The Golden Hinde - Sir Francis Drake's Ghostly Galleon

The Golden Hinde replica, moored at St. Mary Overie Dock in Southwark, is a full-scale reconstruction of Sir Francis Drake’s famous galleon that circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580. While the vessel itself is a modern recreation launched in 1973, it has become the focus of intense paranormal activity that many believe connects to the original ship and the events of Drake’s legendary voyage. Staff members and overnight guests participating in the ship’s educational sleepover program consistently report hearing footsteps on the deck above, disembodied voices speaking in Elizabethan English, and the apparition of sailors in Tudor-era clothing appearing briefly before vanishing. The most commonly seen ghost is believed to be that of Thomas Doughty, a gentleman adventurer whom Drake controversially executed for mutiny during the voyage, with witnesses describing a well-dressed Tudor figure standing near the mainmast with a look of betrayal and anger on his face.

The haunting intensifies during night hours, with security personnel and overnight visitors reporting the smell of gunpowder, rotting food, and unwashed bodies characteristic of 16th-century sailing conditions. Children participating in the ship’s educational programs have described seeing “funny people in old clothes” who seem confused by modern visitors and sometimes appear frightened by cameras and electronic devices. Staff members working in the Great Cabin, where Drake would have dined and held court, report objects moving on their own, sudden drops in temperature, and an overwhelming sense of being in the presence of authority and power. Multiple witnesses have heard what sounds like Renaissance music played on period instruments, arguments in Spanish (likely echoes of captured Spanish prisoners from Drake’s raids), and prayers being recited in Latin.

Paranormal researchers theorize that the replica ship may have become a focal point for residual energy connected to Drake’s voyage, acting as a psychic magnet for the souls of those who died during the three-year circumnavigation. During Drake’s voyage, the crew faced starvation, disease, combat with Spanish forces, and the brutal conditions of rounding Cape Horn, with many sailors dying along the way. Some investigators suggest that building an exact replica created a kind of temporal anchor that drew these spirits forward through time. Audio recordings made aboard the ship have captured what appear to be cannons firing, the creaking of wooden hull timbers under sail, and commands being shouted in both English and Spanish. Visitors and staff also report experiencing vivid visions of Drake himself, a charismatic but ruthless figure whose presence still seems to command the ship, forever sailing his phantom vessel through the waters of history and memory.