WEBVTT - S05 Episode 11 Extra: There Was a Ship

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where

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<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes we look at stories

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<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In the last episode, Destination Unknown,

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<v Speaker 1>we followed the tragic disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight H

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<v Speaker 1>three seventy to its strange and unfulfilled conclusion. Sadly for

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<v Speaker 1>all those involved, despite continued efforts to dig into the

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<v Speaker 1>truth of it all, we're unlikely to ever get to

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<v Speaker 1>the bottom of just what exactly took place and where

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<v Speaker 1>indeed the plane ended up. In a modern twist the

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<v Speaker 1>mysterious case, a number of Internet detectives have devoted many

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<v Speaker 1>hours since the plane's disappearance, mostly through the use of

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<v Speaker 1>Google Earth, attempting to track it down. In fact, two brothers,

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<v Speaker 1>Ian and Jack Wilson was so convinced that the found

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<v Speaker 1>it resting just under the tree line of a Cambodian

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<v Speaker 1>jungle that in late twenty nineteen they set out to

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<v Speaker 1>find it. It was Ian who first spotted the image

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<v Speaker 1>of a plain seemingly lying on the slopes of the

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<v Speaker 1>Cardamont Mountains, not far from pronom Oral the country's highest peak.

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<v Speaker 1>The men were forced to abandon their quest, however, having

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<v Speaker 1>underestimated the difficulty of trekking through the jungle's treacherous terrain,

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<v Speaker 1>though the pair have vowed to return to Cambodia to

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<v Speaker 1>complete their search. A spokesperson for the Aviation Safety Network

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<v Speaker 1>has since declared the image spotted by Wilson to be

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<v Speaker 1>nothing more than a plain court in mid flight by

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<v Speaker 1>Google Earth's satellite imagery. Whether or not we learn any

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<v Speaker 1>more about Flight MH three seventy, it is now forever

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<v Speaker 1>fated to join the small but painfully enigmatic list of

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<v Speaker 1>similarly mysterious aviation disappearances, such as the disappearance of Amelia

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<v Speaker 1>Earhart and the haunting tale of Flight nineteen. In December

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty five, the fourteen airmen and five Gruman TBM

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<v Speaker 1>Avenger torpedo bombers that made up Flight nineteen were undertaking

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<v Speaker 1>a navigation training flight over the Bahamas when they became disorientated.

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<v Speaker 1>Having veered off course, the five plains eventually ran out

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<v Speaker 1>of fuel, forcing their pilots to ditch them somewhere in

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic Ocean, never to be seen again. Five years later,

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<v Speaker 1>Flight nineteen's disappearance became immortalized when it was listed in

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<v Speaker 1>a Fate magazine article as one of a series of

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<v Speaker 1>strange occurrences alleged to have taken place in the region

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Bermuda Triangle. Some have looked to apply

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<v Speaker 1>the same logic to MS three seventies disappearance, wondering if

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<v Speaker 1>it too had succumbed to some kind of preternaturally hazardous

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<v Speaker 1>space located somewhere off the coast at Malaysia and northwest Indonesia.

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<v Speaker 1>It's an idea that seeks to build on another equally

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<v Speaker 1>haunting and perhaps mythological event said by some to have

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<v Speaker 1>occurred in the Malacca Strait between the Malay Peninsula and

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<v Speaker 1>North Sumatra back in nineteen forty seven, or was it

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty eight? In fact, was it even the Malacca Strait.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometime in the autumn of nineteen thirty nine, as the

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<v Speaker 1>wider world stood on the brink of global war, a

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<v Speaker 1>British merchant ship was making its way through the Coral Sea,

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<v Speaker 1>roughly two hundred miles to the southwest of the Solomon Islands.

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<v Speaker 1>That afternoon, as the boat moved steadily through the waves,

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<v Speaker 1>a sudden drop in pressure brought an unusual stillness to

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<v Speaker 1>the air. At such times, it was common for crew

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<v Speaker 1>members to take advantage of the momentary calm to enjoy

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<v Speaker 1>a cigarette or gaze wistfully out across the vast, unfathomable ocean.

