The Cincinnati Ghost Ship

The best exploring I've ever encountered is woven inseparably with hidden and surprising history. Few urban explorers are drawn to a place merely because it's vacant; abandonment has the greatest allure. Abandonment means life was happening. Then, over a period of years, or sometimes days, it was mysteriously interrupted.

When places become abandoned there are questions unanswered and things left unfinished. The excitement for me lies in uncovering the history, imagining the people who once bustled around, and picturing the last person to turn off the lights.

In an abandoned high school, I discovered a basement that had remained mostly untouched for decades. I learned it had once served as a Cold War fallout shelter, complete with medical equiptment and storm radios. While most of the supplies had been picked through by squatters, one collection of items had gone completely untouched - bottles and bottles of laxatives.

In Detroit, I wandered through the dark hallways of a beautiful, iconic library that had briefly served as storage for the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. In the damp and rotting halls, I discovered mail written to Rosa and Raymond Parks. The discovery left me perplexed—to take something not meant for me or to leave it, almost certainly to rot.

When the library and all its contents were demoed, I was sad. I wish I had scoured the floor and chronicled every letter I could find.

Every urban explorer who decides to wander into a space where life used to happen has to contemplate what to do with the pieces left behind.

One of the most notable examples in my home state of Kentucky is a shipwreck. To history buffs, it's known as the USS Sachem. To locals, it's the Cincinnati Ghost Ship. Those with a casual curiosity might call it “the Thomas Edison boat" or "that Madonna boat."

While each name offers a piece of its storied past, few know the full account. Those who do often agree: The Sachem may be one of the most noteworthy boats forgotten to history.

I’ve made the 90-minute drive to Petersburg, KY three times to visit The Sachem, which now faintly bears the name “Circle Line V” on the side of the ship.

Parking on the road requires a short walk through the woods across private property. To avoid this, visitors can kayak down the Ohio River west and turn south onto Taylor Creek. The boat rests five hundred feet south of the tributary, offering an even more captivating reveal when approached by water.

The 186 foot yacht is almost completely covered by the tree canopy until you're standing directly in front of it. The boat dwarfs the small creek it came to rest in, making it hard to imagine how such a massive ship could find itself in such a small tributary.

Since the boat is listing heavily away from shore, the only way to climb aboard is by swimming across. Rope ladders have hung down from the side previously, but when I visited in 2017, I had to balance across a fallen tree after hoisting myself out of the water.

When I stepped on board, I was met with another world. The rusted exterior was hiding a sea of vegetation piercing through the brown and rusted floor. Weeds were growing across the ship in every direction, hiding the imperfections on the metal.

On my first visit, I knew very little about the boat, but each trip only intensified my curiosity. I would soon learn that I was one of over 3 million people who had climbed aboard the ship. Standing on the rusted hull, I felt as if I was witnessing the final chapter of a vessel with more than 120 years of extraordinary history.

Standing aboard the Cincinnati Ghost Ship

The 186 foot vessel took its first voyage in 1902 as a luxury yacht under the name The Celt. It was the type of boat only the wealthiest men in the world could own, and the first ship's owner was just that. John Rogers Maxell Sr., one of the early railroad moguls, also owned one of the largest cement companies in the world. At the time of purchase, Maxwell’s Portland Atlas Cement company had just earned the lucrative contract as cement supplier for the Panama Canal. Decades later, he supplied the concrete for the Empire State Building.

The Celt, early 20th century

The luxury boat, which was primarily used as a racing yacht, was complete with nine “furnished and accessorized staterooms with carved mahogany.” The interior included modern plumbing and electric power throughout. The ship's designer was keen to note the boat featured nine “iceboxes” - one for each room.

In 1917, on the heels of WW1, the US government began to commission boats small and agile enough to maneuver around the newest submarine, the German U-boat. The former yacht racer was made a prominent piece in their tactical fleet - renaming the boat the USS Sachem.

The boat's sides were reinforced with steel armor and machine guns were mounted on deck. The ship was charged with patrolling the east coast, Florida Keys, and Caribbean.

During this period, the US began to invest in research that could counter or evade German submarines. To do so, they turned to Thomas Edison, who in August of 1917, boarded the USS Sachem and integrated himself into the crew.

The ship was his mobile laboratory, testing nearly 50 inventions for the Navy. Eventually, the boat was outfitted for Edison for the sole purpose of scientific research, and he moved onboard for months at a time. Some of the first iterations of radio detection were deployed by Edison aboard the USS Sachem, which would aid advancements in radar technology years later.

Edison (first row, center) with crew

A list of 48 projects and inventions from the Edison laboratory aboard the USS Sachem. Inventions were meant to help the US avoid the German u-boat. Number 39 is my clear favorite.

After WWI, the boat took on a new owner and a new life. After aiding the US government for years, the boat used its superior speed against them as a “Rum Runner” during prohibition.

As the 1920’s roared to a halt by the Great Depression, The Sachem traded hands many times, often used as a tour or fishing boat in the New York Harbor. Several archived advertisements from the New York Daily News promote fishing or leisure trips for $2.00/person. Even in the Great Depression, where some fished out of necessity, the boat’s luxurious finishes fascinated guests, and became a staple in the New York Harbor.

