There's A Ghost Ship That Haunts The English Channel Every 50 Years

'Ere, mate, you heard about the Lady Lovibond, an ill-fated ship which was sunk in the 1700s?

Legend has it that the ship's captain, Simon Peel, had just got married, and decided to take his boat out on a cruise to celebrate.

Captain Peel took his new bride with him, ignoring longstanding nautical belief that bringing a woman on board was bad luck. Sadly, he paid the price.

The ship set sail along the Thames for the Oporto in Portugal on February 13, 1748 - but it would be its last voyage.

Unluckily for the newly-weds, the ship's first mate was also in love with the captain's wife and, overcome with jealous rage, he steered it into the Goodwind Sands, which is an infamous area for causing wrecks.

The Lady Lovibond was wrecked and sank - killing all those aboard.

The legend goes that now the Lady Lovibond can be seen sailing the coastline around Kent, returning every 50 years.

The rumour began exactly 50 years to the day after the Lady Lovibond was destroyed, when the captain of the ship Edenbridge logged that he had almost collided with a schooner with three masts.

Another half-a-century passed, and on 13th February locals saw a three-masted schooner head toward the Sands, yet no wreckage was found.

In 1848 the same ship was reported to have been seen breaking up in the exact area with no wreck in sight.

The last report was filed in 1948 by Captain Bull Preswick, who was convinced he saw the Lady Lovibond surrounded by a green glow as it entered the Sands.

Ghost-hunters made their way to the Sands in 1998 to try and catch a glimpse of the fabled ship - but were all disappointed when nothing appeared.

That's fair enough, really. If I was captain of a ghost ship in the late-90s the only place I'd be setting sail to would be Knebworth!

Give it 32 years and maybe it'll be back.

Featured image credit: Walt Disney Studios

Topics: Ghost

James Dawson

James Dawson is a Journalist at LADbible. He has contributed articles to LADbible’s ‘Knowing Me, Knowing EU’ series on the EU referendum, the 'Electoral Dysfunction' series on the 2017 general election, the ‘U OK M8?’ series tackling mental health amongst young men, and for its ‘Climate Change’ initiative in partnership with National Geographic.

@thejaytoday