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<v Speaker 1>And though for many these were times to be savored,

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<v Speaker 1>it was also in these moments that thoughts inevitably turned

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<v Speaker 1>to loved ones back home and whether or not they

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<v Speaker 1>would still be there when they returned. And for some

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<v Speaker 1>it was these moments more than any when the solitude

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<v Speaker 1>and the sheer vastness of the waters stretching out before

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<v Speaker 1>them would threaten to overwhelm them, when all those defenses

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<v Speaker 1>they'd built up to stave off their darkest fears so

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<v Speaker 1>vital for the long haul sailor might suddenly crumble, allowing

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<v Speaker 1>that great, empty, vastness to come rushing in. When suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>the silence was broken by the crackle of static bursting

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<v Speaker 1>out of the bridge, followed immediately by the unmistakable pips

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<v Speaker 1>of Morse code dot dot dot dash dash dash dot

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<v Speaker 1>dot dot s O S. As the dots and dashes continued,

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<v Speaker 1>a flurry of footsteps clattered about the deck, as all

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<v Speaker 1>within earshot raced to the bridge to help decipher the message.

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<v Speaker 1>S from the steamship urrang Medan beg ships with short

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<v Speaker 1>wave wireless get touch doctor urgent. Not having a doctor

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<v Speaker 1>on board themselves, the captain had the message relayed to

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<v Speaker 1>medical stations in Germany, Italy and France, then instructed his

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<v Speaker 1>radio officer to ask if they had any further requests.

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<v Speaker 1>A reply followed soon after, probable second officer dead, other

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<v Speaker 1>members crew also killed. Disregard medical consultation, urgent assistance. They

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<v Speaker 1>responded again with their location, followed by a flurry of

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<v Speaker 1>final blips. Crew has but there the message abruptly ended.

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<v Speaker 1>Realizing they were the nearest vessel by far, and with

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<v Speaker 1>time evidently running out, the captain made up his mind

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<v Speaker 1>to help and ordered his crew to plot a course

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<v Speaker 1>for the urrang Medan without delay. This year, I'm refocusing

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<v Speaker 1>That's daily harvest dot com. As the merchant vessel raced

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<v Speaker 1>valiantly through the night, the ship's crew speculated uneasily about

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<v Speaker 1>what an earth could have happened. Some suspected mutiny or piracy,

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<v Speaker 1>while others wandered gravely if perhaps it had been some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of prisoner revolt and their distress call merely a

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<v Speaker 1>ruse to lure in another hapless vessel to commandeer. And then,

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<v Speaker 1>almost sixteen hours after they set off, a cry rang

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<v Speaker 1>out from the crow's nest. There shouted the lookout, pointing

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<v Speaker 1>toward a large smudge on the horizon. Drawing in closer,

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<v Speaker 1>they saw finally a large ship listing slightly to starboard,

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<v Speaker 1>while its lifeless propeller could be seen just peeking out

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<v Speaker 1>above the waterline. Through his binoculars, the captain was unnerved

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<v Speaker 1>to see the ship had no flag, extremely unusual for

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<v Speaker 1>any maritime vessel. But more worrying still was the distinct

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<v Speaker 1>lack of any signs of life on board. When attempts

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<v Speaker 1>to hail the crew through a megaphone met with no response,

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen men took to the lifeboats and duly made their

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<v Speaker 1>way across the water to investigate the stricken vessel. Stepping

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<v Speaker 1>on board moments later, the men found a scene of

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<v Speaker 1>abject horror. All over. The deck was littered with the

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<v Speaker 1>bodies of men, their faces frozen in horrific contorted ways.

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<v Speaker 1>But when the merchant shipmen inspected them, they found no

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<v Speaker 1>wounds or anything else to explain their deaths. It was

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<v Speaker 1>as if they had all simply died of fright. The

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<v Speaker 1>ship's second officer was found on the captain's bridge, dead

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<v Speaker 1>like the rest of them. Twelve bodies were discovered in total,

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<v Speaker 1>although it was speculated that as many as twenty eight

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<v Speaker 1>could be unaccounted for considering the size of the ship.

