# Chain of transmission — master table (status: V = verified by us from a primary copy; P = reported by a prior investigator, not seen by us; S = snippet/search-API evidence)

| # | Date | Where | What it says | Attribution in the text | Status / evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 Oct 1940 | Il Piccolo delle Ore Diciotto (Trieste evening ed.), p.3/4, "Il mistero dell'Ourang-Medan", byline Silvio Scherl-Scherli, two photos | 13 (or 19) Nov 1939; found by "American torpedo boat W716"; Pacific | author's byline | P (Paijmans FT402 2021 n.29; Wikipedia cites archivio.ilpiccolo.it issue 19401016) |
| 2 | 18 Oct 1940 | Badische Presse (Karlsruhe) p.7 "Das Geheimnis des Untergangs der 'Ourang Medan' ungelöst. Italienische Seeleute finden die Mannschaft ermordet" | Italian sailors find the crew | ? | P (de.wikipedia → DDB item V7QN4YPO3M5BB5CCC4MVR2DALVNWTZAJ; DDB not renderable for us) |
| 3 | 20 & 29 Oct 1940 | Vienna: (Neuigkeits-)Welt-Blatt "Drama im Stillen Ozean"; Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung "SOS vom Meutererschiff"; (Österr.) Volks-Zeitung "Das Geheimnis des Totenschiffes" | one names "Piccolo di Trieste" as source | Piccolo di Trieste | P (Paijmans n.28; ANNO behind Cloudflare Turnstile for us) |
| 4 | 21 Nov 1940 | Yorkshire Evening Post p.5 "Mystery SOS from Death Ship. Unwounded Bodies Found on Deck. Explosions Defeated Boarding Party" | AP, dateline Trieste, Thursday; SE of Solomon Islands; SOS "Beg ships with shortwave wireless get touch doctor. Urgent" / "Probable second officer dead. Other members crew also killed. Disregard medical consultation. SOS urgent assistance warship" / "crew has…" | Associated Press, Trieste | P (Hargraves 2015 from BNA scan; BNA paywalled) |
| 5 | 22 Nov 1940 | Daily Mirror p.11 "Crew Dies In SOS Mystery" | steamer Ourang Medan off the Solomon Islands; officer of rescue party "yesterday"; 12 bodies, 3 deck officers; explosion; "Send doctor—urgent" then "Send a warship"; "A ship of the British Merchant Marine was first to arrive" | —Associated Press | V (archive.org daily-mirror-fri-nov-22-1940, page image read; fig) |
| 6 | 29 Nov 1940 | Hampshire Telegraph p.8 "Story of Weird Sea Tragedy" | | | P (Paijmans n.27; de173 2019) |
| 7 | 8 Dec 1940 | L'Illustrazione Italiana p.846 "Il Mistero dell'Ourang-Medan", Silvio Scherl-Scherli, two photos | | byline | P (Paijmans n.26; Yodin 2024) |
| 8 | 29 Dec 1940 | 7 Jours (Lyon, Vichy France) no.13 p.6 [Gallica: page PAG_4] "Les sauveteurs trouvèrent un navire immobile et un équipage de cadavres… et l'Ourang-Medan disparut avec son secret" | "C'est le 13 novembre 1939"; "à 200 milles au sud-est du groupe des îles Salomon"; "le torpilleur américain n° 716"; "brûle toute la nuit. A l'aube, le torpilleur américain arriva" | none | S (Gallica ContentSearch ark bpt6k32533027, snippets saved) |
| 9 | 5 Feb 1941 | Il Piccolo, part 2 "presented as news, about a survivor" | | | P (Yodin 2024 / tragedies-of-the-sea blog) |
| 10 | 27 Feb 1941 | The China Mail (Hong Kong) p.8 "Crew Dies In S.O.S. Mystery" | identical AP text to #5 | —Associated Press | V (archive.org NPCM19410227 djvu + page image; fig) |
