HAUNTED TALES OF TERROR

by Joseph Exton

  This is used to turn southbound trains and send them back to the north. If the loop is to be used, station staff ensure that there are no passengers left on the train which then enters the looped section of tunnel with only the driver aboard and awaits a signal letting it know that it’s safe to proceed.

  Depending on the time of day and how busy the tracks are, drivers may have to wait in the loop tunnel for some time before being allowed to return to the main track.

  Photo: Chris McKenna

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LU1992ts-Central-interior.jpg

  A number of drivers have reported a very strange and frightening experience while waiting in this loop tunnel. There are connecting doors between carriages in all underground trains, and these open and close with a distinctive “crash”. Drivers have reported that, while stopped in the Kennington Loop, they hear connecting doors between carriages open and close.

  The sound begins at the far end of the train, and then gets closer, as if someone is making their way along the train, towards the cab in which the driver sits even though there are no passengers on the train. So far, no-one has been kept waiting in the loop for the ghostly passenger to reach the cab!

  Begun Kodar Station, West Bengal

  Begun Kodar is a small village in the Purulia District of West Bengal in India. It’s a sleepy little place where very little happens and yet the Railway Station in the village was closed for 42 years due to a ghost!

  Photo: Anup Sadi

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Summer_Hill_railway_station,_India_(1).jpg

  The story began in the early 1960s when queen Lachan Kumari of the local Santal tribe donated land to be used for the building of a railway station to allow local people to commute to the town of Purulia, 50 kilometres away.

  The station building was completed in 1963 but it wasn’t long before station staff began to be terrorised by the ghost of a young woman wearing a white sari who would be seen after dark, walking along the railway lines.

  Then, in 1967, the apparition was seen by the Station Master. When he was found dead the following day, both passengers and staff became terrified and refused to come to the station. It was closed soon after. It is said that in the official files of the railway operating company, the reason for the closure of Begun Kodar station was given as “Haunted”.

  However, time passed and the people of the surrounding area began to regret the lack of a railway station. Eventually, in 2009, they appealed to Mamata Banerjee, the female politician who was at that time Minister for Railways (she is now the Chief Minister of West Bengal).

  Her response was unequivocal: “Ami bhoote bishshas korina” (I don’t believe in ghosts) and the station was re-opened late in 2009. The local people welcomed the re-opening of the station, but many are less certain about disbelieving the story of the ghost. When Narayan Mahato, a man from the nearby village of Baamni was interviewed in 2010 about the re-opening of the station, he said:

  “People are curious and some still believe the stories of paranormal presence here. You should leave the place before 5.30 pm, no one stays here after that.”

  Caobao Road Subway Station, Shanghai

  The reputation of the Caobao Road subway station on Line 1 of the Shanghai Underground system in China as a haunted place, is so famous that it is locally known as “Ghost station”.

  Just waiting for a train at Caobao Road Subway Station can be dangerous!

  Photo: MNXANL

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:201603_Platform_for_L12_of_Caobao_Road_Station.JPG

  There have certainly been a number of deaths in this station – most sources quote nine deaths in the last few years. One in particular helped to gain this station its unfortunate reputation.

  Before the station was provided with automatic doors, a passenger fell on to the track just as a train was approaching the platform. He was killed instantly when he was struck by the train. However, when witnesses were interviewed, they agreed that the man did not accidentally fall - he was deliberately dragged on to the track as the train was approaching...

  The thing that witnesses couldn’t say was what precisely it was that dragged the hapless man in front of the approaching train. The only thing they all agreed on was that it wasn’t human!

  Then another passenger died on the tracks in front of an approaching train. This time it was a young woman wearing a distinctive red coat and it was assumed that she had committed suicide by jumping in front of the train. However, in the days and weeks that followed, a number of staff saw the young woman in the red coat sitting on a bench close to the platform and weeping after the station was closed for the night.

  Other night staff working in the empty station have reported hearing the sound of horrible, cackling female laughter coming from one of the tunnels leading to this station. When an unlucky member of staff is sent to investigate, no-one is there…

  Many people believe that the haunting at Caobao Road subway station is due to its proximity to a mortuary – parts of the station are built directly underneath a municipal mortuary. Whatever the reasons for this haunting, this must be one of the oddest and most haunted stations in Asia...

  Chapter 5:

  Haunted Ships

  The Haunted U-Boat

  The idea of encountering a ghost on a ship at sea is particularly frightening, probably because there is nowhere to escape. How much more terrifying then to meet a ghost in a tiny submarine submerged beneath the waters of the English channel…

  World War One was the first major war in which all the main protagonists used submarines as offensive weapons. However, it was the German Imperial Navy which became the best remembered operator of what became known as U-Boats (Unterseeboot – Under Sea Boat). German U-Boats operated in the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea, sinking large numbers of naval and civilian vessels.

  There were a bewildering array of different types of U-Boat including ocean-going attack submarines, cargo carrying submarines and submarines designed specifically to lay mines in shallow coastal waters. One of the most common types was the Type UB III Coastal Torpedo Attack submarine, with 96 of this type being built.

