The Mary Celeste - An In-Depth Look, page 1

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The Mary Celeste was originally known as The Amazon, she was built in 1861at the village of Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia. It seems the ships beginnings were very unfortunate to say the least, The Amazons First captain Robert McLellan, ended up contracting pneumonia nine days after taking command, and he died at the very beginning of her maiden voyage. He was 1 of 3 captains to die about this ship, John Nutting Parker, the next captain of the Amazon, struck a fishing boat, and had to steer her back to the shipyard for repairs. At the shipyard, a fire broke out in the middle of the ship. Her first trans-Atlantic crossing was also disastrous for her next captain, after she collided with another vessel in the English Channel near Dover, England. This resulted in the dismissal of the new captain. This ship was primarily a cargo vessel who transported a vast array of things to places like the West Indies, Central America and South America. The Amazon ended up running aground in a storm off Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1867, she was salvaged and sold for approximately $1,750 which was a large sum in those days, her repair costs amounted to $8,825.03, She was renamed The Mary Celeste in 1868, the new owners of this vessel had intended to travel with her across the Atlantic and do trading with the adriatic ports.

The outline of the story

In 1872, the 4th of December, the mary celeste was spotted off the coast of the Azores, apparently still on a heading to the bay of Gibraltar, apparently abandoned.

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After an initial inspection after the ship was discovered it was noted that there was 1 lifeboat missing, all of the ships papers were missing with the exception of the captains log books.

The forehatch and the lazarette were both open, although the main hatch was sealed. The ship's clock was not functioning, and the compass was destroyed; the sextant and marine chronometer were missing. The only lifeboat on the Mary Celeste, a yawl located above the main hatch, was also missing. The peak halyard, used to hoist the main sail, had disappeared. A rope, perhaps the peak halyard, was found tied to the ship very strongly and the other end, very frayed, was trailing in the water behind the ship.

Popular stories of untouched breakfasts with still-warm cups of tea on the cabin table are untrue and most likely originated with fictionalized accounts of the incident, especially one by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The source for above

The last entry into the captain's logs, on November 24, gave no indication of anything untoward happening or about to happen. the boat had been at sea for around a month and had over six months' worth of food and water on board. Her cargo was virtually untouched and the personal belongings of passengers and crew were still in place, including valuables. The crew of 7 , the captain, his wife and 2 year old daughter was never seen or heard from again. Their disappearance is often cited as the greatest maritime mystery of all time. The weather it was noted, was said to be fine, the ship was un flooded and undamaged and the crew were all very experienced sea-men, the fate of the crew on this vessel has lead to much speculation since its disappearance, and it is often wondered that if not mentioned by the then unknown writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his fictitious story about the ship at the time this story was called 'The Captain of the Polestar' (he referred to this ship in his stories as Marie Céleste) , i doubt the tale of this vessel would have been looked into very much.

Some of the theories regarding this vessel have been:

Alcoholic Fumes were to blame,
Waterspouts,
Underwater Earth Quakes,
paranormal explanations involving extraterrestrial life,
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO's),
Sea monsters,
Tsunami,
Piracy,
the phenomenon of the Bermuda Triangle.

the Mary Celeste is not known to have sailed through the Bermuda Triangle area, she is often described as a ghost ship, this was because she was discovered derelict and abandoned without any known cause.

Captain Benjamin Briggs

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Captain Benjamin Briggs was a very seasoned sailor with the captaincy of many vessels under his belt as well as owning several others, he spent much of his life on the sea's. Briggs was in a man of strict beliefs and religious convictions, and although he was a teetotaler he was no monomaniac on the subject. He was described by those who knew him as always bearing "the highest character as a Christian and as an intelligent and active ship master". He was also a share holder in the Mary Celeste.

