God I’m not sure how I could cope with hearing “we’re the only ones who know we’re adrift at sea”, that’s such a terrifying prospect. The sea is so vast and unforgiving!
Went on a whale watch with my children and in the middle I started realizing I had no fucking idea what was left, right, up, down. If had to abandon ship and swim. I had no idea where land was.. It was pretty freaky.
@@gbeagle417 as a kid I grew up right across from the beach (Buckie in NE Scotland) and my late step father had a wee boat, just like one of them pleasure crafts? Decent size, not quite a yacht but could easily fit 6 people, had a small area inside and a small bed, we just used it honestly for the love of boating! As much as I loved going on the boat (she was called Skye, where step dad was from) we always stayed within eyesight of the shore. Hamish LOVED sailing, BUT he had to keep the shore nearby, none of us could stand the idea of suddenly seeing no land and not knowing up from down, left from right, so we never ventured too far off the coast. We know how unforgiving the sea is and there’s just straight up no way we’d have ventured too far out. My grandfather however (his boat was in Nairn) didn’t have this fear, and as much as I loved dolphin watching near Chanonry point (really popular dolphin spotting area) and going slightly further out to see the dolphins, it terrified me when we got further and further out where the sea became incredibly dark, where you couldn’t see the coastline and you felt so tiny out in the vastness. Thankfully granddad didn’t go this far out often when I was on the boat, he understood I needed to see land to feel safe.
Imagine the excited overflow of joy rising up as you see a REAL TRUCK on the road, and you can really approach it for help... beaten, scabby, nasty, weak, and more than half naked... ONLY to be told to your face, "Nah, mate... Those guys are dead. Search was called off days ago. You can't be them!" ...as if the driver's legit' ABOUT TO START THE ENGINE AND LEAVE YOU THERE!!! Just sit for a moment, and take a notion of "crushing disappointment"... ;o)
One a more depressing note, I wonder how many shipwreck survivors had perished before this particular group of people managed to save themselves on their own. Best not to think about it.
I live only a short 10 min drive from where they set off on the trip. This is part of our history. An update…This year 2023 the wreck was finally located in very deep water. Also for those not familiar with facts about Tasmania, is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, with an area of 68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) it is larger than 61 countries. So looking for a needle in 2 haystacks is probably an under statement. Add to this the fact that the sea waves around the south and west coasts in particular are monsters. Look up on google *Shipstern Bluff* They were all so lucky to have made it to land at all.
I was a kiddie in Roseberry at the time. This is the first I heard of it... The waters off the west coast are brutal even in summer. Long low swell with plenty of pithch. It is surprising they werent spotted on the East Coast earlier though?
Too many people think of islands as piddley jive pieces of real estate. Not always so (duh!) Tasmania's east coast looks very unforgiving and the west coast only a bit more foregiving. Plus you're probably in a place that gets wind currents from all sides of that part of the world. The east coast reminds me of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
@@dawnstorm9768 No the Weather is most constantly from the West . The fetch is a cuppla thousand miles to ..South America IIRC. It is rough and rugged and quite an Igneous symphony. The sea has constant huge rolers. The East Coast is mild and quite calm and reaonably well populated.
I don't know, a lot happens down in the wild of Tasmania... (I hadn't heard of it either, I'm so glad this channel covers things other than the usual suspects.)
As tragic as the whole event was, when I heard that the ship's cargo was beer and fertilizer I couldn't help thinking, "Yep, this is definitely taking place in Australia."
When I heard the fertilizer bit, I was worried this would end far worse - I've heard of many stories of ships loaded with that being instantly deleted from existence, sometimes taking half a city with them.
Fertilizer load I also though uh-oh (Beirut), then beer as in either hold my or PROBLEM SOLVED (inebriation.) Really enjoy this channel💁🏼♀️, dox are my jam and I've learned different angles of episodes here including deeper dives into cause, personalities, engineering. Loss of life is never entertainment but lives are lost in follies and wrong place wrong time. RIP all souls in these situations. We'll check out findings on the newly located wreck.
@@quillmaurer6563 Same here, ammonium nitrate fertilizer is bad stuff but no mention of explosion is mentioned but may have been suppressed . It would explain a lot.
I’m a Merchant Marine and we train for Survival at sea because of stories like this. God bless all sailors who are lost at sea, those who are found and those who are not.
I especially feel sad for the two men who had just made it to land probably thinking they'd made it to safety, and then ended up dying of exposure. Tragic.
Yeah, imagine that would be esp. tough for the families to hear too 🥺 Surviving all that insane time at sea only to die of exposure once reaching land! Really hammers home again how grueling their whole experience was...
I didn't know this tragedy existed till today. Thanks for this video. RIP to the 3 men who perished and I hope the 7 survivors went on to live long, fulfilling lives.
Man I was thinking the same thing the entire time. It's a short enough saga to where dumbass writers and producers wouldn't need to cut anything out, but still enthralling enough that the entire runtime would be engaging, and you'd definitely leave with a new appreciation for the elements 👍
i love the angle you take covering these stories. we're grownups and we know how to feel about men who die at sea. here we get a look at the facts of the case, the underlying conditions and the context provided by the era, and what has changed since then. RIP
Do you realise we just found the wreck of the Blythe Star? If not, amazing coincidence you made this video one month later! The wreck lies 150 metres under water, about 10.5km west of Tasmania’s South West Cape. In footage captured by the CSIRO, the word “STAR” is faintly visible on the bow of the ship.
Apparently, the wreck had been first discovered in the mid-90s but not conclusively identified as the MV Blythe Star (being mostly forgotten as a result); the last surviving crewmember (Mr. Doleman) was present for the confirmation.
