Wreck of the Serendipity

"We believe Van Der Linde is holed up with a group of renegades near the wreck of the Serendipity riverboat."

- Archer Fordham

The  is a location featured in Red Dead Redemption in the Great Plains region of the West Elizabeth territory. It is situated at a decrepit port on Flat Iron Lake.

Background
The Serendipity is a large steamboat which has partially sunk and settled on the lake-bed, with most of the ship above the waterline. What caused the sinking of the Serendipity is unknown.

In the Edgar Ross mission &quot;Bear One Another's Burdens&quot;, Marston must rescue a government informant (Nastas) from the Serendipity. During the mission, Edgar Ross comments about the boat being a hideout for criminals for many years.

What Happened?
What really happened to the Serendipity is unknown, though there are some theories:


 * It may be just that the ship was taken out of service and left to rot.
 * As a campfire story tells, the ship crashed in the Mexican cliffs east of Thieves Landing and was raided by Mexican soldiers before being towed back to American waters.
 * There is also the possibility that the ship was raided, destroyed and looted by Walton's gang according to what a gang member mentions in Armadillo.
 * Another campfire story was told in Great Plains that the ship's captain cheated on his wife and she destroyed the boat along with herself, him, the ship and all the passengers.
 * Another rumor is that it is the ship that John Marston disembarked from in the opening cinematic (unlikely, since Edgar Ross mentions that it was a Gang hideout for many years and the Story takes less).

Trivia

 * The Serendipity is a American Sternwheel Steamboat [AMSS]. AMSSs operated from 1880 - 1920 and are an iconic figure of the Mississippi river. The most famous AMSS is the Belle of Louisville.
 * It is possible that the Serendipity was bringing ammunition to Fort Mercer during the Mexican-American War. The ammunition could have been accidentally detonated. There is, however, no evidence to support this as it is never mentioned and there is no evidence of an explosion in the wreckage.
 * According to some campfire tales, the Serendipity is haunted every Thursday night. However, the only evidence supporting this claim are the hitched horses and the hanging survivor.
 * A campfire tale says that the ship crashed in a very shallow area of flat iron lake in very thick fog. The ship was stuck there three days because the current and the wind prevented any boat from rescuing them. On the fourth day a ship finally reached the Serendipity soon to find out that the passengers and crew had mysteriously disappeared. The rescue boat towed the boat to the pier and left it to rot. But there's still no evidence to prove this tale.
 * If the wreck is visited at midnight between Thursday and Friday and the consoles date is set on May 4th, Red_dead_serendipity_thing.jpg entering the wreck will cause Marston to say "This doesn't feel right." or something similar, just like he does when entering other strange areas (some of which become hideouts in DLCs). In one of the rooms a corpse will be hanging. While shooting the body itself will not trigger any reaction, aiming at the rope will cause in the entire screen, including the HDU, to blur and the minimap to become distorted. This will continue until death. Shooting the rope will cause the entity to fall on the ground, move around in an odd way and then stand up and attack the player. Note that one hit from the creature kills you. much like being mauled by a bear in multiplayer. If killed, returning to the wreck will show that the being disappeared, yet the rope is still there as if something was hanging in the room.
 * Also on Thursday nights, horses can be seen hitched at the hitching post, but no one is around. (Note: This may happen on other nights, but seems very frequent on Thursdays).
 * In &quot;Bear One Another's Burdens&quot; there's said that it usually filled with low-lives, but when visited before or after that mission there is nobody present at the wreck.
 * The wreck could be a possible nod to the wreck of the Morning Star; a ship wreck in Gun, a game similar to Red Dead.
 * This might have been supposed to be a gang hideout, but was cancelled.
 * The wreck seems to be covered with algea, seaweed and such, and is also rotting, this suggest that the ship has sunk on deeper waters. But was then hoisted up from the water and dragged to this dock.
 * NPCs will occasionally mention hearing that the wreck is suppose to be "restored to her former glory". However, no mention is made of who will be restoring the steamboat.

Achievements/Trophies
The discovery of locations in Red Dead Redemption count towards the following Trophies/Achievements:

Wreck of the Serendipity