The Wreck of the Serendipity - Red Dead Redemption 

The Serendipity would have been a cool gang hide out in RDR 2

A video about the Van Horn Trading Post would be interesting. Like what happened to make it become abandoned/lawless or how it became populated with criminals.

When I was playing RDR1 for the first time and saw Nastas tied to the chair with a bag over his head, I thought “damn, who would tie up Dutch like that?”.

Ships, and yes that includes the "riverboats" which are in fact ships themselves, commonly in the 19th century would be raised after sinking for salvage alone, and if floated away could be sent closer to a shoreline for actual salvage to begin.

The state of the boat shows it has been there for several years. A ship wouldn't look like after three or four years, unless the weather aged it that badly.

The ferry coming from a scrapped location in RDR2 makes me feel like they planned for the ferry to sink during a mission

RDR2 for whatever reason actually still uses the 1899 version of the map for New Austin & the great plains rather than a 1907 version, and so that could actually mean they intended to put the serendipity in 1907 but forgot to, and that could possibly mean that the Serendipity sunk prior to 1907 but after 1899

the serendipity easily could have been raised after the events of rdr2, which would explain why the wreck is talked about as being older than she actually was present at quaker's cove. it would explain the rot above the waterline, but the ship's wooden nature strikes me as rather odd, given how it seems to be in such a good condition. i think that might be an oversight on the dev's part; they just searched for pictures of a sunken ship/river boat and used that for reference.

If you do the myths and legends of san andreas its gona be about an hour long

Thank you for not giving up on these rdr2 vids, your rdr2 vids are timeless, they feel just like back in 2018, never stop what you do with these rdr2 vids, never change. This is gold.

lol I just watched your “Myths of RDR” and started looking into the Serendipity this morning!

here's what I think happened. The Serendipity was carrying wealthy passengers and was attacked by pirates which resulted in the ship sinking in the lake. Some years pass and for whatever reason they recover the ship and move it to where it is now when it suddenly partially sinks again. Perhaps that sudden sinking is what started the story of it being cursed. A ship that is supposed to be dead was brought back and its trying to return back too its rest. Or perhaps it was going to be restored and renamed and ships that are renamed are said to be cursed. Perhaps the captain cheating on his wife was completely made up or maybe it did happen but aren't actually connected.

Talula Jetty kinda sounds like the creepypasta Welcome To Sandalwood.

nice to see you making more red dead content again! love your work!

It's possible the Serendipity was a smuggler, running illegal cargo from Mexico to either Van Horn or Thieves' Landing. She has damage to her bow, so she may have crashed into something while sneaking about at night. Thus sinking all the way to her stacks in the lake. Eventually she was refloated (in a very sketchy way) and dragged to her current home. More to recover the cargo than salvage her. After she settled and the bottom decks flooded, any thought of salvaging her was abandoned, and she was simply left to whoever wanted her.

If we’re including cut content, we actually know quite a bit more about the Serendipity AFAIK - because the name is applied to the Grand Korrigan in the files for RDR2. So originally that mission in 2 was going to take place aboard the Serendipity in her prime. Not sure why they changed that - maybe the design of the Serendipity didn’t work for the gambling mission?

Great video, there's also street/avenue in Blackwater named Tallulah. I'm certain that the absence of the Serendipity in RDR2 is purely down to an oversight or more likely time constraints/laziness on Rockstar's part. The entirety of the returning map shows obvious signs of being rushed in order to get the game out and avoid further delays, buggy staircases, missing interiors and structures just to name a few.

love your videos man best rdr2 creator on youtube

It’s honestly amazing and a credit to R* that all these years later we can find out about things we still didn’t know. Thank you for your dedication to this universe

Finally a rdr fizhy lore video been wanting a long time for these always enjoyed watching them!

love your work, every video is a masterpiece!

This is similar to the story of the MS World Discover, a ship which was grounded in a bay in the Solomon Islands in 2000 and remains there to this day. It's eerie to see what was once a perfectly good ship lost to time but still mostly above water.