The fact that not route was logged when there was 2 courses to the destination seems a gross oversight even for the time. It is fortunate that only 3 died given the time to rescue & conditions in the life-raft. Thanks for the video.
I think i was following this channel from nearly 'day 1' and I just noticed it's well over 1 million subscribers now. WELL DESERVED because Fascinating Horror is unique in that there is the revelation of horrors but without gore, scares, without creating some dirty intrigue about it and conveying the tragedy but also the heroes and what good came out of a disaster too. Well done sir!
That's why I (and I'm sure a lot of people) like this channel so much. He presents the facts without drama. These incidents are already bad enough, they don't need extra drama thrown in.
The final resting place of the ship was recently discovered and there was interesting news article in the past month or 2. Despite living in Australia this news article was the first time I had heard about this remarkable story.
@@eywine.7762 "Michael Stoddart is a researcher at the Maritime Museum of Tasmania and the author of The Blythe Star Tragedy. “All the evidence said the ship was overloaded,” he says. A similar incident had occurred on the Blythe Star six months before it sank, Stoddart says." (The Guardian, 19 may).
Unrelated to the video, but I would also hope you talk about MV Doña Paz, considered the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster so far. Despite it being the deadliest maritime disaster and having happened here in the Philippines, it's not much talked about here at all, so a video would be nice to learn more about it.
Recently I had similar thoughts, I googled list of maritime disasters to see where Titanic stands today (5th) and was stunned upon realizing that a catastrophe which tripled it's death toll is something I never heard about before.
@@piotrbugaj5179 That's also how I found out about it. Imagine my shock when I learned that the deadliest maritime incident was in my country and it's not taught about at all here. There's a lot of those incidents that aren't taught here as well, such as Wowowee human crush that killed 73 people yet has not been talked about at all here.
I think Maritime Horrors has covered this. The guy who runs the channel was/is in the coast guard so he's able to provide a more detailed explanation of everything. I highly recommend the channel
Amazing how little known that one was, especially in comparison to Titanic. Sad truth I suspect is that it got far less attention than the probably wealthier American and British victims of Titanic. Now that I think of it, I suspect the amount of attention and fame disasters get is not for the number of people lost, but the combined net worth of those lost. Just look at the Titan submersible implosion (5 dead) versus the Messina migrant boat sinking a few days earlier (possibly as much as 600 dead). Really shows how humans worldwide seem to value wealth more than life.
I was visiting relatives in Hobart when the news of the Blythe Star survivors being found was announced. As a kid I thought it would be cool to be shipwrecked because then you could live like Robinson Crusoe, boy was I wrong!
Another Aussie here who had never heard of this event until now! As a side note, the Bass Strait (the stretch of water between Tasmania and the mainland) has seen a number of mysterious disappearances over the decades, including both ships and planes. I've even heard it referred to as 'The Bass Strait Triangle' (like The Bermuda Triangle).
I kept saying "Oh, no! OH, NO!" as you revealed each issue that the Blythe Star crew were facing on their raft. Harrowing tale, excellently told. Thank you!
I’m a born and bred Tasmanian and never heard of this story! I have myself made the journey from Hobart up the east coast in a sailing boat (the “safe” route) and even that was not smooth sailing. Can’t imagine heading up the west coast way, the weather is always wild that way 😢
It's tragedies like this, as sad as they are, that are some of the most intriguing on this channel, because I'd never heard of this before. RIP to the three men who lost their lives
When the El Faro went down the shipping company that owned it didn't know where it was either until they reported they were sinking. And that was not so long back.....
It's amazing how obvious certain changes can seem in hindsight: logging where you are going, thicker life rafts with beacons, etc. Yet obviously if these had seemed like requirements beforehand you know somebody would have done something about it. I'm confident the entire staff of the shipping industry wasn't maliciously leaving these things undone. Your videos are always amazing; thank you for your efforts to tell these men's stories.
Agreed, Lots of times in these stories you find out something was done (or not) and it comes down to greed and/or laziness. This one though the only blatantly obvious "stupid" was that there was no requirement to even log which route you chose.
My cousin is a captain of supertankers and has sailed in every ocean. He cites Bass Strait and around Tasmania as a stretch of water he dreads sailing in. It is always rough and always dangerous- and he survived the storm featured in the film 'The Perfect Storm'. Tasmanian seas have claimed scores of ships, including these poor buggers.
Shhh! This is the last place we have to hide from the sensitivities of them ladyfolk. Let us enjoy our horror in fascination the only way we know how: as men. :(
Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep is always bittersweet, as I lay awake I stumble upon your brand new uploads. Thank you for these videos and the work you put into doing this. Keep up the good job
From now on, when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I will thank God that I am not waking up on the Blythe Star in a 90 degree list.
Another great episode! I can't imagine how desperate those poor men must have felt. It's no small measure of consolation that there were seven survivors.
Can you imagine having your ship sink, being adrift in a life raft, finally reaching land but having to navigate through extremely hostile terrain while not having eaten for several days, having to witness your friends and crewmates die, and then finally finding someone who can help only to discover they don't believe your story? Also, on a gallows humour note - it's surprising that Australians would give up the search after only 8 days when a bunch of beer has gone missing.
The guy may have doubted their story at first, but he would still have got them to safety. Remote areas like that are not like the big city. He was probably convinced once they were in the truck and telling him their story.
Thank you for sharing this video. As an Aussie, I'm aware of the need for boats to carry EPIRB beacons and I have an excellent Aussie made land based one for dirtbiking. I was totally unaware where the requirement arose from.