| 11 | 7 Sep 1941 | 7 Jours no.45 p.9 "Après vingt mois. Le mystère de l'Ourang-Medan est éclairci" | survivor found in Fiji (Sir Harry Luke named); cargo nitroglycerine, potassium cyanide, sulphuric acid → hydrogen cyanide | | P (Butziger 2013; Paijmans n.25) |
| 12 | 17 Jan 1948 | Elsevier's Weekblad (Amsterdam) p.16 "Brand in Luik IV. Raadselachtige Ondergang van de Ourang Medan", two photos | mid-June 1947, 400 nm SE of Marshall Islands, 22 dead, first-person narrator on unnamed rescue ship | (Scherli named only in part 2) | P (Paijmans n.1; not on Delpher) |
| 13 | 24 Jan 1948 | Leekster courant (Leek, Groningen) 3e jrg. no.4 p.1 "Mysterie, dat de zee nimmer zal prijsgeven" | same text as #12 (condensed) | "aldus een verslaggever van Elsevier's Weekblad" | V (Delpher MMRHCG04:235133008:mpeg21:a00006; OCR + page image; fig) — digitised 9 Jul 2024; quoted (mislabelled) by CNBC Indonesia 2025 |
| 14 | 3 Feb 1948 | De locomotief (Semarang) 96e jrg. no.128 p.3 "Een Mysterie van de Zee…" + "Het bleef stil", two photos | same text as #12 | none (photos captioned) | V (Delpher ddd:010862945:mpeg21:a0036/a0038/a0042/a0051; page image; fig) |
| 15 | 14 Feb 1948 | Elsevier's Weekblad p.4 "De geheimzinnige Ramp der Oerang Medan. De enige overlevende" | Scherli named, "vertoeft thans te Triëst"; missionary on Taongi; 15,000 crates | editorial box | P (Paijmans n.3) |
| 16 | 28 Feb 1948 | De locomotief no.149 p.2 "Ondergang der Ourang Medan / Voor het Eerst Werd ik Bang / De Enige Overlevende, Silvio Scherli, Vertelt zijn Verhaal…" | = #15; box: "De auteur, Silvio Scherli, vertoeft thans te Triëst. Hij verzekert, voor de authenticiteit van dit verhaal in te staan… Red. Loc." | editorial box | V (Delpher ddd:010862872:mpeg21:a0050–a0051; page image; fig) |
| 17 | 28 Feb 1948 | Elsevier's Weekblad p.19 "Het mysterie der Ourang Medan opgelost" | cargo list; German castaway buried "by the old palm" | | P (Paijmans n.4) |
| 18 | 13 Mar 1948 | De locomotief no.161 p.2 "Mysterie der Ourang Medan / De Dodelijke Zwavelzuur-Gassen… / Fantasie of Realiteit?" + "S.O.S." | = #17; box: "De conclusie ligt voor de hand, dat het ganse verhaal een fantasie, een boeiende romance is. Hiertegenover staat de verklaring van de auteur, Silvio Scherli, te Triëst…" | editorial box | V (Delpher ddd:010862918:mpeg21:a0033–a0036; page image; fig) |
| 19 | 16 Apr 1948 | De West (Paramaribo) "Schip vergaan" | as NEWS: Dutch motorship "Orang Medan" sank after explosion in the Pacific, 22 aboard, crew Indonesian | | V? (OCR fetched during the register check; text in sources/reports/delpher_report.md, B5) |
| 20 | 24 Jul 1948 | Obersteirische Volkszeitung (Leoben) "Der Untergang der Ourang Medan" | | | P (Paijmans n.7) |
| 21 | Oct 1948 | American Weekly (Hearst Sunday supplement) "Secrets of the Sea" by Win Brooks — Times Union (Albany) 10 Oct 1948 pp.24–25, Baltimore American, Chicago Herald-American, Oregonian | "apparently told by an Italian officer on a ship that had answered the Ourang Medan's distress call"; Elsevier's editor "had bought the story and photographs of the Italian officer and the latter had disappeared"; Strait of Malacca?? (see sources/reports/us-uk-press_report.md, §3.3) | Elsevier's Weekly, January 1948 | P (Wikipedia 2016; Paijmans n.10; fultonhistory link dead) — see sources/reports/us-uk-press_report.md, §4 |
