The Ghost Ship Lady Lovibond
Simon Reed, the captain of the Lady Lovibond, was celebrating in the winter of 1748. He had just been married, and wanted to take his new wife, Annetta, on a beautiful honeymoon tour on his beloved ship. Their destination was Oporto, Portugal, with a few stops along the way. When they left port on that three mast schooner on February 13, 1748, they would never return to Kent, England.
You may know, if you’re familiar with the lore of the sea, several marks of bad luck already on the Lady Lovibond. First, the ship set off on Friday the 13th, a notorious day of bad luck. Additionally, a lady was abroad as it set sail. According to some versions of the tale, the bridal party and Annette’s mother were also present.
It only gets worse from here, as you see, John Rivers was a former suitor of Annette’s. He grew angrier and angrier as the celebrations with the crew and their guests raged on. In a jealous rage, the tale says that he crushed the head of the crewmember on the wheel. Then, he began to steer the Lady Lovibond into the Goodwin Sand, a treacherous stretch of quicksand. This ruined the ship and sent everyone abroad to their deaths.
How is this known if everyone died? Well, after the incident Rivers’ mother confirmed in court that her lovestruck son had vowed revenge against Simon. The trial ruled that the wreck had occurred during a clear night, void of any storms. The reason for the wreck was labeled as a ‘misadventure.’
The story may have ended there but, 50 years later, on February 13th, 1798, the Lady Lovibond resurfaced and there were two recorded sightings. The first was the captain of the Edenbridge, with Captain Westlake claiming his ship nearly collided with the Lady Lovibond. Through some quick maneuvering, Captain Westlake was able to save his crew but was struck with an eerie feeling when he passed the Lady Lovibond and he only heard joyous merriment coming from the ship. Shouldn’t they have been more worried about the near collision?
A small fishing vessel also reported seeing the Lady Lovibond wreck. The witness said he saw the schooner go aground and become wrecked. When he and his crew attempted to make a rescue, they were startled to realize no one had been aboard.
This wouldn’t be the last time the ship was seen. Another fifty years later, in 1848, Lady Lovibond appeared again. Crewmen ashore at Deal say they saw the ship wreck and went out on a rescue party. However, when the lifeboats got close enough to board...the ship simply faded away into thin air.
Following the fifty-year trend, Captain Bull Prestwick spotted Lady Lovibond in 1898. The legend, seemingly more well-known at this point, had grown even more. Captain Prestwick said that the ship seemed entirely corporeal, except for the faint green glow it gave off.
Since then, there have been several other claimants that have seen the ghostly honeymoon ship. But, it begs the question, why the Lady Lovibond? Is the ghost ship trying to teach us about celebrating while it may hurt others? About the cost of blind revenge? Whatever the lesson may be, keep your eye out for the ship.
The blog image is of Aivasovsky Ivan Constantinovich storm 1872 IBI. Although this is not the image of the Lady Lovibond it does depict a ship becoming wrecked and mired in quicksand. It is in the Public Domain.