On October 25th, 1918, the SS Princess Sophia slipped beneath the freezing waters off Vanderbilt Reef, taking every one of its 353 passengers and crew to the bottom of the Lynn Canal. It remains the deadliest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest — a ship lost in blinding snow, brutal winds, and a silence that still hangs over the Alaskan coast. But the tragedy didn’t end with the sinking. Some say the dead never truly left.
This week on Beyond the Campfire, Will and Steve uncover the chilling hauntings that followed the catastrophe. When the bodies were brought to shore, Juneau’s small drug store was converted into a temporary morgue — and that’s when the whispers began. Footsteps after closing. Shadows drifting across the aisles. Cold breaths of air sweeping through locked rooms. Workers spoke of hearing muffled voices, as if dozens of souls were still waiting to be claimed. And on the shoreline near the wreck, fishermen still report figures standing in the fog — figures that vanish the moment the light touches them.
From the final distress calls to the lingering spirits said to echo through Juneau, the Princess Sophia’s story is a haunting reminder that some tragedies refuse to fade. As Will and Steve retrace the disaster, one question follows them through every icy detail: when a ship dies so violently, does the sea ever release what it takes?
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