Mr. Babits, who had been aboard the HMS Bounty replica several times and has sailed on other tall-mast ships, said he didn't understand why the ship entered the path of a large storm that everyone knew was coming.

WSJ: Heavy Seas Claim Replica of HMS Bounty

Others claim they heard metal crushing and children crying, related to an accident during the war when the RMS Queen Mary accidentally rammed into and split an allied ship in its path, the HMS Curacoa, off the Irish coast, killing 239 people.

BBC: A ghostly visit on the RMS Queen Mary hotel