their room, dressed in khakis. The Girl Scouts cried out in terror and threw a deck of cards that passed right through the man.

Dan Brisker was a machinist's mate aboard the Hornet between 1965 and 1969. He was detailed to Fire Control, which required him to spend his watch in the ship's fire rooms. One night, he was having a snack and suddenly heard work being done in a boiler firebox, despite the fact that he was on the graveyard shift and thought he was alone.

As Brisker walked to the firebox to check on the sound, he heard a paint scraper drop to the floor. When he poked his head in the firebox, there was nothing there except the paint scraper.

One family took a private tour of the ship and videotaped all of it. During one segment, they kept noticing a flash of light in the corner of the screen. When they scrolled through the video frame by frame, they discovered it wasn't a flash of light at all. It was the ghostly apparition of a sailor wearing a white shirt, with a pack of cigarettes rolled in the sleeve.

Stories like these from visitors to the Hornet abound, whether staying for the night or just visiting for a few hours. This is why ghost stories from the ship regularly appear in the local newspaper, the East Bay Times. Though people hear ghosts calling out their name or see otherworldly shadows moving across the walls, the volunteers who work the ship say that the spirits aboard are benign, if not outright friendly.

Visitors interested in an encounter with Navy veterans of World War II who may not have survived the war can learn more about their service with a paranormal presentation aboard the Hornet. The presentation is followed by an after-dark tour of the ship's ghostly hot spots.

Founded in 1626, the town of Salem is one of the oldest in the country. It can be argued that it was the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 that put the city firmly on the paranormal map. In the hysteria of the time, multiple people were accused of witchcraft – with 19 hanged, and one crushed.

The USS Salem commissioned in 1949, and was the Navy’s last heavy cruiser to enter service. She is now the only heavy Des Moines-class cruiser still in existence. The Salem traveled the world before mooring in Quincy, Massachusetts – and never fired her guns in battle. The very name Salem is actually of Hebrew-origin, meaning peace – and it is that mantle the heavy cruiser held high as she supported relief and peace efforts around the world.

The great ship was decommissioned in 1959, brought back to her birthplace in the Quincy, Fore River Shipyard in 1994, and recommissioned as part of the US Naval Shipbuilding Museum.

This largely peaceful vessel took a turn for the spooky after a paranormal crew, “The Ghost Hunters,” from the SyFy Channel launched an investigation in 2009. Many believe that investigation opened doors…that can no longer be closed.



Visitors now frequently report hearing disembodied voices, wails, and being followed or watched, as they tour the retired cruiser.

As if, a once peaceful, otherworldly home was disturbed, and might be angry it can no longer rest.

The USS Salem, a heavy cruiser built by The Navy after World War II, is a significant historic and paranormal site in Quincy, Massachusetts. After housing the victims of the tragic 1953 Ionian earthquake that ravaged Greece’s west coast, strange sightings, smells, and noises began to pop-up from all corners of the warship. With the majority of its visitors experiencing some sort of odd encounter, the USS Salem is the perfect haunted attraction for those who have to see to believe.

The Ghosts of the USS Salem

The spirits of those who passed away aboard the life-saving “Sea Witch” are said to still linger onboard. The navy ship’s third wardroom - or “mess hall” - is said to have the most activity, as it stands right above the makeshift morgue (read freezer) that once held approximately 400 Greek casualties. This same area also reportedly houses a young Greek girl, a dark, taunting entity, and a violent hellhound with a heart-stopping growl.

There is a recurring presence in the anchor windlass room, a man named John, who used to work in maintenance before his death. John’s specter was the first USS Salem tour guide, appearing to visitors in full human form. His presence was unknown until guests began to praise the excellent - yet inexistent - guide.

Among the other exciting warship residents, we find the ghost of a neat cook that maintains the kitchen area organized and a man in the mess hall that drags and overturns chairs.