@@fallenwolf3368urely not, I watched an old documentary about the place with some guy called Mel Gibson in it. Seems kinda rowdy, but it definitely exists :)
Such a taunt, hard-hitting video!! For a relatively short presentation, it really stays with you. I can’t imagine being violently awoken by your ship sinking, narrowly managing to escape, and then realizing you’re stuck on an inflatable raft in your underwear 6+ miles out to sea with virtually no supplies and absolutely no one knows where you are. Truly terrifying. A truly excellent video in every way!!
Completely agree!! I've always wanted to visit Tassie, but had no idea there was this dramatic history of loss at sea associated with it... From other commenters, it sounds like the shores & coastal weather are super-rough there, so I imagine this sadly probably isn't the only wreck the area has seen even in modern days...? Just grateful that this harrowing incident led to such sweeping changes in the then-fairly-lax maritime safety rules. Fairly remarkable for a disaster with such limited loss of life? I hope that legacy has been of some comfort to those who lost loved ones here.
Fascinating Horror is definitely gonna put out a video on the Titan Submersible. He’s either working on it now, or will start working on it when he’s 60.
So much to learn. I watched Capt. Edward's emotional press conference a few days back on RUclips, filmed AFTER debriefing, then speaking with the surviving families on 72 hours of no rest the master submariner gave an amazing account, spoke with authority and grace, on the brink of tears. Wonder if Stockton considered those folks.
Great vid FH. Wow what a story: spending so much time adrift, finally making to solid ground and then having to trek all that way to find help. RIP to the 3 sailors who lost their lives.
A testament to the grit, determination and sheer fucking resilience of the Aussies. What an unfathomably desperate and hopeless situation - handled by courageous men. Admirable doesn't even come close.
This is a story that made me keep feeling like it must be one of your April Fool's videos on the wrong date because every event feels like something straight out of a fictional movie. RIP to the three people who lost their lives, and I'm glad substantial changes did occur after the tragedy.
I’m glad some of them survived at least, but god the whole thing is terrifying. At least some good care from this disaster and more safety measures and changes put in place to save future seamen.
That's hellish, imagine landing a life raft after all that and thinking let's push it back in the water and maybe land somewhere else, this place sucks. I can imagine that groans that greeted this plan.
Huh. Given how "recent" this is at only 50 years ago, it borders on outright bizarre that (cargo) ships in the area didn't have to already give route details beforehand. That only changing *after* people died is just...odd even with that usually being the case for safety rules unfortunately.
@@MrZoolook Correct, I wonder if in the maritime and aviation industries there are any remaining 'accidents waiting to happen' that pilots and captains moan about as there is no regulations to enforce procedures to prevent these accidents from happening? Instead it falls to peoples common sense and precautions to ensure they don't happen.
@@chatteyj Likely there are many. It'll only be when one person interprets an obvious instruction incorrectly. Instruction: "Check the door is closed and locked before departure." Seems pretty obvious right? But that could be interpreted as: "Before departure, check if the door is closed and locked. If it isn't, no restorative action is required, but note it in the ship's logbook." Suddenly, that 9 word instruction needs to be 9 paragraphs because of 1 idiot.
@@MrZoolook Yeah. That adage about safety rules being written in blood or whatever is unfortunately true. It just strikes me as odd even here how something done for centuries already wasn't mandatory here since the captain doesn't seem to have broke any rules unlike so many other videos.
I'd love to see a sort of behind the scenes episode of this series c: like how you find the topics, what research looks like, how you put them together. it'd be so interesting!
I love how the ending of these videos always shares how things have been changed to avoid the situation from happening again. Mistakes happen, what matters is that they don't happen twice!
Definitely agree! It's sometimes really tough listening when the outcome seems to be that no real changes occurred, & malfeasance was not met with consequences? 😟 Very grateful that in this instance, an incident with low loss of life nonetheless led to really sweeping improvements & lives saved going forward. Can guarantee there'll be a few muppets out there on both sides of the Tasman who consider even this level of maritime safety regulation to be "nanny state gone mad" or whatever their latest catchphrase is 🙄 But at least they're in the minority, & we know those changes have saved many people and their families in the years since this sinking....
Damn. I lived in Tasmania with my family from 2008 until January of this year. I was only 7 when we first moved, but still I'm surprised I have never heard of this before now
Every time I board a passenger plane, ferry or train I think about those that perished to make my passage safer. As my father had boarded a passenger jet and due to complications from a recent surgery for cancer, deboarded and watched in horror as that passenger jet slammed into the 14th Street Bridge subsequently sinking in the Potomac River. I was 11 and came home from sledding to a house full of people that wouldn't tell me what was going on and wouldn't let me near the television as the phone rang constantly. Thanks for doing what you do and may every victim rest in peace.
Pushing em out this week! I love it. Ur may fav but there's never enough of ur vids..but Im sure there not easy and we all appreciate ur effort. Thank you
Just stared the vid and heard the Bass Straight and instantly paused... As someone raised in the Port Phillip Bay and was a NAYVY cadet and recruit and cant live far away from the bay... I am so excited to see this vid! There are sooo many shipwrecks of the coast of Victoria. And soo many forgotten
Wow! That was wild. I’ve watched many of your videos but for some reason this one hit me hardest. To be so close to home- yet having your comrades dying around you..I can’t imagine how hard that was for these sailors
As soon as you said there were two possible routes and that the captain wasn't required to tell anyone on land which route he took, i knew this would end badly.
I watch a lot of channels like this and most of the time I've heard of the story at least. This one I had never heard of! And I live in Australia! (OK, so I'm from Perth, which is the other side of the country from Tassie but still.)
