11. The creation of the ghost ship Connemara IV
In 1955, following severe storms and gale force winds caused by the passing of Hurricane Ione, the privately owned yacht Connemara IV was discovered adrift in the ocean. There was no trace of its crew or any passengers. Clearly, here was an example of the mysterious nature of the Bermuda Triangle, and it is easy enough today to find web sites and magazine articles describing the discovery of the ghost ship, sailing alone, its crew gone to who knows where. In his book The Bermuda Triangle (1974) writer Charles Berlitz described as “mysteriously abandoned 400 miles southwest of Bermuda”. The book sold over 30 million copies and was instrumental in expanding the myth of the Bermuda Triangle in the 1970s. According to other writers the yacht endured three successive hurricanes while transiting from New York to Bermuda, which overwhelmed its crew.
That story was patently false. Connemara IV was anchored in the roadstead at Carlisle Bay, Bermuda, on the morning of September 22, 1955. As winds and seas rose from the passing hurricane, its owner, unable to move the vessel to a more secure anchorage, reinforced the mooring lines and deployed additional anchors. The vessel was then left to ride out the storm at its moorings. The storm proved to be too much and the yacht broke from its moorings and drifted out to sea, driven by the storm and prevailing currents. No crew was found aboard when the vessel was discovered because no crew was aboard when the yacht drifted to sea. Richard Winer, who wrote the 1974 book The Devil’s Triangle, was informed of the fact in a letter which he quoted in a subsequent book on the triangle. Too little, too late.