”The Burning Man”

Believed to be one of the Ionian earthquake victims, The Burning Man has been described as a specter who “smells like death.” He is thought to be one of the many who unfortunately succumbed to their fatal, fourth-degree burns aboard the ship. Ghost tour guides often spot The Burning Man in the same room where the ship’s morgue once stood, which is believed to be where he died.

Earthquakes can cause gas lines to break and explode, making fires an unfortunate side-effect of seismic events. The number of fire-related deaths on the ship might explain the unexpected ash scent that hits the majority of USS Salem visitors.

Ghost Hunters Investigate the USS Salem

In 2009, an episode titled “Glimmer Men” of the SYFY series Ghost Hunters aired detailing the paranormal investigators’ experience aboard the USS Salem.

The group identified abnormally high electromagnetic fields they determined to be causing hallucinations and extreme paranoia to those who visit the warship. They also captured EVP recordings of banging noises and what sounded like a woman’s voice, all explained by the vessel’s interesting past.

USS Salem History

The USS Salem is one of the Des Moines-class heavy cruisers ordered by the U.S. Navy. In 1945, just before the end of World War II, the Bethlehem Steel Company began its construction in Quincy, Massachusetts. Salem was the last of its class to be commissioned and is the only heavy cruiser still standing.

For ten years, the USS Salem served as flagship for the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the U.S. Second Fleet in the Atlantic, hosting notables such as the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and King Paul of Greece.

The warship was launched at the beginning of the Cold War when tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were at an all-time high. Although the heavily armed military vessel never had to fire its weapons, its impressive battery was enough to deter possible attacks.



Emergency Relief aboard the USS Salem

The ship’s most significant deployment occurred in 1953 when it was sent to the Ionian Islands, on the west coast of Greece, to aid disaster victims. The Great Kefalonia Earthquake, as it is often called, was merely one of the over 100 earthquakes that shook the region that year.

The earthquake is still remembered as one of the most devastating disasters in Greek history, measuring a staggering 7.3 on the Richter scale and causing the untimely deaths of approximately 600 people. Israel, Britain, and the United States were some of the first countries to respond after the catastrophe, sending aid and essentials to the islands.

Amongst the significant emergency relief vessels was the USS Salem, which operated as a hospital, helping the injured and storing the unfortunately-large number of deceased locals in its morgue. Although it is unclear how long the warship cared for the earthquake victims, it is known that many took their last breath aboard the Salem, a tragic fact that haunts its visitors to this day.

In 1959, after its station in the Greek coast, the USS Salem was decommissioned and transported to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to become a member of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

It wasn’t until late-1994 when it made its way back to Quincy - its birthplace - where it was fully restored. A year later, it was recommissioned, this time, as part of the Historic Naval Ships Association. Today, the warship serves as a historical museum with exhibits detailing our military’s maritime past.

The USS Salem was a beacon of hope for the devastated Greek islands, but it was also where many spent their last moments. Without ever firing its weapons, the warship witnessed enough death and chaos to last a lifetime. Here we can experience the remnants of a world long gone, all in the company of those who regrettably did not survive the tragedy.

“The Big Wisky” was one of the largest vessels ever built as part of the mighty Iowa-class battleships. These battleships were truly spectacular with a length of nearly three football fields (295 yards/887 feet) and packed some serious firepower. The Wisconsin’s guns alone could strike targets at distances of more than 24 miles, and when these guns fired – the ship’s recoil shifted the vessel four feet in the water. 

The Wisconsin commissioned in fall 1944, and would see six decades of battles, including the Korean War, and Operation Desert Storm. During battles, “Big Wisky” took but one direct hit, during a bombardment of North Korea. Although little material damage occurred, three men were injured. In response, the Wisconsin swung around her fore and aft turrets, and unloaded massive retaliatory fire using all nine of her 50 caliber guns (each gun was 66 feet long) – in a military maneuver known as a “full salvo” against the offending battery. It was the maximum firepower deliverable from any battleship guns, then, or since – and the muzzle blasts would have created a wall of fire as the guns blazed. The battery was obliterated.