As well as himself, his wife and his 2 year old daughter Sofia he had a crew of 7 these included a Dane and four Germans, all who spoke fluent English, they were considered to be very trustworthy and extremely experienced crew. Captain Briggs was great friends with David Reed Morehouse , from Nova Scotia, who was captain of the Canadian merchant ship Dei Gratia, whilst awaiting his cargo to be loaded onto the ship ( the cargo was said to have been about 1,701 barrels of commercial alcohol intended for fortifying Italian wines. It is said to have been worth about $35,000; the ship and cargo together were insured for $46,000.), captain Briggs met up with his old friend, together with their wives for dinner on the 4th of November and found out that they were both going to be sailing on a similar course across the Atlantic, through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean. The cargo was loaded onto the Mary Celeste and she left port on the 5th of November, It is thought though that because the Atlantic was known to be stormy at that time of year the Mary Celeste was forced to drop anchor for 2 days and eventually ventured deeper into the Atlantic on November the 7th (although Mary Celeste herself would make many more voyages, it was the last time anyone would see this particular crew). Morehouse however was still awaiting his shipment and it is said he did not leave the shipyard until November the 15th - although some speculate that it was much later than this date. The Dei Gratia had set off with 1,735 barrels of petroleum in her hold.

Below is a copy of a letter biggs sent to his mother Marion Massachusetts who was caring for his 7 year old son at the time., this was dated 2 days prior to setting sail of the fated vessel

New York, Nov. 3d, 1872

My Dear Mother:

It's been a long time since I have written you a letter and I should like to give you a real interesting one but I hardly know what to say except that I am well and the rest of us ditto, It is such a long time since I composed other than business epistles.

It seems to me to have been a great while since I left home, but it is only over two weeks but in that time my mind has been filled with business cares and I am again launched away into the busy whirl of business life from which I have so long been laid aside. For a few days it was tedious, perplexing, and very tiresome but now I have got fairly settled down to it and it sets lightly and seems to run more smoothly and my appetite keeps good and I hope I shan't lose any flesh. It seems real homelike since Sarah and Sophia got here, and we enjoy our little quarters.

On Thurs. we had a call from Willis and his wife. Took Sophia and went with them on a ride up to Central Park. Sophia behaved splendid and seem to enjoy the ride as much as any of us. It is the only time they have been away from the vessel. On account of the horse disease the horse cars have not been running on this side of the city, so we have not been able to go and make any calls as we were so far away from anyone to go on foot and to hire a private carriage would at least $10.00 a trip which we didn't feel able to pay and we couldn't carry Sophia and walk a mile or two which we should have had to do to get a ferry for Ivamacs(?) or E-port. It has been very confining for S. but when we get back I hope we can make up for it.

We seem to have a very good mate and steward and I hope I shall have a pleasant voyage. We both have missed Arthur and I believe we should have sent for him if I could have thought of a good place to stow him away. Sophia calls for him occasionally and wants to see him in the Album which by the way is a favorite book of hers.

She knows your picture in both albums and points and says Gamma Bis, She seems real smart, has gotten over her bad cold she had when she came and has a first rate appetite for hash and bread and butter. I think the voyage will do her lots of good. We enjoy our melodeon and have some good sings. I was in hopes that Oli might get in before I left but I'm afraid not now.

We finished loading last night and shall leave on Tuesday morning if we don't get off tomorrow night, the Lord willing. Our vessel is in beautiful trim and I hope we shal have a fine passage but I have never been in her before and cant say how she'll sail. Shall want to write us in about 20 days to Genoa, care of Am. Consul and about 20 days after to Messina care of Am. Consul who will forward it to us if we don't go there.

I wrote to James to pay you and A's board and rent. If he forgets, call on him for any money that may be necessary for clothes. Please get Eben to see his skates are all right and the holes in his new thick boot heels. I hope he'll keep well as I think if he does he'll be some help as well as company for you. Love to Hannah. Sophie calls Aunt Hannah often. I wish I had a picture so she could remember the countenance as well as the name.

Hoping to be with you in the spring with much love

I am Yours affectionately

Benj

The letter IMO shows to me that he wasn't intending in anything to cause harm on his voyage, it seems a pretty pleasant letter. The story however after this gets murky and is were the conspiracy's really begin and alot of the facts seem to have been mingled with fiction. It is worth noting at this point as well that apparently the last time anyone heard anything of the crew of the Mary Celeste was when she exchanged signals with another ship two days out of and 300 miles southeast of New York, although at this stage i cannot find definitive proof of this.

