Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
YouTubers get into the spirit of RRS Discovery
RRS Discovery has been branded “Europe’s most haunted ghost ship” by a group of American YouTube stars with millions of followers.
Josh Yozura, whose Exploring with Josh page has 4.3 million subscribers, investigated the Dundee Waterfront ship as part of his latest series Hauntings of the UK.
The 29-year-old was joined by fellow YouTubers Seth Borden, Steve Ronin and Dan Dixon as they explored below deck and took a look inside the captain’s cabin.
Josh says the group found out about RRS Discovery when they began looking into places to explore in Scotland.
And he claims to have picked up on paranormal activity while making the video – which has been viewed more than 130,000 times.
He said: “It was really surprising for being such a little ship.
“I usually explore big warships so this was different but I loved it – we heard so many knocks and voices.”
The group used various ghosthunting devices to sense motion or movement from “spirits” aboard the ship, including a rempod – which detects paranormal activity when there are changes in ambient temperature – motion detectors and a spirit box.
The rempod flashes when energy from a “potential paranormal entity” is detected.
In the video, the group learned about the history of the 121-yearold research ship and its Antarctic expedition – during which many of its crew perished.
The ghost hunters tried to make contact with captain Robert Falcon Scott and crew members.
Josh said: “We picked up the captain of the ship but I don’t think he wanted us in his room as he made the music box go off a lot, and he even moved his pants and clothes that were hanging over his bed.
“We picked up a lot of the crew talking and heard footsteps all over the place.
“There was nothing evil or crazy but it felt as if the ship was still going and working as if it was back in the day.”
A spokesperson for Dundee Heritage Trust – which runs Discovery Point – says the results are not a surprise as there have “long been reports of people claiming to have experienced paranormal activity aboard”. They added: “Many advise feeling a connection to the tragic death of seaman Charles Bonner, who fell from the main mast on the ship’s departure from New Zealand head-first on to the iron deckhouse, smashing his skull upon impact.
“The area where he fell is often an alleged area of paranormal activity.
“RRS Discovery has been the subject of many other ghost stories over the years too – including reports of sounds coming from the world-famous explorer and great leader Ernest Shackleton’s bedroom.
“While none of our team were involved in Josh Yozura’s YouTube production, we can certainly vouch for lots of odd-sounding, creaky noises, especially in high winds.”