As the smoke cleared, one of the Wisconsin’s nearby escort ships, the USS Buck, flashed a message with their signal lights that read, “Temper, temper.”



That kind of fierce fighting spirit simply does not fade away, as visitors to the Battleship Wisconsin can tell you. Someone, or something, still makes quite a racket on the moored vessel – and is happy to show off for those brave enough to visit.

Now moored at the Buffalo Naval Park, USS The Sullivans is the only ship in the US Navy to be named after more than one person. Her namesake is the five Sullivan brothers who were killed aboard the USS Juneau in WWII during a submarine attack.

The brothers, known as “The Fighting Sullivans” had been inseparable growing up. When the oldest brother George joined the Navy, the remaining four brothers did what the Sullivans had always done. They stayed together, each joining the Navy, until all five brothers were on active duty. With each brother now in uniform, they requested to be assigned to the same ship, and their request was granted. All five brothers were assigned to the Juneau, as they joined the fight in the Pacific.

They would remain together, but not in the way they’d hoped. Torpedoes hulled the Juneau, completely sinking her. Approximately 100 men survived the initial attack, but three of the brothers were killed instantly (Frank, Joe, and Matt.)

With enemy submarines still lurking in the area, rescue efforts were delayed – as the Navy did not want to expose already precious ships to more enemy forces. A B-17 bomber crew had flown the area searching for survivors, but was ordered under radio silence to report back only once they had landed, leaving the 100 survivors – initially including two remaining Sullivan brothers, Al and George, floating at sea and praying for rescue.

But rescue would not be coming for the last two Sullivan brothers.

Al Sullivan drowned the day following the attack. Five days would tick by until rescue efforts were finally mounted. Once the men were reached, only ten survivors remained, the rest having perished from exposure, thirst, battle wounds, and sharks. Survivors reported the final remaining Sullivan brother George, suffered delirium, and went over the side of his raft in a state of profound grief after Al’s death. George was never seen again.

When the brothers’ parents were finally notified there had been a death, the responding casualty officer said to the boys’ father, Tom Sullivan, “I have some news for you about your boys.”

“Which one?” asked Tom.

“I’m sorry,” the officer replied. “All five.”

The Sullivan deaths aboard the same vessel would forever change how the military assigned siblings to mission units, and be the impetus for the Sole Survivor Policy.

A new destroyer was commissioned, sponsored the boys’ mother, Mrs. Alleta Sullivan and named in honor of the family’s tremendous sacrifice. The Sullivans served the Navy from 1943 to 1965, where it became a memorial ship, moored in Buffalo.

Visitors to USS The Sullivans have reported radios clicking on by themselves and broadcasting static, electronic beeps as if relaying a pinging radar, flickering lights, and a strange shadowy figure constantly roaming the decks, believed by many to be the restless spirit of the eldest brother, George Sullivan.



A picture of all five brothers in uniform, aboard the doomed Juneau is mounted prominently in the ship, The Sullivans. But, it’s said that if you try to take a picture of the image, only four brothers appear.

George’s image never shows, as it is believed he roams the seas and ships still looking for his lost brothers.

More than 1,100 sailors perished aboard the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941.

The Arizona now rests in Pearl Harbor, with a floating memorial built over her allowing visitors to peer down into the deep blue sea at her outline. From personal experience, it is a very eerie feeling to see a once great ship, humbled at the bottom of the sea, forever frozen from one fateful day. Tiny drops of oil still bubble to the surface, and shimmer across the waves.

Stare at the waters long enough though, and you may even see an anguished face appear, as a tourist who visited the memorial captured on film.



Additionally, numerous military members assigned to the area have reported eerie noises and disembodied screams that still come from the harbor. 