I live in South Australia near a port, and there's a part of a river bend called 'Cruickshank's Corner', named after a particularly disaster-prone captain known in the local area. Hopefully no relation.
God, I love Australia! Such a ruggedly beautiful place - full of tough and interesting people. I'm proud to be from the USA, (Happy 4th, fellow Americans!) but the number one item on my bucket list is- and always has been- a long extended stay on the only island in the world that's cool enough to also be a continent! 🇦🇺
I never knew of this until now and I’m Tasmanian born and raised, I grew up in Launceston, just over 200km north of Hobart, I’m now in Devonport just over 250 kms North West of Hobart, and this is strangely is the first I knew of this happening, it’s amazing how most of them survived, the weather here can be unpredictable at the best of times and any length of time exposed to the elements without proper protection can be very unforgiving. An idea for a future video, the Beaconsfield mine disaster, it was a disaster that attracted international attention, and it’s one I’m very familiar with as are a lot of people.
I accidentally found your channel at 4:30 this morning when my niece woke me up with her screaming. I can't believe I have to thank her for helping me find this channel lol.
The channels I subscribe to have made me come to a very serious decision! Never leave my house , never open doors , windows, food cans , or anything really lol . Way to make my phobias bloom into adulthood lol .
I used to go to school with John Eagles, the son of the Chief Engineer who passed on the beach. We were pretty good friends, used to do a lot of shooting together up behind Coffs Hbr back in the 70s . I never knew the terrible details until watching this well put together video. Thanks.
God I’m not sure how I could cope with hearing “we’re the only ones who know we’re adrift at sea”, that’s such a terrifying prospect. The sea is so vast and unforgiving!
and to compound that, the Bass Strait is notorious for its highly unpredictable weather
That is effing scary, even more so because I'm thalassaphobic.
Went on a whale watch with my children and in the middle I started realizing I had no fucking idea what was left, right, up, down. If had to abandon ship and swim. I had no idea where land was.. It was pretty freaky.
Pretty typical for crews of 19th and early 20th century ships. Once ur castaway ur probably going to die
@@gbeagle417 as a kid I grew up right across from the beach (Buckie in NE Scotland) and my late step father had a wee boat, just like one of them pleasure crafts? Decent size, not quite a yacht but could easily fit 6 people, had a small area inside and a small bed, we just used it honestly for the love of boating! As much as I loved going on the boat (she was called Skye, where step dad was from) we always stayed within eyesight of the shore. Hamish LOVED sailing, BUT he had to keep the shore nearby, none of us could stand the idea of suddenly seeing no land and not knowing up from down, left from right, so we never ventured too far off the coast. We know how unforgiving the sea is and there’s just straight up no way we’d have ventured too far out.
My grandfather however (his boat was in Nairn) didn’t have this fear, and as much as I loved dolphin watching near Chanonry point (really popular dolphin spotting area) and going slightly further out to see the dolphins, it terrified me when we got further and further out where the sea became incredibly dark, where you couldn’t see the coastline and you felt so tiny out in the vastness. Thankfully granddad didn’t go this far out often when I was on the boat, he understood I needed to see land to feel safe.
Imagine surviving such an ordeal just to get home and learn that your own funeral had already been held in your absence. Unreal.
Tom Sawyer
"Was Bill there?"
"He said he was busy."
"Oh WTF Bill??"
Imagine the excited overflow of joy rising up as you see a REAL TRUCK on the road, and you can really approach it for help... beaten, scabby, nasty, weak, and more than half naked... ONLY to be told to your face, "Nah, mate... Those guys are dead. Search was called off days ago. You can't be them!" ...as if the driver's legit' ABOUT TO START THE ENGINE AND LEAVE YOU THERE!!!
Just sit for a moment, and take a notion of "crushing disappointment"... ;o)
and that man's name was Joseph Joestar
I'd want to see the video, if available.
As an Aussie, I’m stunned I didn’t know about this. May the men who died rest in peace. They made our country a better place.
Me too .. I'm hearing this for the first time and I'm amazed that,at 58 years old in Australia,I didn't know about this...
How can they drown in the land of the upside down?
@@patrickglaser1560Head first?
Me too
Same here!
Given that no one knew where they were and that the search was called off already, it is *incredible* that 7 of the crew survived!
As they say, never give up. You never know what tomorrow may bring
One a more depressing note, I wonder how many shipwreck survivors had perished before this particular group of people managed to save themselves on their own. Best not to think about it.
I live only a short 10 min drive from where they set off on the trip. This is part of our history. An update…This year 2023 the wreck was finally located in very deep water.
Also for those not familiar with facts about Tasmania, is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, with an area of
68,401 km2 (26,410 sq mi) it is
larger than 61 countries.
So looking for a needle in 2 haystacks is probably an under statement. Add to this the fact that the sea waves around the south and west coasts in particular are monsters. Look up on google *Shipstern Bluff*
They were all so lucky to have made it to land at all.
I was a kiddie in Roseberry at the time. This is the first I heard of it... The waters off the west coast are brutal even in summer. Long low swell with plenty of pithch. It is surprising they werent spotted on the East Coast earlier though?
Too many people think of islands as piddley jive pieces of real estate. Not always so (duh!) Tasmania's east coast looks very unforgiving and the west coast only a bit more foregiving. Plus you're probably in a place that gets wind currents from all sides of that part of the world. The east coast reminds me of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
@@dawnstorm9768 No the Weather is most constantly from the West . The fetch is a cuppla thousand miles to ..South America IIRC. It is rough and rugged and quite an Igneous symphony. The sea has constant huge rolers. The East Coast is mild and quite calm and reaonably well populated.
