The story goes that either in June 1947 or in some reports February 1948, a distressed signal was coming from an unknown ship. The person sending out the S.O.S. was scared. He stated that he was on a Dutch ship called the S.S. Ourang Medan and that everyone was dying.
He stated, "All officers including the captain are dead, lying in the Chartroom and Bridge." He then stated "Possibly the whole crew dead." Then indecipherable Morse Code was sent with the final message being "I die." Then there was the silence that followed.
An American ship going by the Silver Star believed that the ship was in the Straits of Malacca. Noting that there was some urgency in it they left right away. That was where they found the ship floating.
They noticed no sign of life on the ship and boarded. They realized that the S.O.S. was not exaggerated as they saw a horrifying sight on board. Everyone on board was laying there with their mouths and eyes open. Their hands were grasping at something as if they were protecting themselves, even though there were no wounds on them. Even the ships dog was found to be dead with the same horrified face on it. The crew members below the deck were in the same state. They found the man who sent out the S.O.S. with his finger on the telegraph.
The Americans who came to help also noted that the ship seemed to be cold even though it was a scorching 110 degrees outside. They quickly got off the ship and tried to pull it to shore. That would never happen as thick smoke began to rise out of the ship. The crew of the Silver Star barely had enough time to cut the line and get away from the Ourang Medan before it blew and sank.
Now for some facts and theories.
Some believed that the ship may have come from the Dutch East Indies. In Indonesian, Ourang means ‘man’ and Medan is the largest city on the island of Sumatra making some think that the ship may have come from there. The ship's name literally means "Man of Medan".
There were no records of the ship exists. Essentially it was a ghost ship before it was a ghost ship. Some theorize that the ship itself may have been expunged from records because they were smuggling things for the war. It could be possible that the "smoke" that the rescuers were seeing was a nerve gas that was being transported to Japan.
It was theorized that several countries were involved with the cover-up such as Singapore, Japan, Netherlands, Germany, China, and the United States. As at the time the use of Lethal Gas and Chemicals was baned.
The Silver Star was a ship at the time, but that was not the name it was going by. At the time the ship was named the Santa Juana. The Grace Line Shipping Company bought the rights to the ship and renamed it to the Silver Star.
It's also theorized that even though they weren't found in records possibly they did exist. That a malfunctioning boiler caused everyone to die from carbon Monoxide Poisoning.
A third theory is that it was pirates that killed the crew and left them the way they did. Which how would the pirates kill the crew without any physical injuries though.
The last theory which is more than likely the answer is that it never happened. It's more likely that this was an Urban Legend of the sea. That this was not an actual event, but possibly a hoax or Urban Legend that became well known.
SOURCES:
Beyond Science T.V.
Mysterious Universe
Skittish Library
Historic Mysteries
