Editing Ourang Medan (section)

==Contemporaneous coverage==
One of the earliest incarnations of the story is first recounted in ''[[Il Piccolo]]'', the local paper of [[Trieste]], in a series of “I drammi del mare” (Dramas of the Sea) authored by Silvio Scherli from 1940.<ref name="Il Piccolo"/>

Reporting by The Skittish Library shows that in 1940 there were contemporaneous newspaper reports of the incident taken from the Associated Press in British newspapers the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' and the ''[[Yorkshire Evening Post]]''. These initial reports placed the ship in proximity of the [[Solomon Islands]], omit the rescue vessels names, and the SOS messages are different from later reports.<ref name=":0"/><ref name="DailyMirror"/> The origin of the story is described as the Associated Press, and reported from Trieste in Italy but attributed to a Merchant Marine Officer.<ref name="Archive YEP">{{Cite news|date=21 November 1940|title=MYSTERY S O S FROM DEATH SHIP|page=5|work=Yorkshire Evening Post|issue=15634|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19401121/132/0005|url-access=subscription|access-date=21 February 2021|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref><ref name="Archive DailyMirror">{{Cite news|date=22 November 1940|title=CREW DIES IN SOS MYSTERY|page=11|work=Daily Mirror|issue=11531|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19401122/119/0011|url-access=subscription|access-date=21 February 2021|via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref>

In 1948, a series of three articles appeared in the Dutch-Indonesian newspaper ''De locomotief: Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad'' (February 3, 1948, with two photographs duplicated from the Il Piccolo article,<ref name="locomotief1">{{cite news | title=Een Mysterie van de Zee|newspaper=De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad|date=February 3, 1948|url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010862872:mpeg21:a0050 }}</ref> February 28, 1948,<ref name="locomotief2">{{cite news|title=Ondergang der "Ourang Medan"|newspaper=De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad|date=February 28, 1948|url=http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd%3A010862918%3Ampeg21%3Ap002%3Aa0033|access-date=December 19, 2013|archive-date=December 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221083735/http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd%3A010862918%3Ampeg21%3Ap002%3Aa0033|url-status=dead}}</ref> and March 13, 1948).<ref name="locomotief3">{{cite news | title=Mysterie der "Ourang Medan"|newspaper=De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad|date=March 13, 1948|url=http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd%3A010862945%3Ampeg21%3Ap002%3Aa0038 }}</ref> The source for these stories are given as Silvio Scherli of Trieste and introduce new details about the incident not previously included in 1940s reporting including the significantly altered SOS and the addition of the surviving sailor who (on his deathbed) tells a missionary about the events, who subsequently recounted them to Scherli. The Dutch newspaper concludes with a disclaimer: <blockquote>"This is the last part of our story about the mystery of the ''Ourang Medan''. We must repeat that we don't have any other data on this 'mystery of the sea'. Nor can we answer the many unanswered questions in the story. It may seem obvious that the entire story is a fantasy, a thrilling romance of the sea. On the other hand, the author, Silvio Scherli, assures us of the authenticity of the story."<ref name="locomotief3" /></blockquote>  

In October 10, 1948, the story was published in ''[[Times Union (Albany)|The Albany Times]]'' of [[Albany, New York]] and references its original source as the Dutch newspaper ''[[Elsevier Weekblad|Elsevier's Weekly]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/Albany%20NY%20Times%20Union/Albany%20NY%20Times%20Union%201948/Albany%20NY%20Times%20Union%201948%20a%20-%203308.pdf|title=Secrets of the Sea|date=October 10, 1948|access-date=November 22, 2016}} [https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/Albany%20NY%20Times%20Union/Albany%20NY%20Times%20Union%201948/Albany%20NY%20Times%20Union%201948%20a%20-%203309.pdf and page 25]</ref> The story was repeated in the May 1952 issue of the ''Proceedings of the [[United States Merchant Marine|Merchant Marine]] Council'', published by the [[United States Coast Guard]].<ref name="Proceedings">{{cite journal | title=We Sail together|journal=Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council|volume=9|issue=5| page=107|publisher=U.S. Coast Guard | date=May 1952}}</ref> 

Silvio Scherli is said to have produced a report on Trieste "Export Trade" on September 28, 1959.<ref name="silviobook">[https://books.google.com/books?id=3CYUAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Silvio+Scherli%22 Readings in policy and practice for international business, Edwin F. Wigglesworth, T. Ashwell, 1959]</ref>