I don’t know how creditable this is but I remember hearing about files that mentioned the original name for the grand koriggan was the serendipity. Maybe in the original mission it sank and years later it was resurfaced

Im amazed you havent run out of rd1/2 content

Love these videos! Great work!

Whenever I pass by the wreck of the serendipity in Red Dead Redemption, it always reminds me of the terrible naval disaster that happened back in 1865. The steamboat Sultana in April of that year that lead to massive casualties. Especially given when mentioned in game that it was there for a while and the western setting, is why it reminded me of that infamous disaster. Which I remember was caused by the ship being overburdened with way past their passenger load as it had prisoners of war which made the ship weigh a bit more in the water and couple that with the system of how the steam engine for those steamboats operate that due to pulling water from the water it is propelling through ended up pulling in the sediments and dirt into the engine because it was riding lower than it should from the passenger load. One of the boilers for the boat was also faulty as it had a ruptured seam, but despite the mechanic wanting to replace the boiler due to the time it would take and shipping those prisoners, Captain Mason who commanded the vessel, convinced the mechanic to make temporary repairs which took one day as opposed to 2-3 if replaced. With is swaying side to side water would spill from one of the interlocked boilers to the other causing one to be empty so a sudden rush of water back on it would instantly create steam which caused a surge of pressure.

@fizhy can you please make a video about the battle site of Riley's Charge in cholla springs, it exists both in RDR 1 and RDR 2 and it seems very intresting

my theory about the extensive damage is that the vessel capsized and stayed like that for a few months before being righted and taken to Quaker's Landing for a salvage op only to for it to be abandoned when a gang of hardened criminals decided they wanted it as a hideout

My favourite type of content as of late. Keep it coming, please!

Why are all of your videos so good. Best Red dead RU-vidr and no one else comes close

I have never clicked on a video so fast in my life. Your content is amazing man!

Bro that’s crazy I was literally searching for this like a week ago to see if you did a video on it and you didn’t and now here we are !!! Crazy ! ❤ love bro .

best rdr videos on youtube fr

50k views in 3 days is insane. props to you brother❤the moment i seen the title you unlocked a memory. cheers to this video man thanks bringing me back to childhood for 15 minutes

If you use mods to remove the water in RDR2, you can find it off the coast of Blackwater

Good to see some good thoreys keep up the good work

My god this is shot and edited really well good job!

I think the ship not being there in 1907 is more of an issue of how rushed the Epilogue areas of the map were. There's a lot of evidence in the gamefiles that points to Online's 1899 version of West Elizabeth and New Austin were meant to be a fair bit different to the Epilogue versions, presumably the final game simply merging the two into a weird mishmash was a compromise to get the game released in time for deadlines.

Love these vids bro

When I first played RDR I believed the Serendipity was likely involved in illicit arms smuggling due to Mexico's ongoing revolution, and it was was scuttled to prevent capture by either the law or rival smugglers. That's was my teenage imagination wondering about this wreck.

Love your videos man!

yo i love your vids!! i always watch them at night

Love all your videos keep up the great work

The going theory I always used was that the Serendipity was entirely underwater during the time of Red Dead Redemption 2 after being attacked by thieves, striking some underwater rocks, and sinking, thus explaining the 'Old-Timers' comments and story. With rumors of remaining riches aboard, she was pulled from the water, and placed where she was. Whatever was left was taken, and it was left there. It was used, at a time, as a basic hideout, before being used as a trap during the events of Red Dead Redemption. Truth be told, given her mainly wooden construction, she couldn't have been under for long, though..

Growing up near the water, I always thought the Serendipity was laid up for years, then sank at its moorings. There were 2 Canadian Coastguard cutters that got moved all over San Francisco Bay in the 90s, and I heard stories of packs of wild dogs aboard, mysterious owners, and it being in limbo because of the Jones Act. Don't know what's true. Figured the algae was just the developers not knowing the biology of sea plants.

Love everything you do

its been a while since i have seen fizhy but whats up man? love your videos!