  The Type UB III boats were relatively large at over 50 metres in length and had a speed of 14 knots and a range of almost nine thousand miles.

  A German Type UB III Submarine

  Photo: Marius Bar

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carissan_(1918).jpg

  One Type UB III boat, the UB-65, was ordered in May 1916 constructed at the Vulcan shipyard in Hamburg. Even during its construction, this U-Boat gained a reputation for ill-luck. While a heavy girder was being lifted by a crane on to the submarine, it somehow broke loose and fell on to the deck below.

  One worker was killed immediately and another was crushed beneath the girder and horribly injured as his colleagues frantically tried to free him. Tragically he died before he could be extricated from beneath the heavy girder.

  Soon after, three engineers were aboard the almost complete submarine and checking its large batteries when they were suddenly overcome by fumes in the tiny battery compartment. All three died before they were discovered. No explanation was found for either accident. All that was known for certain was that, even before launching, UB-65 had taken the lives of five men.

  However, Germany was critically short of submarines and the UB-65 was commissioned in June 1917. Just like every other U-Boat, it was required to undertake a series of sea trials before being accepted as combat ready, but these did not go well.

  For its trials, UB-65 was commanded by Oberleutnant Karl Honig, an experienced U-Boat officer. On its very first voyage, a freak wave swept a member of the crew off the deck as he inspected the forward hatches. He was never seen again.

  Then, when the submarine submerged, a leak from one of the ballast tanks allowed water to enter the battery compartment, producing lethal chlorine gas. Two crewmen died before t
he submarine was brought under control and returned to the surface.

  After repairs, UB-65 set off once again on a test voyage. However, when it attempted to submerge, the ballast tanks malfunctioned once again, leaving the submarine on the bottom of the Baltic Sea for 12 hours. The crew worked desperately to repair the problem before they succumbed to lack of oxygen and were finally able to bring UB-65 back to the surface.

  As the UB-65 prepared for further sea trials, torpedoes were loaded on-board under the supervision of the Second Officer, Leutnant Richter. Suddenly and with no obvious cause, one of the torpedoes exploded, killing Leutnant Richter and injuring several other crew members.

  The UB-65 was forced to remain in port while repairs were completed but, just a few weeks after the explosion, there was the first suggestion of a supernatural element to the story of this U-Boat...

  Inside the cramped Torpedo Room in a Type UB III U-Boat

  Photo: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:German_Submarine,_UB-110._Photograph_Looking_forward,_showing_four_torpedo_tubes_(8441845818).jpg

  Just as the submarine was preparing to cast-off on another test voyage, one of the crewman ran into the control room, half crazed with fear. When he was finally able to talk, he explained that he had just seen Leutnant Richter on deck. Captain Honig and an Officer went out onto the deck where they found another crewman cowering close to the Conning Tower.

  When questioned, he explained that he too had watched Leutnant Richter walk up the gangplank on to the deck before moving to the bow where he stood for a moment before disappearing.

  The stories of the haunted U-Boat began to circulate throughout the German Imperial Navy, and many men were wary of serving on a seemingly jinxed ship. Nervous about the potential effects on morale, a Commodore was sent to investigate events on the UB-65.

  He spoke to the Captain and members of the crew and concluded that they were genuinely reporting on what they had seen – even Captain Honig admitted that at one point he had seen what appeared to a human figure on the open forward deck while the submarine was at sea, something that was impossible as all the hatches giving access to the deck were closed.

  A Lutherian Pastor was ordered to conduct a service of exorcism on the ship and a new Captain was appointed on 18th August 1917 – Kapitänleutnant Martin Schelle, an experienced U-Boat Officer who had previously commanded a minelaying U-Boat. The no-nonsense Schelle forbade any discussion of ghosts on the U-Boat and for a time, there were no more reports of disturbances on the submarine.

  However, in 1918, the ghost of Leutnant Richter returned. An experienced Petty Officer claimed that he had seen Richter in the Torpedo Room while the submarine was submerged. During a torpedo attack on a British ship, several members of the crew claimed to have seen Richter in the Control Room, seemingly watching the instruments, before he disappeared into thin air.

  One member of the crew appeared to have become insane and had to be physically restrained when he claimed that the ghost would not leave him alone, even whispering in his ear when he tried to sleep. The man seemed to calm down and was released, but he jumped overboard at the first opportunity…

  On several occasions the ghost of Richter was seen walking in the cramped passages and small compartments while the submarine was submerged. One experienced sailor said that he was prepared to swear before God that he had seen the ghost pass through a closed, watertight bulkhead door. It’s difficult to imagine the horror of encountering a ghost in the claustrophobic confines of a submerged submarine – there would have been no place to run and no place to hide.

  Despite the haunting, the UB-65 undertook five combat patrols between September 1917 and May 1918 and sank six British ships in the English Channel. On a patrol off the coast of Spain in May 1918, the ghost of Richter was seen on several occasions by various crew-members. The effect on morale amongst the tough submariners was disastrous, and when the U-Boat returned to port, several men were re-assigned to other duties and warned not to speak of their experiences on the haunted U-Boat. It is even claimed that some men deserted rather than undertake another patrol on UB-65.

