The Mary Celeste, often incorrectly referred to as the Marie Celeste, was discovered without a crew in December 1872, adrift but seemingly in perfect condition. Seemingly abandoned, the crew have never been accounted for and no reason was given in the ship's log. It remains as the biggest maritime mystery of all time.
The Origins Of The Mary Celeste
The ship was built in1861, but was originally named the Amazon. It belonged to a group of investors from Cumberland and Kings Counties in Nova Scotia until 1867 when, it was sold to James H Winchester for $11,000. The ship had been driven ashore by a storm and salvaged. Many people had said the ship was cursed, due to the number of incidents in the ship’s early years. The new owner modified the ship and renamed her The Mary Celeste.
Captain Benjamin Briggs Takes Charge.
Winchester split the cost into twenty four shares. Benjamin Briggs, an experienced sailor bought eight shares and also became the new captain of the ship. On 5th November 1872 Briggs, along with his wife, daughter and seven crew members set sail for the Mediterranean with a hold full of alcohol as cargo. The ship was to follow a similar path to that of the Dei Gratia, a British merchant ship captained by Briggs' friend David Reed Moorhouse, which set sail sometime between seven and ten days after the Mary Celeste.
Mary Celeste Is Discovered Abandoned
Around December 4th, the helmsman of the Dei Gratia spotted a ship a few miles off their port bow and knew instantly something was wrong. They moved to within four hundred yards of the ship and observed for almost two hours before boarding. Captain Moorhouse was confused as to why the Mary Celeste had not already reached its destination, considering the number of days head start they’d had. Dei Gratia's chief mate, Oliver Deveau led a party aboard the ship and returned visibly unnerved. He reported the ship as being completely empty, but was a wet mess. A lot of water was in the hold, but the ship was not sinking. Six months supply of food and water had been left on board and the captain's log gave no indication of problems on the ship. There was no evidence of piracy or mutiny. It had seemed like the crew had simply taken the lifeboat and abandoned ship.
A Number Of Theories Have Been Put Forward
Piracy was immediately ruled out as personal effects were left by the crew, which would have been instantly looted and there had been no reports of pirates around the Azores for many years. Mutiny, storm, underwater earthquake and tsunami have all been touted as possible reasons, but all dismissed. No undersea tremors were recorded by either Briggs or Moorhouse. Briggs was a fair captain, ruling out mutiny. The same can be said for storms, while tsunami was ruled out as the effects would do little or no damage in deep water, apart from a freak wave that would totally destroy the ship. Waterspout is a logical explanation which would explain the water on board, while risk of explosion, considering the cargo of alcohol onboard, would cause the crew to leave the ship hastily. Other more far fetched theories have involved alien abduction and sea monsters.
The ship was later sold and in 1885, was deliberately wrecked in a failed insurance scam and left to slowly sink into the Caribbean sea. The missing crew's bodies have never been found and the Mary Celeste will forever remain as one of the greatest unsolved mysteries.
Sources: Various Internet sites
