This Ship Burned to Ash, the Crew Vanished Into Thin Air

Bright Side

The Fiery Star was a ship with one of the strangest endings ever recorded. Back in the 1800s, this vessel mysteriously caught fire and was completely burned to ash, but here’s the twist—the entire crew vanished without a trace. No bodies, no survivors, nothing. Some say the crew abandoned ship and got lost at sea, while others believe they met a more supernatural fate. The story of the Fiery Star has left people scratching their heads for years because the details are so murky. Was it a tragic accident, or is there something spookier hiding in this mystery? One thing’s for sure—this ship’s fate is one of the eeriest tales of the sea.  Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00The year was 1865. It was a boom of migration worldwide, with novel places discovered and

00:07new settlements created. Without planes like we have now, a ship was the only way to escape

00:14from the old life and journey towards a new, hopefully brighter future. So a voyage like

00:19that was quite a regular thing to do. More than 500 immigrants safely reached Queensland,

00:25and the ship was supposed to head back to London some time later. It was indeed a long

00:29journey, but not many people were willing to return to England. After all, they had

00:35chosen to come to Australia to create a brand new life, so it was only natural that the

00:40ship would come back nearly empty. However, the return trip was still quite lucrative,

00:46thanks to the cargo the ship would carry. The amount of produce ready to be shipped

00:51was substantial, primarily consisting of wool soaked in arsenic, tallow, and hides.

00:57It was two birds with one stone. Not only could the crew wait out the winter, warm in

01:02Australia while England endured bitter cold, but they also wouldn't waste their time.

01:08With the sheer volume of produce to be loaded, it would take them around 3 months to accomplish

01:13this task. Reports were circulating that the fiery star

01:17was almost done loading up, but it turned out that the assessment was a bit too optimistic.

01:23To pass the time, Captain Ewell thought it would be a good idea to reach out to the Acclimatization

01:28Society and offer to help transport any animals they wanted to send to England on the fiery

01:34star. He already had some emus and kangaroos on board, but there was still room.

01:40The Society held a vote, and they were totally on board, pun intended, with Captain Ewell's

01:46idea. They figured sending some talagallis would be a great plan. Even though a few of

01:51these birds were already in England, the French Society needed a couple, and they could get

01:56them shipped there through England. Little did the crew know that all this cargo,

02:01all the produce they were willing to sell in England, would ultimately lead to the ship's

02:06destruction. Not only was the fiery star lost, but most of the people on board did not survive

02:12to complete the voyage. March 23rd. That was the day when the Ship

02:18Manifest was finally published. A manifest is a list that details the cargo, passengers,

02:23and crew of a ship, plane, or vehicle, primarily for customs officials. This document helps

02:29those involved in the transport verify that everyone and everything that was loaded is

02:35still on board when the vehicle reaches its destination. Once it's published, it means

02:40the ship is almost ready to depart. There were three possible ways of passenger

02:46accommodation. First, there was the saloon, the antiquated name for first class. Next,

02:52there was the second cabin, which is, logically, second class. Finally, there was the steerage,

02:58the cheapest form of passenger accommodation on a ship.

03:02Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many people traveled from their homelands,

03:07often to North America and Australia, looking for a fresh start. Most of them were poor

03:13and had limited funds for travel. In total, there were 8 people in the saloon, another

03:188 in the second cabin, and only 21 steerage passengers. Out of the 37 passengers, only

03:25one, John Omand, would make it out alive. He bought a ticket for the steerage. So, unlike

03:31the Titanic situation, in this case, the class didn't really matter.

03:37The crew members list wasn't as detailed as the passengers. It was known that, in total,

03:42there were around 55 people in the crew, from able-bodied seamen to crew members simply

03:47called boys. But there's something telling me that the crew wasn't really that important

03:52for the captain. In reality, all that mattered to him was to make as much money as possible,

03:59shipping tons of dangerous, flammable cargo. Out of over 50 crew members, only 17 survived

04:06that voyage. But there was actually one more crew member who actually survived it all,

04:11just because they weren't let in. Sarah Johnson disguised herself as a man and planned

04:17to sneak onto the ship. However, something about her looks made the captain get suspicious,

04:23so he called the police and made Sarah leave the ship as he didn't want any immoral behavior

04:28to take place. Well, he saved her life. For him, it was the last voyage.