Thank you for sharing! I love reading accounts from those who live near the events.
That's 57,000 sq/km for those not in North America.
As an Aussie (and long time follower of your channel) I have to say I am surprised that I have never heard this event! Thank you for sharing it.
I don't know, a lot happens down in the wild of Tasmania... (I hadn't heard of it either, I'm so glad this channel covers things other than the usual suspects.)
Ha! I was the complete opposite. I was like "haven't they done this one?" Nope. It was just familiar to me.
@@-vermin-👍
You need to read some history then…maybe you are just a teenager not interested in recent events. do yourself a favour.
I love it when Aussie cases/stories are covered. Born and bred in Adelaide myself, but Tassie is my favourite place in the world. Just spectacular.
As tragic as the whole event was, when I heard that the ship's cargo was beer and fertilizer I couldn't help thinking, "Yep, this is definitely taking place in Australia."
When I heard the fertilizer bit, I was worried this would end far worse - I've heard of many stories of ships loaded with that being instantly deleted from existence, sometimes taking half a city with them.
Fertilizer load I also though uh-oh (Beirut), then beer as in either hold my or PROBLEM SOLVED (inebriation.) Really enjoy this channel💁🏼♀️, dox are my jam and I've learned different angles of episodes here including deeper dives into cause, personalities, engineering. Loss of life is never entertainment but lives are lost in follies and wrong place wrong time. RIP all souls in these situations. We'll check out findings on the newly located wreck.
@@quillmaurer6563 Same here, ammonium nitrate fertilizer is bad stuff but no mention of explosion is mentioned but may have been suppressed . It would explain a lot.
@@dawnreneegmailthrough this comment I've fallen in love with you
But no Sheila's
I’m a Merchant Marine and we train for Survival at sea because of stories like this.
God bless all sailors who are lost at sea, those who are found and those who are not.
Amen. 💕🙏✝️🙏💕
God bless all those who put out to sea. Your courage is amazing. I keep you all in my prayers. I wish you calm seas and good fortune...🌹
I especially feel sad for the two men who had just made it to land probably thinking they'd made it to safety, and then ended up dying of exposure. Tragic.
Yeah, imagine that would be esp. tough for the families to hear too 🥺 Surviving all that insane time at sea only to die of exposure once reaching land! Really hammers home again how grueling their whole experience was...
I heard a story where some shipwrecked men made it to land. But they weren't safe. The island they found was overrun with poisonous snakes...😲
I didn't know this tragedy existed till today. Thanks for this video. RIP to the 3 men who perished and I hope the 7 survivors went on to live long, fulfilling lives.
Only one crew member is still living.
such a generic comment
This is one of those stories that 100% needs a movie made about it
Man I was thinking the same thing the entire time. It's a short enough saga to where dumbass writers and producers wouldn't need to cut anything out, but still enthralling enough that the entire runtime would be engaging, and you'd definitely leave with a new appreciation for the elements 👍
I wish :( instead, make way for captain marvel 5 and the conjuring 19
I dont know people roasting in a raft for 3 days doesnt sound like it would be very interesting
@@TuriGamer Then you haven't watch "I shouldn't be alive" series.
They made a movie about the survivors of the whaleship Essex and Hollywood writers found a way to butcher that story compared to the truth
i love the angle you take covering these stories. we're grownups and we know how to feel about men who die at sea. here we get a look at the facts of the case, the underlying conditions and the context provided by the era, and what has changed since then. RIP
Do you realise we just found the wreck of the Blythe Star? If not, amazing coincidence you made this video one month later! The wreck lies 150 metres under water, about 10.5km west of Tasmania’s South West Cape. In footage captured by the CSIRO, the word “STAR” is faintly visible on the bow of the ship.
Apparently, the wreck had been first discovered in the mid-90s but not conclusively identified as the MV Blythe Star (being mostly forgotten as a result); the last surviving crewmember (Mr. Doleman) was present for the confirmation.
The fact that not route was logged when there was 2 courses to the destination seems a gross oversight even for the time. It is fortunate that only 3 died given the time to rescue & conditions in the life-raft.
Thanks for the video.
I think i was following this channel from nearly 'day 1' and I just noticed it's well over 1 million subscribers now. WELL DESERVED because Fascinating Horror is unique in that there is the revelation of horrors but without gore, scares, without creating some dirty intrigue about it and conveying the tragedy but also the heroes and what good came out of a disaster too. Well done sir!
That's why I (and I'm sure a lot of people) like this channel so much. He presents the facts without drama. These incidents are already bad enough, they don't need extra drama thrown in.
Amen. And that voice is wonderful.
Plus the music is iconic
@@olivebrosnan4437the music is wonderful indeed
Yes, his voice and the music are great!
Your content is outstanding and you never beg for likes, so thanks for a great channel!
The final resting place of the ship was recently discovered and there was interesting news article in the past month or 2. Despite living in Australia this news article was the first time I had heard about this remarkable story.
I'd be interested to know if they ever determine what caused the ship to sink.
@@eywine.7762 "Michael Stoddart is a researcher at the Maritime Museum of Tasmania and the author of The Blythe Star Tragedy. “All the evidence said the ship was overloaded,” he says. A similar incident had occurred on the Blythe Star six months before it sank, Stoddart says." (The Guardian, 19 may).
@@mikaelpalm2130 Thanks. And I suppose either the load wasn't evenly distributed or the cargo shifted.
Also note to self, if im going on a boat keep some of my meds in a locket or something so if i have to bail they come with me automatically.