I love your videos You’re my fav youtuber 🙏

My theory is that the ship had sunk in a storm on the lake because if it was fully submerged for longer it would be heavily damaged and crusted. The captain is cursed hence the reason it seemed to moved because the captain steered it's wreck to try to break it's curse and there's no sign of struggle as if the passengers were terrified it's almost like everyone was calm as it went down as if something was controlling them.

Yes! I'm looking forward to this one. You could say the upload was serendipitous 🤔 lol Keep these deep dive Rockstar lore videos coming 😊

Always wondered what was up with this place but i could never find anything online great video👍

This was my favorite spot for a hideout in red dead redemption 1 online it was so fun playing back then I remember getting the golden double action revolver cause it was my favorite gun next to the high power pistol

it would be a cool story idea if thats the ferry the black watter raid in 1899 went down, like imagine that reminder for John every time he passed by that is when everything went down hill

I never understood why they didn't made it yet another bandit hideout you can clear later like the canyon, the ghost town, the mine, etc.

13:15 Crazy to hear you mention the Delta Queen. I used to watch that boat race the Belle of Louisville in the Great Steamboat race as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival Every year until the last several years there has been a different steam boat racing the Belle. Last I heard the Delta Queen is in port now and no longer water worthy due to lack of maintenance from issues with ownership or something like that. Can't remember the exact reason but it was sad to see it in bad shape. Anyway cool video man.

Always love poking around here during red dead redemption.

it probably just got beached in a swamp and tugged to that dock and was left to rot, a swamp after a year could do that to anything

i think the reason as to why the ship isn't there in the epilogue of RDR2 even though it takes place only 4 years earlier is because the devs rushed that part of the game,you can notice that in various parts of the game

I really like the idea of a river pirate paddle steamer that eventually gets sunk and then raised to retrieve its loot

The screamin in the mission was haunting my first 100 playthroughs

Talulah jetty was probably the docks and a saloon and those burnt buildings. That’s it, Van horn and its terrain was moved there

I hope RDR 3 shows some insight into what happened between 1907 and 1911 because so much happened in New Austin and West Elizabeth during that time. The clearing and construction of Thieve's Landing exploded, the Serendipity wreck appeared, it looks like a bomb went off in Tumbleweed, and Armadillo went from a cholera-infested mass burial site to a thriving town.

Goat status content!

It was likely targeted by pirates and thieves because most paddle wheelers at the time in the American west were basically floating casinos so that would explain it being a target and partially sunk during a potential attack or raid

Time for more Red Dead Lore!

The state of the Serendipity looks like it was a jalopy boat on its last leg. It was already old and possibly scary looking, and the final operators were most likely quite rough themselves. But like the Serendipity, their time ran out. Wild west shows and games feature shootouts on old paddleboats and the Serendipity could have come to a similar fate and sat or drifted uncontrolled to its current resting place, conjuring a legend of a curse as the details became muddled with ignorance and lies to cover its true fate. The possibility of the captain cheating on his wife and her hiring a band of robbers to take care of him and his property doesn't seem so far-fetched.

It's not unheard of for ships to be refloated, especially if they sank in shallow water. There's a possibility it sank elsewhere, was refloated, and something went wrong while trying to tow it, leaving it where it is.

I’d argue that it’s more aquatic since it’s fully submerged now

Love the video

I’m guessing the serendipity sank sometime in the 1870’s and 80’s and was raised for salvaging sometime after the rdr2 epilogue and was instead just left to rot where it sits now

Oh shit new upload!

I like to think itˋs a reference to the river boat in the beginning of gun (the western game by neversoft).