Nicknamed the “Blue Ghost”, the USS Lexington was at first, seemingly unsinkable. During WWII, she was mistakenly reported as sunk four times by enemy forces, until she was finally hulled in the Battle of the Coral Sea, fighting alongside the USS Yorktown in May, 1942. 

When word of the sinking reached Massachusetts’ Fore River Shipyard, and the nearly finished USS Cabot,the decision was made that the “Lady Lex” would sail again, in honor of the 216 crew members lost at sea. The Cabot was renamed, and the second carrier to be commissioned as the USS Lexington raced to join the fight in the Pacific.

The new USS Lexington went on to set more records than any other Essex-class carrier, spending 21 months in combat, her aviation crews destroying 372 enemy aircraft in the air, another 475 on the ground. During her five decades in service, the Lexington would earn 11 battle stars, along with the Presidential Citation for exceptional bravery. 



That type of legacy does not go quietly into the night. Now a maritime museum in Corpus Christi, Texas, the Lexington reports hundreds of supernatural activities each year. Among the most famously reported, are sightings of sailors guiding lost guests back to the deck, and a sailor, mistaken as a museum docent, giving lectures of how the turbine engines work … before vanishing into thin air.

The legacy of the USS Yorktown is as inspiring, as it is haunting.

Yorktown is a pivotal name in US history, never to be forgotten. The year was 1781 and the Revolutionary War had been raging for six years, when British General Cornwallis retreated to Yorktown, Virginia. He had hoped to be evacuated by the British navy, but the plan proved to be a trap, with Cornwallis met instead by the French navy at sea, and US forces surrounding the city. The victory at Yorktown effectively ended the war – and the name Yorktown has been inspiration for US naval warfare ever since. There have been five commissioned under the name, with the first dating back to 1840.

Known as the “Fighting Lady”, the third USS Yorktown was one of only eight active carriers left in the country after the WWII attack on Pearl Harbor. US signals intelligence had picked up plans of an enemy attack planned in the Coral Sea. The USS Yorktown joined the Lexington and both steamed to the South Pacific, and into what became the Battle of the Coral Sea.

It was a strategic, but tough victory for Allied forces. The Lexington was sunk; the Yorktown badly damaged. Further naval intelligence suggested a new attack was being planned against the Midway Atoll, which would tip the balance of power in the Pacific to whomever won.

It was estimated the USS Yorktown would take at least 90 days to repair, but commanding Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz knew there was no time. The Battle of Midway would need every ship that could be mustered – and the USS Yorktown was deployed back into battle…just three days later. With a hole in the flight deck, no radar, and leaking fuel across the sea – the brave sailors of the USS Yorktown steamed to Midway…knowing that they were likely trading their own lives for the naval battle of a lifetime.

They were right. The Yorktown was sunk, claiming 141 souls with it. Witnesses say that the great ship sank honorably, stern first – and with her battle flags flying until the end.

A fourth USS Yorktown was commissioned in 1953, as an ongoing legacy to the heroic sailors who had come before. And it is the fourth Yorktown, decommissioned in 1975 and now moored in Charleston as a museum – that is home to some truly otherworldly activity.    

Although the wreckage and the entombed men of the third, WWII-era Yorktown still rest at the bottom of the Pacific (when the wreckage was discovered in 1998 – the ship’s anti-aircraft guns still pointed skyward), countless visitors have reported sailors still walk along the moored Yorktown in the Charleston Harbor.

From unexplainable apparitions and shadowy figures caught on film, to whispers, and slamming bulkhead doors – ghostly activity has been reported by law enforcement, museum employees, tourists, and even paranormal professional investigation teams.

One Yorktown museum employee shared his thoughts. “I think some of these men loved this old ship so much, they just want to come back and stay a while. And if there are ghosts – well, they’re our men. They’re the good guys.”

The above stories are courtesy of Militaryspouse.com, Military.com, & Ghost City Tours

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