Unrelated to the video, but I would also hope you talk about MV Doña Paz, considered the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster so far. Despite it being the deadliest maritime disaster and having happened here in the Philippines, it's not much talked about here at all, so a video would be nice to learn more about it.
...the one where 5000 +/- people drowned?
Recently I had similar thoughts, I googled list of maritime disasters to see where Titanic stands today (5th) and was stunned upon realizing that a catastrophe which tripled it's death toll is something I never heard about before.
@@piotrbugaj5179 That's also how I found out about it. Imagine my shock when I learned that the deadliest maritime incident was in my country and it's not taught about at all here. There's a lot of those incidents that aren't taught here as well, such as Wowowee human crush that killed 73 people yet has not been talked about at all here.
I think Maritime Horrors has covered this. The guy who runs the channel was/is in the coast guard so he's able to provide a more detailed explanation of everything. I highly recommend the channel
Amazing how little known that one was, especially in comparison to Titanic. Sad truth I suspect is that it got far less attention than the probably wealthier American and British victims of Titanic. Now that I think of it, I suspect the amount of attention and fame disasters get is not for the number of people lost, but the combined net worth of those lost. Just look at the Titan submersible implosion (5 dead) versus the Messina migrant boat sinking a few days earlier (possibly as much as 600 dead). Really shows how humans worldwide seem to value wealth more than life.
I was visiting relatives in Hobart when the news of the Blythe Star survivors being found was announced. As a kid I thought it would be cool to be shipwrecked because then you could live like Robinson Crusoe, boy was I wrong!
Or Gilligan
Another Aussie here who had never heard of this event until now! As a side note, the Bass Strait (the stretch of water between Tasmania and the mainland) has seen a number of mysterious disappearances over the decades, including both ships and planes. I've even heard it referred to as 'The Bass Strait Triangle' (like The Bermuda Triangle).
That was one hell of a wake up. Waking up to endure a waking nightmare that keeps going.
These men had great fortitude.
I kept saying "Oh, no! OH, NO!" as you revealed each issue that the Blythe Star crew were facing on their raft. Harrowing tale, excellently told. Thank you!
I binged all your content and now I'm being drip fed like a hamster for more content. Thankyou for uploading and giving me some more sweet nectar.
I too have some sweet nectar dripping, you want some?
@@johanea I was told to never accept nectar from strangers
@@ELApickle Bahahaha 😁😁😁😁
A very good advice indeed 👍🏻
he uploads every Tuesday morning (U.S. East Coast time) in case you didn’t know :)
@@_kaleido what's that in Australian currency
I’m a born and bred Tasmanian and never heard of this story! I have myself made the journey from Hobart up the east coast in a sailing boat (the “safe” route) and even that was not smooth sailing. Can’t imagine heading up the west coast way, the weather is always wild that way 😢
It's tragedies like this, as sad as they are, that are some of the most intriguing on this channel, because I'd never heard of this before. RIP to the three men who lost their lives
Where does it make sense in ANY REGARD NOT telling others your route on a ship?!!!
When the El Faro went down the shipping company that owned it didn't know where it was either until they reported they were sinking. And that was not so long back.....
It's amazing how obvious certain changes can seem in hindsight: logging where you are going, thicker life rafts with beacons, etc. Yet obviously if these had seemed like requirements beforehand you know somebody would have done something about it. I'm confident the entire staff of the shipping industry wasn't maliciously leaving these things undone.
Your videos are always amazing; thank you for your efforts to tell these men's stories.
Agreed, Lots of times in these stories you find out something was done (or not) and it comes down to greed and/or laziness. This one though the only blatantly obvious "stupid" was that there was no requirement to even log which route you chose.
My cousin is a captain of supertankers and has sailed in every ocean. He cites Bass Strait and around Tasmania as a stretch of water he dreads sailing in. It is always rough and always dangerous- and he survived the storm featured in the film 'The Perfect Storm'. Tasmanian seas have claimed scores of ships, including these poor buggers.
BABE WAKE UP NEW FASCINATING HORROR JUST DROPPED
I'm already on it👍🏾
Thanks, but I was already awake.
Ikr?!?! :)))
Shhh! This is the last place we have to hide from the sensitivities of them ladyfolk. Let us enjoy our horror in fascination the only way we know how: as men. :(
@@CrazyBrick30 this is for ladies, men, gays, theys, and everyone outside or in between.
Everyone Is Babe
Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep is always bittersweet, as I lay awake I stumble upon your brand new uploads. Thank you for these videos and the work you put into doing this. Keep up the good job
Same here
From now on, when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I will thank God that I am not waking up on the Blythe Star in a 90 degree list.
Another great episode! I can't imagine how desperate those poor men must have felt. It's no small measure of consolation that there were seven survivors.
Can you imagine having your ship sink, being adrift in a life raft, finally reaching land but having to navigate through extremely hostile terrain while not having eaten for several days, having to witness your friends and crewmates die, and then finally finding someone who can help only to discover they don't believe your story?
Also, on a gallows humour note - it's surprising that Australians would give up the search after only 8 days when a bunch of beer has gone missing.
💁🏼♀️
😅😅😅 🍺🍻🍺
The guy may have doubted their story at first, but he would still have got them to safety. Remote areas like that are not like the big city.
He was probably convinced once they were in the truck and telling him their story.
Thank you for sharing this video.
As an Aussie, I'm aware of the need for boats to carry EPIRB beacons and I have an excellent Aussie made land based one for dirtbiking.
I was totally unaware where the requirement arose from.
The more you know.