04:35The captain, W. Hunter Ewell, was quite a celebrity, apparently. He already had a record

04:41of the safe landing of immigrants in the previous year, so there seemingly was no reason to

04:46worry. The trip promised to be safe.

04:50Clipper Fiery Star left Morton Bay bound for London. The passengers took their places.

04:55The cargo had already been loaded. The full list is astonishing. In addition to all the

05:01wool, tallow, cotton, hides, and horns, there were also 6 cases of arrowroot and various

05:07other packages. And we can't forget the animals the captain took aboard, too.

05:13The Fiery Star was far away, yet still observable to the east as it headed toward the Pacific

05:19Ocean. This was the last information available until May 26, when news of its destruction

05:25emerged from Brisbane. Chief Officer William Sargent's log reveals that the Fiery Star

05:31took 12 days to reach the southern tip of New Zealand, passing on April 11, 1865. The

05:38trip was going well until heavy seas ruined two longboats on April 17.

05:45On this day, a strong odor of smoke alerted the captain. When he checked, he found the

05:51lower hull completely filled with smoke from a fire fueled by the ship's flammable cargo.

05:56The hatches were quickly closed to try to contain the flames, but by the next day, the

06:01heat and toxic smoke had forced passengers out of their cabins.

06:06George Maber was one of the lucky survivors. He was the ship's engineer, and he recalled

06:12the chaotic events on April 20, as Captain Ewell and most of the crew and passengers

06:17tried to evacuate in rough weather. At around 6 p.m., the ship took on water, and without

06:23much warning, Captain Ewell, four crew members, and a few female passengers hopped into a

06:28lifeboat and headed out. The next boat, managed by the second mate, Mr. Adio, was a gig, followed

06:35by a crowded jolly boat. Lastly, there was a waste boat, which was barely seaworthy,

06:41with two men constantly bailing water to keep it afloat. The plan was for the boats to stay

06:46close to the Fiery Star overnight and head for the Chatham Islands the next morning.

06:51But by dawn on April 21, all four boats had vanished without a trace. On the burning ship,

06:58there were 17 crew members and passenger John Oman, who banded together under Chief Officer

07:04William Sargent's leadership.

07:07For five days and nights, George Maber pumped water on the fire without rest. He volunteered

07:13to go down the forehatch with a rope around him and a handkerchief over his mouth. He

07:18discovered that the foremast had been burned through for about seven inches, and the portside

07:23was severely damaged, resembling an empty shell. Exhausted, he returned for fresh air,

07:30but later descended again with Quartermaster Marshall to access a water tank. They couldn't

07:35open the lid, and as George crawled over the hides, he felt himself sinking. When they

07:40reached the deck, they collapsed from exhaustion. The cargo had been destroyed by smoke and

07:46fire, and the heat on the deck was intolerable. The crew survived on limited rations and caged

07:52chickens, using every spare piece of wood, including pig stives, for the pumps. Distressed

07:58pigs ran wild in the heat. A raft was constructed, but was too weak for the open sea. Sleep was

08:05elusive, and the crew had lost everything, with only hopes of reaching land or meeting

08:10another ship.

08:13Finally, the Dauntless appeared and sent a lifeboat to the Fiery Star. Captain Moore

08:18boarded the Fiery Star on May 12, and after assessing the situation, he agreed that the

08:24crew could do no more. They boarded the Dauntless at 4 p.m., witnessing the Fiery Star succumb

08:30to flames by 1130 p.m. It was a narrow escape.

08:36That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like

08:41and share it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and

08:44stay on the Bright Side!

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