The Flying Dutchman | Legend, Sightings & Popular Culture | Study.com (2024)

The legend of the Flying Dutchman dates back to a ship reported as missing in 1641. According to popular versions of the legend, the ship, belonging to the Dutch East India Company, was captained by Hendrik Vander Decken. The captain was impatient to complete a trading mission requiring him to deliver a cargo of silks and spices to the Cape of Good Hope. According to the May edition of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1821), after searching for the Cape of Good Hope for seven years, Vander Decken swore an oath amid a terrible storm, in which he vowed to round the Cape, even if it took him until doomsday comes.

According to some versions of the legend, an angel punished Vander Decken for his blasphemy, while other versions say that the captain made a deal with the devil to survive the storm. Both versions of the legend concur that the story ends with the ship being doomed to sail the seven seas until eternity, appearing to other mariners in an attempt to get back home. According to legend, sightings of the Flying Dutchman are often followed by tragedy, which led to the ship's appearance becoming an omen to sailors.

The Flying Dutchman (1887), a wood engraving by Elbridge Kingsley (1841-1915)

The Flying Dutchman | Legend, Sightings & Popular Culture | Study.com (1)

Who is Vander Decken?

In the story of the Flying Dutchman, Hendrik Vander Decken was a ship captain in the employ of the Dutch East India Company. The legend states that Vander Decken encountered a fierce storm en route to deliver his cargo to the Cape of Good Hope but refused to change course. Vander Decken strapped himself to the ship's wheel and took his crew down with the ship as it sank into the ocean.

The 1821 version of the Flying Dutchman legend called Vanderdecken's Message Home, or The Tenacity of Natural Affections is told from the perspective of British sailors who encountered the phantom ship in Table Bay, close to the Cape of Good Hope, where the ship was said to become lost. The 1821 version of the story introduced the captain of the ship, Vander Decken, and his wish for the British ship to deliver long-lost letters to the long-dead that he and his crew's left behind.

Some interpretations of the legends infer that the Flying Dutchman was based on a real Dutch ship called De Snoeper. De Snoeper was built in Holland in 1677 and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1678 from Holland in a record time of three months. The ship soon achieved notoriety, and some speculated that its captain, Barend Focke, sold his soul to the devil in change for its successful endeavors.

There are various translations and variants of the Flying Dutchman legend. Depending on the story's different iterations, the captain's name may vary. In other versions of the story, the captain of the Flying Dutchman is known as Van Straaten or Falkenberg. Based on the various interpretations of the Flying Dutchman legend, Vander Decken was not a natural person; he was a character whose fate represented the dangers of the open seas.

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The Flying Dutchman | Legend, Sightings & Popular Culture | Study.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the Flying Dutchman in popular culture? ›

The Flying Dutchman in Popular Culture

In the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, The Flying Dutchman is a ship captained by Davy Jones that cannot be anchored. Alluding to the 1821 version of the story, Davy Jones could leave his ship once every ten years to find his true love.

What were the sightings of the Flying Dutchman? ›

The first record of a sighting of The Flying Dutchman appeared in John MacDonald's Travels in various parts of Europe, Asia and Africa (1790), but perhaps the most famous occurred at 4am on July 11, 1881 somewhere in the Bass Strait between Melbourne and Sydney.

What is the Flying Dutchman theory? ›

The Flying Dutchman is a mythic figure who is condemned to roam the world, never resting, never bringing his ship to port, until Judgement Day. Cursed by past crimes, he is forbidden to land and sails from sea to sea, seeking a peace which forever eludes him. The Dutchman created his own destiny.

What happens if you see the Flying Dutchman? ›

Flying Dutchman, in European maritime legend, spectre ship doomed to sail forever; its appearance to seamen is believed to signal imminent disaster.

What is the Flying Dutchman in real life? ›

In real life the Flying Dutchman was a 17th century Dutch merchantman, captained by Captain Hendrick Van Der Decken, a skilled seaman but one of few scruples, and in 1680 was proceeding from Amsterdam to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies.