Genuinely impressive that those 3 people could climb without having eaten for so long.
@@ThugHunter88 It is one of the most powerful things in existence.
Did they eat the dead sailors it does happen
My coworker went 17 days without eating just because he felt like it
Way to find something that hasn’t been covered to death!
Pun intended?
thank you for covering another Australian story! 💖
Put another shrimp on the Barbie
Just thinking the same thing! It's nice to hear stories from down here.
We all know Australia is a myth
@@fallenwolf3368urely not, I watched an old documentary about the place with some guy called Mel Gibson in it. Seems kinda rowdy, but it definitely exists :)
@@rich_edwards79 well then it's gotta be real if Gibson was there.
Such a taunt, hard-hitting video!! For a relatively short presentation, it really stays with you. I can’t imagine being violently awoken by your ship sinking, narrowly managing to escape, and then realizing you’re stuck on an inflatable raft in your underwear 6+ miles out to sea with virtually no supplies and absolutely no one knows where you are. Truly terrifying.
A truly excellent video in every way!!
Completely agree!! I've always wanted to visit Tassie, but had no idea there was this dramatic history of loss at sea associated with it... From other commenters, it sounds like the shores & coastal weather are super-rough there, so I imagine this sadly probably isn't the only wreck the area has seen even in modern days...?
Just grateful that this harrowing incident led to such sweeping changes in the then-fairly-lax maritime safety rules. Fairly remarkable for a disaster with such limited loss of life? I hope that legacy has been of some comfort to those who lost loved ones here.
Great coverage as usual. Just one glitch. The Blythe Star was 44 metres or 144ft. Not 13 metres.
It did look kinda big for 13 metres there...
Brilliantly made & delivered as always, great to hear another Aussie story, thankyou 👍
I love your storytelling and that you include an epilogue of positive changes that came about after the tragedy. Well done.
Imagine being a shipwrecked sailor and having to convince somebody that you're a shipwrecked sailor😅
Fascinating Horror is definitely gonna put out a video on the Titan Submersible. He’s either working on it now, or will start working on it when he’s 60.
So much to learn. I watched Capt. Edward's emotional press conference a few days back on RUclips, filmed AFTER debriefing, then speaking with the surviving families on 72 hours of no rest the master submariner gave an amazing account, spoke with authority and grace, on the brink of tears. Wonder if Stockton considered those folks.
Every safety measure is written in blood. Good on these men for managing the unthinkable.
As always, every safety regulation is written in someone's blood.
The captain was certainly stupid for not telling anyone his intended route.
Common sense does not require a regulation.
Can't believe I've never heard of this! Thank you for another Aussie story :)
Great vid FH. Wow what a story: spending so much time adrift, finally making to solid ground and then having to trek all that way to find help. RIP to the 3 sailors who lost their lives.
A testament to the grit, determination and sheer fucking resilience of the Aussies. What an unfathomably desperate and hopeless situation - handled by courageous men. Admirable doesn't even come close.
This is a story that made me keep feeling like it must be one of your April Fool's videos on the wrong date because every event feels like something straight out of a fictional movie. RIP to the three people who lost their lives, and I'm glad substantial changes did occur after the tragedy.
I’m glad some of them survived at least, but god the whole thing is terrifying. At least some good care from this disaster and more safety measures and changes put in place to save future seamen.
That's hellish, imagine landing a life raft after all that and thinking let's push it back in the water and maybe land somewhere else, this place sucks. I can imagine that groans that greeted this plan.
I'm glad changes were made. The stories I hate are the ones that contain variations on the words, 'Unfortunately 2 years later...'
Huh. Given how "recent" this is at only 50 years ago, it borders on outright bizarre that (cargo) ships in the area didn't have to already give route details beforehand. That only changing *after* people died is just...odd even with that usually being the case for safety rules unfortunately.
It's a common trend with regulations made to save people from death through complacency.
"It was never a problem until it became a problem."
@@MrZoolook Correct, I wonder if in the maritime and aviation industries there are any remaining 'accidents waiting to happen' that pilots and captains moan about as there is no regulations to enforce procedures to prevent these accidents from happening? Instead it falls to peoples common sense and precautions to ensure they don't happen.
@@chatteyj Likely there are many. It'll only be when one person interprets an obvious instruction incorrectly.
Instruction: "Check the door is closed and locked before departure."
Seems pretty obvious right?
But that could be interpreted as: "Before departure, check if the door is closed and locked. If it isn't, no restorative action is required, but note it in the ship's logbook."
Suddenly, that 9 word instruction needs to be 9 paragraphs because of 1 idiot.
@@MrZoolook Yeah. That adage about safety rules being written in blood or whatever is unfortunately true. It just strikes me as odd even here how something done for centuries already wasn't mandatory here since the captain doesn't seem to have broke any rules unlike so many other videos.
Fantastic story, so few of these end on even a slight good note. Thank god they had enough strength left at landing to even try to look for help
I'd love to see a sort of behind the scenes episode of this series c: like how you find the topics, what research looks like, how you put them together. it'd be so interesting!
Love your content. Your voice coupled with your research is gold.
What a nicely-worded closure of that survivor.
I love how the ending of these videos always shares how things have been changed to avoid the situation from happening again. Mistakes happen, what matters is that they don't happen twice!
Definitely agree! It's sometimes really tough listening when the outcome seems to be that no real changes occurred, & malfeasance was not met with consequences? 😟 Very grateful that in this instance, an incident with low loss of life nonetheless led to really sweeping improvements & lives saved going forward.
