You have all heard the stories and legends about various ghost ships from maritime history. Among the people, it was believed that such ships might have been cursed and that their crew might have been lost at sea for various reasons. The flying Dutch legend was just one of these stories and legends. If you are interested in how this legend emerged even in the movies and what its story is, your article will be for you. Because we will talk more about this Flying Dutch legend in our article. 

First of all, we want to touch on what this legend is and how it has been told for centuries. For those who do not know the story of Flying Dutch is as follows. Legend has it that the Flying Dutch ship is cursed by God and is a ship that has been sentenced to sail in the oceans without entering any port. The sailors who told this story believed that if they came across this ship at sea, it would bring them bad luck, and they never want to encounter this ship.

For those who do not know, we want to tell the story of the Flying Dutch ship from the beginning. According to the legend, Willem van der Decken set off from Amsterdam to go to the Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia. Just as they turn the Cape, the wind changes direction and starts to blow from the bow. The intensification of the wind and its turning into a storm will not turn the captain out of his way and return to the port. Instead, he tries to sway swords in the wind and cross the Cape of Good Hope as soon as possible and then bite into a sheltered bay. Even if the crew asked if he was serious about this and tried to persuade the captain, the captain would not be convinced. He swears that he will find a way to cross the Cape of Good Hope, even if he will have to travel in the seas until the apocalypse arrives at that moment. As a result of this challenge, the captain and the Flying Dutchman are cursed. The captain cannot pass both the Cape of Good Hope and is sentenced to travel in the sea forever. Many who believe in the reality of this story swear that they see this cursed ship when they go to sea on stormy days. 

According to another version of the flying Dutch legend, this ship is a pirate ship with gold and stolen jewels. According to the legend, the crew on this ship committed extremely terrible crimes and was cursed. Some argue that the name of the Flying Dutchman is the nickname of the ship's captain. Over time, the information has changed as it is transferred to new generations.

If we give information about when and where this legend appeared. The first written source that mentions the ship in the legend is a work called A Voyage to Botany Bay, published in 1795 and attributed to George Barrington. The author of the book often says that it is a ghost ship told by sailors, but this story is not very convincing to him. The writer also talks about a story that a Dutch warship was caught in the Cape of Good Hope, as it was in the Flying Dutch legend, and that it was destroyed, as a result, everyone on board was killed. According to the story, the ship accompanying the ship was able to reach the port and set out to return to Europe after it was repaired. However, when they came to the same area, they were caught in a violent bar again. In the meantime, they told them that they saw a ship with their sails printed and that they were afraid that it would crash against them when they arrived at the port. The first legends we mentioned are the most widely known and published as a story in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in May 1821, which is good. Over the centuries, many have said that I have seen the ship in the Flying Dutch legend pass by. According to the allegations of these people, the ship disappeared immediately after passing by.

Among those who claim to see onboard are the Prince of Wales, George of the British royal family, and his brother Prince Albert Victor. If you are wondering if the ship that many people claim to see can be seen logically, yes it is possible. The reason for this situation is an optical illusion called fata morgana, it is a water greenhouse. A concept that means Italian Fairy Morgana comes from the sorcerer Morgaine le Fay in the legend of King Arthur. There were some beliefs in the Messina strait, where this was the case in the old times, that the sorcerer named Morgana cast a spell for the death of sailors and created lands that did not exist. This type of mirage causes such errors in light beams passing through air layers at different temperatures. The resulting images can include the object, island shore or ship, which is usually far away. This situation is generally seen in the cold seas in the polar regions. 

Flying Dutch legend has inspired great composers including important artists from past to present, and many books have been written and movies have been made. This legend, which is also the subject of a series of world-famous Pirates of the Caribbean, is a story that is still listened to with interest, although it is no longer believed by seafarers. Perhaps the biggest reason people show this story so much attention is the captain's exemplary story. It is not known how accurate the flying Dutch legend is and how much of the parts transferred to us is described, but it is an unchanging fact that the sea should not be challenged.