New York Daily Post advertisement for fishing tours, circa 1932

In 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor forced the boat back into government service. The ship was again outfitted with an armor exterior, machine guns, anti-aerial equipment, and the most state of the art technology available. Edison’s former laboratory was transformed into a training ground, where it trained dozens of pioneers in the new world of radar technology. The ship was re-named the USS Phenakite (after a rare gem) and helped escort commercial ships across the Atlantic.

After the war, the USS Phenakite would go through one of its final evolutions after being purchased by the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises of New York. The boat was turned into the company’s flagship cruiser where it was renamed the Sightseer.

The vessel was clearly a favorite of the New York shoreline. It appeared in dozens of advertisements and post cards from New York tourists sailing around the harbor, dawning inscriptions such as “America’s favorite boat ride”.

The ship’s final name, Circle Line V, can still be seen on its hull today.

The Sightseer, which was eventually rebranded as the Circle Line V, served guests in the New York Harbor for 31 years. 2.9 million guests are estimated to have boarded the Circle Line V before the ships retirement in 1977. After its final commercial trip, the boat was stripped of most of its components, including its second deck and abandoned at a New Jersey pier.

It was in 1984 that the ships final owner, Butch Miller, took on the boat. Miller had been pursuing an original steam yacht for almost a decade when he stumbled across it. Miller wasn’t as wealthy as the ships owners before him. He spent weekends commuting between his home in Northern Kentucky and the New York Harbor for years to make the necessary repairs.

Miller would hop weekly between piers, trying to evade dock fees which he couldn't afford. He took on the reputation as a dock pirate eluding harbor patrols as if they were German u-boats.

It was during this period while Miller was working on the boat that a limousine pulled up and asked if it could be used in a music video. Miller didn’t know it at the time, but the location scout he spoke to worked for Madonna. The boat was briefly featured in the music Video “Papa Don’t Preach”. In the summer of 1986, the song would reach number one on the Billboard Top 100.

Screenshot from “Papa Don’t Preach”, Madonna on right.

Weeks later, Miller would attempt a feat he had spent a decade planning: to take the boat on a 2,600 mile trip home to Northern Kentucky via the “Great Loop”. The Great Loop is a pilgrimage akin to the Appalachian Trail for boaters, but for Miller, it was probably the only way home.

Miller chose to go on one last trip before leaving. The ship had traveled across the New York Harbor thousands of times, but this trip was just for leisure, a mission the boat hadn't embarked on since the time of its original owner eight decades prior. It was July 3, 1986, and Ronald Reagan was set to re-dedicate the Statue of Liberty by re-lighting the torch. The Circle Line V was one of dozens of boats watching from the water.

Rededication ceremony July 3, 1986

Next, the boat traveled north up the Hudson River, into Lake Ontario, and through the Erie Canal. The boat hopped across the great lakes and was briefly detained when it accidentally traveled into Canada. Then, it traversed south the length of Lake Michigan and into Chicago where it met the Illinois River.

The Circle Line V followed the Illinois River southwest until it met the Mississippi and then turned east up the Ohio River. It traveled 300 miles until Captain Miller reached his final turn, a small tributary called Taylor Creek. Having traveled more than 2,500 miles, this was the final step, and the final waters the ship would ever cross. The Circle Line V ran aground.

The ship has rested there, in Petersburg Kentucky, with relative obscurity since 1987. Having become stuck on private property, the ship has avoided attention from the public in a way other shipwrecks have not, remaining absent on the AWOIS system, which has cataloged all shipwrecks since 1981.

This began to change in 2016 after the death of Captain Miller and news of the shipwreck began to circulate online. Visitors from the midwest, which isn’t known for shipwrecks, made the pilgrimage to the Circle Line V on a different kind of tour - ones that were occasionally met with threatening neighbors and shotgun warning shots.

Traveling east up the Ohio River, the final leg of Butch Miller’s journey home

While the boat is no longer seaworthy, it's not in terrible shape either. As I swam around, I found myself inspecting it like I was buying a used car, even muttering, "not bad for a shipwreck" a few times. It has certainly benefitted from being relatively hidden, but its unique history as a warship also afforded it a few upgrades not available to most 122 year old boats.

Despite this, its recent prominence online has brought with it a host of new problems. What the elements haven’t taken, scrappers have begun to pick apart.

Thus, some sources online will implore you not to visit the boat, something of a bit of an unfair request - especially when traveling by water. Even the dock pirate had to bend the rules occasionally just to keep the ship’s legacy alive.

Over several years, a few dedicated history buffs have launched coordinated efforts to restore the USS Sachem, their preferred name for the ship. While it appears none have been successful, the Sachem Project has been massively important in recording the history of the ship. The’ve ensured the boat will not be forgotten to history after all, chronicling the boat beyond any other abandoned place I’ve ever visited.

If the boat rusts to pieces i’ll be sad, but the ship is not like others. It’s work wasn’t interrupted. Its story has been told, and its legacy is felt through innovations still in use today. Its final state, tucked away in a hidden Kentucky creek, has been far more captivating than its original carved mahogany and nine iceboxes. I can’t imagine a better way to experience the ship in all of its glory.

If you get to visit the ship, do your part to be respectful. Relish in the fact that your fingerprints have become intertwined with the remarkable history before you. After all, only when the final passenger steps off for good, can the boat truly embrace its seventh and final name: The Cincinnati Ghost Ship.

---

Locations mentioned:

1. Cincinnati Ghost Ship | 39.08109, -84.84865