  In June 1918, the UB-65 left port on what would be its last combat patrol. What happened to the U-Boat after that is not at all clear. Official German Navy records state that the UB-65 was lost on 10th July 1918 south of the coast of Ireland when one of the submarine’s own torpedoes exploded prematurely.

  This seemed to be confirmed in official World War One US Navy records where it was noted that the US submarine L-2, operating from a base in Bantry Bay in Ireland, spotted what appeared to be a German submarine on the surface, seeming to be disabled. Captain Forster, commander of the L-2, manoeuvred his vessel to set up a torpedo shot but, before he could fire, the German submarine was destroyed by a massive explosion.

  No survivors, bodies or debris were recovered. One very peculiar thing noted by Captain Forster was that he initially thought that he saw the figure of a German officer, standing motionless on the bow of the submarine, though this seemed to disappear as the L-2 manoeuvred.

  Up to 2004, it was believed that the L-2 had witnessed the destruction of the UB-65 as no other submarines were lost in that area around those dates...

  Crew on deck on a Type UB III U-Boat. This is UB-94, but the photograph was taken after this submarine was captured and the crewmen are French.

  Photo: Robert Wilden Neeser

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UB94_submarine_NH_43781.jpg

  However, in 2004, an expedition was mounted to examine the wreck of a submarine which had been located in the English Channel off the port of Padstow in Cornwall. The expedition, organised by the Channel 4 television show Wreck Detectives, sent a team to the location who discovered through detailed examination that the wreck was that of the UB-65.

  However, the location of the wreck was a long way from the reported area where the L-2 had claimed to have seen the UB-65 explode. Further examination of the wreck showed no damage consistent with an explosion, though it was noted that the rear escape hatches were open, indicating that some members of crew may have tried to escape after the submarine sank.

  Later investigation revealed that a Portuguese sailing ship, the Maria Jose, was attacked and sunk by a German submarine on 14th July, 25 miles south west of Lundy Island off the coast of Devon. The only German submarine in the area was the UB-65, but this sinking happened four days after the L-2 claimed to have seen the UB-65 destroyed by an explosion off the coast of Ireland.

  Therefore, and despite what official US and German Navy records claim, it seems that the UB-65 must have carried out the attack on the Maria Jose on the 14th July before later sinking for unknown reasons off the coast of Cornwall.

  The mystery surrounding its sinking is just one more strange element in the story of the UB-65. Whatever the Captain of the American L-2 saw on 10th July, we can now be certain that it wasn’t the destruction of the UB-65 or of any other submarine as there were no other losses in the area at that time.

  Did he see a phantom ship that somehow pre-figured the actual loss of UB-65 a few days later? Or did he see the UB-65 itself, undergoing some strange phenomenon as part of its haunting? We’ll never know for sure as there were no survivors from the destruction of the UB-65.

  What we can be sure of is that, whether it was jinxed, cursed or just plain haunted, the story of the UB-65 must be one of the oddest stories of World War One...

  The Haunted Hornet

  It’s difficult to imagine a greater contrast between ships than the difference between the tiny UB-65 and the giant American aircraft carrier USS Hornet. Yet, these two craft have one important feature in common – they’re both haunted.

  CV-12, the USS Hornet, was built in 1943 and served in the Pacific. Aircraft from this carrier destroyed almost 1,500 Japanese aircraft and sank over one million tons of Japanese shipping. During World War Two, the Hornet was attacked 59 times by
Japanese aircraft, but was never hit by a single bomb.

  In the 1960s, the Hornet recovered the astronauts from the Apollo 11 and 12 missions. In 1970 the USS Hornet was decommissioned but in 1998 the ship was opened as the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California.

  The USS Hornet at sea in 1968

  Photo: U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command

  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Hornet_(CVS-12)_underway_at_sea_on_9_August_1968_(USN_1116887).jpg

  However, the Hornet’s illustrious career and subsequent use as a tourist attraction cover up one or two uncomfortable facts. For example, in 27 years of active service, over 300 men died on this ship. Most died during World War Two, but some were the victims of horrible accidents.

  Three men were decapitated when a catapult wire snapped on the flight deck. One man died in the engine room when he walked through an invisible stream of super-heated steam leaking from one of the boilers. His arm was severed, the skin peeled from his body and his blood boiled.

  However, a bafflingly high number of deaths on this ship were a result of suicide – the USS Hornet had the highest suicide rate of any US warship. Perhaps as a result of these deaths, this is generally recognised as the most haunted US Navy warship ever.

  In the course of its active service career and its subsequent use as a museum, there have been so many reports of supernatural activity on the Hornet that no-one has ever attempted to compile a list of them all. Events include:

  The frequent sighting of ghostly sailors moving around the ship,

  The sound of voices, often discussing apparently mundane shipboard matters, when there is no-one there,

  The disappearance of tools and other items, only for them to reappear in a different location soon after,

  Banging on bulkheads and doors with no apparent cause,

  People being grabbed, pushed and struck by an invisible presence,