Can guarantee there'll be a few muppets out there on both sides of the Tasman who consider even this level of maritime safety regulation to be "nanny state gone mad" or whatever their latest catchphrase is 🙄 But at least they're in the minority, & we know those changes have saved many people and their families in the years since this sinking....
Great story. So sad and yet powerful.
This is tragic for sure, but this went *so much better* than it could have.
It's 6:02 am here in east TN and I'm so happy u just dropped a new video. Nothing can make me miss ur videos.
Earliest I've ever been so will take the opportunity to say congratulations in 1 million subscribers. Absolutely phenomenal growth. 🎉🎉🎉
Excellent story, when truth is way scarier than fiction
And Australian, thanks ! From Oz
I am shocked I hadn't heard of this. Globally, I live right next door to where this happened.
As a local Hobartian I had never heard of this story. Thank you so much for covering this!
Damn. I lived in Tasmania with my family from 2008 until January of this year. I was only 7 when we first moved, but still I'm surprised I have never heard of this before now
🌪️ See any Tasmanian Devils? 😉
@@princessmarlena1359 not in the wild 🤣
Great coverage of this incident, Fascinating Horror. I had no idea how this was going to end.
Every time I board a passenger plane, ferry or train I think about those that perished to make my passage safer. As my father had boarded a passenger jet and due to complications from a recent surgery for cancer, deboarded and watched in horror as that passenger jet slammed into the 14th Street Bridge subsequently sinking in the Potomac River. I was 11 and came home from sledding to a house full of people that wouldn't tell me what was going on and wouldn't let me near the television as the phone rang constantly. Thanks for doing what you do and may every victim rest in peace.
Pushing em out this week! I love it. Ur may fav but there's never enough of ur vids..but Im sure there not easy and we all appreciate ur effort. Thank you
Yes very interesting subject and thanks for the video.😢😮
Much love from across the pond. Thanks for giving me something to look forward to. ❤
Ooh, an Australian one!
Thank you for a wonderful production, as always,👍
Just stared the vid and heard the Bass Straight and instantly paused...
As someone raised in the Port Phillip Bay and was a NAYVY cadet and recruit and cant live far away from the bay... I am so excited to see this vid!
There are sooo many shipwrecks of the coast of Victoria. And soo many forgotten
Wow! That was wild. I’ve watched many of your videos but for some reason this one hit me hardest. To be so close to home- yet having your comrades dying around you..I can’t imagine how hard that was for these sailors
This story should be made into a movie.
That was such a breathtaking story!!!
I was ten years old at the time. I remember my parents' emotion when they were watching the evening news story about the sailors being rescued.
Imagine being that logger, telling these men that the search was called off. Holy shit.
One of the men's first questions to the logger was "Who won the Melbourne Cup?" True blue Aussie right there! (This was told to me by a family member)
I’m so thankful you use the channels part of youtube bc i love finding alike creators
Why is it, that it always take death, for significant changes to be made, for improved safety? Great video! Thank you. 😀
As soon as you said there were two possible routes and that the captain wasn't required to tell anyone on land which route he took, i knew this would end badly.
Why would it end badly? Maybe read the accident report.
I watch a lot of channels like this and most of the time I've heard of the story at least. This one I had never heard of! And I live in Australia! (OK, so I'm from Perth, which is the other side of the country from Tassie but still.)
sometimes is pays off to be awake at 4am
And to sleep fully clothed. I never take mine off just in case I end up in a shipwreck.
I live in South Australia near a port, and there's a part of a river bend called 'Cruickshank's Corner', named after a particularly disaster-prone captain known in the local area. Hopefully no relation.
God, I love Australia! Such a ruggedly beautiful place - full of tough and interesting people. I'm proud to be from the USA, (Happy 4th, fellow Americans!) but the number one item on my bucket list is- and always has been- a long extended stay on the only island in the world that's cool enough to also be a continent! 🇦🇺
God rest the three. God bless the remaining. It could have been so much worse. It was a better outcome regardless.
Excellent story as always.
So cool to see a video that's local to me on here and about a tragedy that not many people are aware of outside of tasmania.
I never knew of this until now and I’m Tasmanian born and raised, I grew up in Launceston, just over 200km north of Hobart, I’m now in Devonport just over 250 kms North West of Hobart, and this is strangely is the first I knew of this happening, it’s amazing how most of them survived, the weather here can be unpredictable at the best of times and any length of time exposed to the elements without proper protection can be very unforgiving. An idea for a future video, the Beaconsfield mine disaster, it was a disaster that attracted international attention, and it’s one I’m very familiar with as are a lot of people.
I have heard it is unlucky to change the name of a ship. I remember the name but I don’t remember what happened. Thank you, Kris.
I've heard that too
At least it wasnt winter. Those waters a rough in winter. Tasmania was pretty wild in those days.
What a crazy story! Thanks for researching these stories, keep up the excellent work.
I accidentally found your channel at 4:30 this morning when my niece woke me up with her screaming. I can't believe I have to thank her for helping me find this channel lol.
The channels I subscribe to have made me come to a very serious decision! Never leave my house , never open doors , windows, food cans , or anything really lol . Way to make my phobias bloom into adulthood lol .
i am surprised this has not been made into a major film!
loved this episode! thanks !
I used to go to school with John Eagles, the son of the Chief Engineer who passed on the beach.
We were pretty good friends, used to do a lot of shooting together up behind Coffs Hbr back in the 70s .
I never knew the terrible details until watching this well put together video.
Thanks.
Yay! This was one I suggested! Thanks for doing it!
Another great and fascinating piece of work. Thank you so much for these informative amazing videos. take care Pat in New Jersey
Oh this is fascinating, another one I never knew about