| 22 | 31 Oct 1948 | L'Illustrazione del Popolo p.5, Ennio Garieri "Il Mistero dell'Ourang Medan" | | | P (Paijmans n.8) |
| 23 | May 1952 | Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council (USCG) vol.9 no.5 pp.106–107, unsigned editorial "We Sail Together" | "February 1948"; "Straits of Malacca"; SOS "we float. All officers, including the Captain, dead in chartroom and on the bridge. Probably whole of crew dead"; "I die"; "approximately 50 miles from her indicated position"; dog; No.4 hold | none | V (Wayback PDF of uscg.mil, text saved) |
| 24 | 17 Jan 1953 | Leicester Chronicle p.18 "Mystery ships" | | | P (Paijmans n.12) |
| 25 | Jun 1953 | Fate, Robert V. Hulse "Death at Sea" pp.73–74 | cites the Proceedings | | P (Paijmans n.15) |
| 26 | 1954 | Otto Mielke, Das Totenschiff in der Südsee. Dampfer "Ourang Medan" (Anker-Hefte, Moewig, Munich), 32 pp. | SOS 27 June 1947; City of Baltimore and Grace Line "Silver Star"; boarding 28 June 1947; lifeboat to Taongi 12 July 1947, survivor "Jerry Rabbit"; cyanide + nitroglycerine | none | P (de.wikipedia; Bainton 1999 via Siersdorfer; Paijmans n.13) — FIRST appearance of "Silver Star" |
| 27 | 7 Jan 1955 | Amigoe di Curaçao p.2 "Panorama" (digest of the Dutch weekly Panorama) | Pacific; cargo potassium cyanide → hydrogen cyanide | | V (Delpher ddd:010404481:mpeg21:a0051) |
| 28 | 1955–56 | Jessup, The Case for the UFO (1955) pp.88–90; Liverpool Echo 30 Aug 1955; Frank Edwards, Strangest of All (1956) pp.70–72 | Edwards: Feb 1948, Malacca, "Dutch and British radio centers", "Rescue craft from Sumatra and Malaya", terrier "teeth bared" | Edwards cites "the report filed with the Proceedings" | V for Edwards (text read; see sources/reports/historiography_report.md, §1.12) |
| 29 | 5 Dec 1959 | Letter of C. H. Marck Jr. TO the CIA (FOIA CIA-RDP80R01731R000300010043-5) | retells Edwards/Proceedings; asks "do you think 'something from the unknown' is involved?" | cites Proceedings | V (CIA reading room / archive.org text) |
| 30 | 1964–65 | Frank Edwards, Winnipeg Free Press 27 Jun 1964; Vincent Gaddis, Invisible Horizons (1965) pp.125–126 | Gaddis: CO poisoning theory; potassium cyanide and nitroglycerine | | P |
| 31 | 1999–2021 | Bainton FT Sept 1999 "A Cargo of Death"; Butziger 2013/14; Hargraves (Skittish Library) 29 Dec 2015; Skeptoid #756 1 Dec 2020; Paijmans FT402 Feb 2021 | investigations | | V (texts saved) |

Key structural facts:
- The 1940 AP text and the 1948 Elsevier text are DIFFERENT prose but the same skeleton: SOS first asking for a doctor, then a second message reporting officers dead, rescue party boards, bodies unwounded, second officer on the bridge, explosion(s), fire, sinks next morning "taking her secret". 1940: 13 Nov 1939, 200 nm SE of the Solomons, 12 bodies, finder = American torpedo boat 716 (Il Piccolo/7 Jours) or a British merchant ship (AP). 1948: mid-June 1947, 400 nm SE of the Marshalls, 22 bodies, finder = unnamed ship of the narrator. 1952: Feb 1948, Strait of Malacca, finder unnamed. 1954 (Mielke): 27 June 1947, "Silver Star" and "City of Baltimore".
- The Strait of Malacca first appears in print in the Coast Guard Proceedings (May 1952) unless the American Weekly (Oct 1948) already had it — see sources/reports/us-uk-press_report.md, §3.3.