What is Flying Dutchman slang for? ›

Definitions of Flying Dutchman. a phantom ship that is said to appear in storms near the Cape of Good Hope. type of: apparition, fantasm, phantasm, phantasma, phantom, shadow. something existing in perception only.

What is the Dutchman's curse? ›

In this version, the Dutchman (Wayne Tigges) has sold his soul to Satan and is forced to live at sea. He can only return to land every seven years to find a woman who will be with him until death, it is only then that the Dutchman is able to break the curse and find redemption.

What is the Flying Dutchman syndrome? ›

Acrocyanosis is symmetric, painless, discoloration of different shades of blue in the distal parts of the body that is marked by symmetry, relative persistence of the skin color changes with aggravation by cold exposure, and frequent association with local hyperhidrosis of hands and feet.

Where did the myth of the Flying Dutchman come from? ›

The Flying Dutchman (Dutch: De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and of Dutch maritime power.

What is the scientific explanation of the Flying Dutchman? ›

Fata Morgana not only produce mirror images, but can magnify objects that lie beyond the horizon. Ships can therefore be below the horizon but their reflected light is distorted to such an extent that they appear to be 'sailing' in the sky. This is the likely explanation of the Flying Dutchman.

What is the myth in Dutchman? ›

The subway car itself, endlessly traveling the same course, is symbolic of "The Course of History." Another layer of the title's symbolism is the myth of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship which, much like the subway car Clay rides on, endlessly sails on with a crew that is unable to escape the confines of the vessel.

Who is the first mate of the Flying Dutchman? ›

Maccus served as the First Mate aboard The Flying Dutchman under the command of Davy Jones. He had a head like a hammerhead shark and used axes both in man-to-man combat and as ranged weapon.

What is the mystery of the Flying Dutchman? ›

The Flying Dutchman was a sea captain who once found himself struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope during a ferocious storm. He swore that he would succeed even if he had to sail until Judgment Day. The Devil heard his oath, and took him up on it; the Dutchman was condemned to stay at sea forever.

Was the Black Pearl a real ship? ›

The Black Pearl (formerly known as the Wicked Wench) is a fictional ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. In the screenplay, the ship is easily recognized by her distinctive black hull and sails. Captained by Captain Jack Sparrow, the Black Pearl is said to be "nigh uncatchable".

Has anyone ever seen the Flying Dutchman? ›

There have been many sightings over the years, although the last reported one was by a Nazi submarine in WWII. Some sightings involved the Flying Dutchman sailing quickly through calm waters while the majority of sailors have spotted it during extremely stormy weather with wind and waves crashing all around.

What does The Flying Dutchman symbolize? ›

By examining the origins and the uses of myth, “the Flying Dutchman” myth itself, and the state of America at the time the play was first shown, it is evident that Amiri Baraka's play positions the myth of “the Flying Dutchman” as a symbol for the curse that is race and racism in America, which has plagued the crew, or ...

What is The Flying Dutchman in literature? ›

In literature

John Boyle O'Reilly wrote a poem titled The Flying Dutchman (1867). It was first published in The Wild Goose, a handwritten newspaper produced by Fenian convicts being transported to Western Australia. Dutch poet J. Slauerhoff published a number of related poems, particularly in his 1928 volume Eldorado.

What is Flying Dutchman style? ›

Harry Snyder the founder of in-n-out created the not-so-secret-menu item called the “Flying Dutchman” It comprises of two burger patties and two cheese slices without buns or condiments. This no buns, no fuss burger was later adapted when people started using caramelized onions for buns.

What is the significance of the title Dutchman? ›

Thus, according to several dictionaries, a “Dutchman” is a device for hiding imperfect construction or structural defects; the Oxford English Dictionary takes this meaning even further when it notes that in the phrase “I'm a Dutchman,” “Dutchman” signifies “someone that I am not at all.” In Baraka's play, Lula and Clay ...

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