During World War II, the concept of a "luck vampire" ship, like the Japanese destroyer Yukikaze, which seemed to drain the luck of other ships around it, was a subject of naval folklore and superstition. The Yukikaze was famously considered to bring good luck to its crew and often survived battles that other ships did not, earning a reputation for being “lucky.” On the other hand, the United States Navy did not have an officially recognized counterpart to this phenomenon, but there were a few ships whose histories became linked to a strange pattern of bad luck, though these were generally not seen as “luck vampires.”
_-_19-N-28143.jpg)
One such ship often associated with bad luck was the USS Juneau (CL-52), a light cruiser that had a tragic and infamous fate. The Juneau was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine in November 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal, leading to the loss of most of its crew, including the five Sullivan brothers, which became a notable story of family sacrifice. The Juneau’s loss was compounded by a series of misfortunes involving ships with similar names or linked to its crew, which some saw as a reflection of a cursed legacy.
Another ship that might be seen as a "bad luck" vessel, though in a very different sense, was the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). After delivering critical components of the atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian in July 1945, the Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The tragedy was compounded by the delayed rescue of survivors, resulting in the deaths of over 800 men. This series of misfortunes, leading up to the ship’s final moments, contributed to its legendary status as a symbol of bad luck in the Navy.
While the U.S. Navy did not have a direct counterpart to Yukikaze, the Juneau and Indianapolis represented examples of ships that, through a mix of bad circumstances and tragic fates, became linked to the idea of a "luck vampire" in their own way.