The fact the rdr1 map is heavily less detailed in rd2 make me believe it was likely a second thought to add it given how it seems very rushed

Strange it wasn't included in RDR2. I always thought it was odd that Serendipity was so green n moldy in such an arid part of the map. The boats in VanHorn aren't even that moldy. Maybe it was wrecked more near to San Denis and broke free, floated all the way down there and got stuck. The high water marks on the banks in that spot are well above the deck of the boat. Maybe it got washed down when the water was really high. Idk. Maybe I think about it too hard 😂.

here's a theory from someone who doesn't play RDR. The ship sunk before RDR2. Something/someone thought the ship important enough to be raised and moved to Quaker's Cove. Could have been a navigation hazard in the area or whoever owned the ship deemed it important enough to be raised. Either way hip gets raised and placed in Quaker's Cove possibly to get repaired but repairs stall and the ship sinks again in the shallow river. Criminals move in and use it as a hideout for a while before whatever law enforcement exists decide that its too much trouble to keep the ship around due to the criminal activity and possibly has it dismantled or destroyed which is why its not in the other game.

Nothing says the boat has to sink, boat could look the way it does just literally from being in the water, boats age really fast if left unmaintained. The biggest guess it got grounded by a sandbar and it got damaged and couldn't be used anymore and probably had sat there for a while until it has to be moved, and it was towed to a jetty to be out of the way. It probably was already scrapped (if the boat had any metal left in the boiler room. They probably had to push the boat into the much shallower water and its probably not even floating but just resting on the bottom (but I have to like no clip under it to see)

i lean towards the idea of it sinking on flat iron lake for unknown reasons and there was an effort to salvage it which ran out of funds.

You already know Thank you kind sir

Well, back in 1911 we actually perceived time and used it, now in 2024, we just look down at our phones until suddenly we're not young anymore

I highly doubt this, but I like to think the Serendipity could be a reference to the game Gun which kind of set the ground work for open world westerns. At the beginning of the game, the main character is on a steamboat when it's attacked by ex-confederate bandits. It's highly unlikely but it'd be a nice little reference to the first and a really good open world Western game. Only issue would be the ship in Gun was blown to pieces

It would be an intresting story line with two cities called Tallulah Jetty but they spell their names diffrently and they fight constantly ovr which the "real" Tallulah Jetty

What if the ship sank somewhere between 1899 and 1907? It sank in a deep part of the river, and after 1907 it was raised and plans were made for it to be rebuilt, but those plans never happened.

Pirates could have took it intending to turn it into a smuggling ship if that actually would have been a thing at the time

i know it dint happen in rdr2s timeline because when i go over there in red dead online its a area thats a gang hideout.

Maybe the Serendipity did sink years ago, and it was dredged up because it created an obstacle for ships using the river? Perhaps before it sank, it was a criminal hideout. Or a pirate ship haha I gotta say, a paddleboat steamer is not a ship I would commandeer as a criminal, because where will you get coal, other than a registered port? Unless it was powered by wood., It's a good little boat, considering it's still afloat despite being worse for wear

What if it sank in water just deep enough to submerge it completely but not deep enough to prevent collisions with other ships so it got towed to shore

It just hit me.... the serendipity might have been sunk before 1907 and then was brought up which makes sense for the sea life possible because of gold or Recovering Whoever was on it

What jacket are you using for jack

Here's hoping for a successor to Red Dead one day that continues the legacy of a fun/cool/weird open world.

i always think about this ship, idk why.

it's probably just a weird old ship that caused rumors to spread

With my myth I think there was a storm that isn't mentioned in the game and thus the ships covered in seaweed and other things because of the waves and maybe it came from Mexico after being lost and pirated then in thus storm caused by the curse the ship ran aground

3:25 bro is yapping🙏😭

I think the serendipity was going to be the boat you took to guarma in 1899, but some time before 1907 it got sunk so somebody moved it out of the way (to its current location) but of course most of guarma got cut and the serendipity was cut with it.

did you do a video about the river monster of flat iron lake rdr2?

I've always wanted to know about this creepy ass boat 😂

Are we sure tellulah jetty isn’t just thieves landing? I mean there is literally a geographical jetty next to the Dixon crossing and the serendipity.

He did it

The people of Bristol, much like Liverpool made a good living on trading on the commodity known as "Human Beings".

I guess the boats in RDR2 sink because of some barrier for the player to not go out of the map. But if NPCs also sink, then it's a glitch....or something else lol