Faces from the Deep – SS Watertown

The S.S. Watertown was a tanker class vessel, used to transport liquids. In 1924, two crewmen, James Courntey and Michael Meehan are put to work cleaning an empty cargo tank. It would prove to be a fatal assignment.

Due to an accident, of which there are few details, both succumbed to fumes and died in the tank.

It is believed that Courtney was the last to die, as his body was found laid on Meehan’s. Possibly indicating that even at the last ebb of his life, he tried to pull his friend to safety.

As was tradition, both men were buried at sea somewhere between New York and the Panama Canal.

No words were spoken at their burial.

Faces from the Deep

Within 24 hours of the burial, strange things began to happen. The crew reported seeing the faces of Meehan and Courtney on the ship and then rising from the waves, following behind the ship in it’s wake.

The Captain, understandably, thought the crew had gone mad. Until he started to see them too. He resolved to get photographic evidence.

As a result, he took the above photograph, showing the faces. This image is looking back, over the stern of the ship into the wake of the boat.

But what’s the truth? Are these really faces from the deep? This one is a mystery. There is scant reliable information online about it. But this is what I have been able to glean.

The story apparently appears first in the house magazine for the shipping company. It is then popularised by Hereward Carrington, a member of the American Society for Psychical Research.

It is believed that the photo has not been tampered with and that the faces, whether natural or supernatural in origin, are indeed present in the waves. The negatives however, are long lost and cannot be verified.

Sources:

SS Watertown Ghosts (ghostresearch.org)

Hereward Carrington (wikipedia.org)

American Society for Psychical Research (wikipedia.org)

Header Image (pixabay.com)