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<v Speaker 1>But before the men could investigate further, an explosion rang

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<v Speaker 1>out from inside the ship's hold, forcing them to evacuate immediately.

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<v Speaker 1>Smoke was already belching from the ship's second hatchway as

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<v Speaker 1>the men jumped back into the lifeboats and began furiously

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<v Speaker 1>rowing to safety. As more explosions rang out, they could

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<v Speaker 1>only look on helplessly as the urang Medan, now completely ablaze,

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<v Speaker 1>rose up for a moment before crashing back down heavily

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<v Speaker 1>into the water and then, bit by bit slowly sunk

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<v Speaker 1>under the waves. Or so the story goes. This haunting

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<v Speaker 1>tail of the supposed ss urang Meda, his first thought

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<v Speaker 1>to have been reported in the British press in November

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty, appearing in both the Daily Mirror and Yorkshire

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<v Speaker 1>Evening Post, among other newspapers of the time. Curiously, despite

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<v Speaker 1>the stories many harrowing details, a number of crucial details

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<v Speaker 1>were strangely missing, in particular the name of the apparent

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<v Speaker 1>British merchant ship that located the mysterious vessel and the

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<v Speaker 1>name of the supposed officer, who, it was said, rather

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<v Speaker 1>vaguely at the beginning of the articles, had first brought

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<v Speaker 1>the tale to the city of Trieste in Italy. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, with many equally dramatic and harrowing tales of

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<v Speaker 1>war beginning to flood newspaper columns on a daily basis,

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<v Speaker 1>it appears this story quickly sunk among them. But then

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen forty eight, the story miraculously appeared again, this

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<v Speaker 1>time in the Dutch Indonesian newspaper to Locomotif, with many

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<v Speaker 1>of the details somewhat altered. This time, the ss Urang

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<v Speaker 1>Medan was said to have sunk in June nineteen forty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>not November nineteen thirty nine as it had before. Neither

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<v Speaker 1>was it found close to the Solomon Islands. But rather

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<v Speaker 1>five thousand kilometers away in the Malacca Strait between Malaysia

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<v Speaker 1>and Indonesia. A dog had also been added found wandering

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<v Speaker 1>the deck alone, as well as a new SOS message.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of ending abruptly on Crewe has now. The final

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<v Speaker 1>words of the message was said to be I die.

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<v Speaker 1>The ship that found that Urang Medan had also changed,

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<v Speaker 1>with it no longer being a British merchant vessel, but

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<v Speaker 1>an American steamboat called the Silver Star, while another boat

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<v Speaker 1>called the City of Baltimore was also said to have

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<v Speaker 1>intercepted the frantic SOS signal. Over time, the story grew

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<v Speaker 1>to include the added element of one of the ship

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<v Speaker 1>survivors being found in a lifeboat that washed up on

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<v Speaker 1>the shore of one of the Marshall Islands. The survivor,

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<v Speaker 1>a sailor by the name of Jerry Rabbit, was said

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<v Speaker 1>to have relayed the whole story to a missionary who

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<v Speaker 1>rescued him and attempted to nurse him back to health.

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<v Speaker 1>Rabbit is said to have told the missionary that the

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<v Speaker 1>boat stopped off in Shanghai to collect a secretive and

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<v Speaker 1>volatile cargo of sulfuric acid, cyanide and nitroglycerine that was

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<v Speaker 1>being taken to Costa Rica before something caused the storage

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<v Speaker 1>containers to leak and killed the rest of the crew.

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<v Speaker 1>Only Rabbit and six others were said to have escaped

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<v Speaker 1>the ship, with only Rabbit making it to land. Not

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<v Speaker 1>long after relaying his story to the missionary, however, Jerry

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<v Speaker 1>Rabbit succumbed to his injuries, also the story goes. If

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<v Speaker 1>you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you

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<v Speaker 1>matter how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained, The

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<v Speaker 1>book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before

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<v Speaker 1>been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide.

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<v Speaker 1>You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones,

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<v Speaker 1>among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music,

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<v Speaker 1>are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and

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<v Speaker 1>rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel

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<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

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<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

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<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com

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<v Speaker 1>or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Forward slash Unexplained Podcast. I went to att