16 Erie County and Buffalo Naval Park, Buffalo, New York
Buffalo Naval Park is the home of museum ships from the US Navy, including the World War II veteran destroyer USS The Sullivans. The Sullivans was named for the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, who were serving together aboard USS Juneau, a light cruiser, when it was torpedoed by the Japanese and sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Juneau had been damaged by an earlier torpedo and was withdrawing from the battle area when it was struck by a second torpedo which exploded so violently that crews in other ships in the area believed that there could have been no survivors. In fact at least one of the brothers – George – survived the sinking for several days, according to other survivors, before succumbing to the sea. A destroyer under construction, The Sullivans, was named in their honor.
The Sullivans is a museum ship which is reputed to be haunted by George Sullivan, who roams the vessel in search of his brothers, as he likely did during the chaos as the Juneau went down. A picture of the five brothers aboard the ship is said to be incapable of being clearly photographed, with the image of George blurred in those pictures which are taken. On tours, equipment on the ship’s bridge has been reported as being activated and operational, despite power to the equipment being secured. Tour guides have reported unrecognizable figures moving about below decks, in berthing spaces and in machinery rooms. The only problem with the story is that two of the Sullivan brothers, Al and George, survived the sinking, with Al dying the next day and George several days later. The other three were never seen following the initial explosion.