The Discovery

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The Mary Celeste was discovered by the aforementioned ship the Dei Gratia, on the 5th of December. The vessel was spotted about 8 kilometeres from the port bow (this is about 5 miles). The wheel man John Johnson. Surveying the vessel through a telescope he noticed that the ship appeared to be 'listing' (going to one side) and that the sails of the ship were in a poor state, he noticed that it appeared that only 3 sails were still set, the rest appeared to be either damaged or still folded away. Alerting Captain Moorhouse of his find they tracked the vessel until they came within 400 yards and they attempted to contact the vessel but after several tries their was no response, It was decided to attempt to board the ship to investigate. Rowing across to the stricken boat they then realized who the ship was, as across its stern it was written - “Mary Celeste New York”. The ship was thou-rally searched by the dei gradia crew and it was soon realized that the ship had been abandoned. On the deck lay several children's toys, the beds in the captains cabins appeared to have been left unmade,the ship appeared to have minimal damage, although to be noted are the apparent following ;

a life boat was missing,
the foresail and upper foresail had been blown away and lost,
The jib, fore-topmast stay sail and the fore lower topsail were set,
the chronometer, sextant, navigation book and ships register were missing,
The rigging was in disorder, the binnacle was toppled and the steering compass was smashed in.
They found a six month supply of food and fresh water and a cargo consisting of 1,701 well stowed and unopened barrels of raw alcohol - although at a later date it is noted that 6 barrels were found to be empty.
The main hatch to below decks was well-battened down and secure, but certain of the hatch covers had apparently been removed and were found discarded near the hatchways
The ships crew and passenger’s lockers still contained their clothing.

This amongst other small things suggests that the Mary Celeste had recently been through a rough storm, no initial clues at his stage were available to suggest why the captain and crew abruptly abandoned the ship. It is also noted there there was no sign of a struggle.

There is said to have been a log found on the ship, One in the captains cabin thought to be a temporary log which stated: "Monday, 25th. At five o'clock made island of St Mary's bearing ESE. At eight o'clock Eastern point bore SSW six miles (3 kilometers) distant."

In the mate's cabin Deveau found a chart showing the track of the vessel up to 24th November. (see below)
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It is worth stating at this point aswell that Under the Maritime law of the time anyone who salvages abandoned vessels are entitled to a % of the ship and cargo's worth. Most salvaged vessels are wrecked however the Mary Celeste was very much a sea worthy ship and along with her most valuable cargo it would have brought anyone a very much substantial sum, anywhere in the region of $80,000. Contrary to belief by certain writers at the time Captain Moorhouse was very reluctant to lay claim to anything on the Mary celeste, he at the time couldn't spare the crew to be able to man both ships this would have risked alot during the event of an emergency, but in the end he was eventually persuaded by Deveau, his first mate. Deveau and two seamen, Augustus Anderson and Charles Lund, took only two days to restore Mary Celeste to order, and then the two ships set off for Gibraltar. Dei Gratia arrived on the evening of 12th December and Mary Celeste the following morning. Within two hours of dropping anchor Mary Celeste was placed under arrest by Thomas J. Vecchio, of the Vice-Admiralty Court.

The Investigation

The Following is extracted from Wikipedia

An investigation was held in the Vice Admiralty Court in Gibraltar to determine the circumstances of the Mary Celeste and apportion marine salvage rights.

During the sitting of the Vice Admiralty Court, the judge praised the crew of the Dei Gratia for their courage and skill. The Attorney General of Gibraltar, Frederick Solly-Flood QC, in his role as Queen's Proctor to the court, deemed it necessary to appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate the vessel and determine the causes of its abandonment in the middle of the ocean. Copies of the several log entries were made. The inquiry lasted three months and attracted media attention worldwide.

The Mary Celeste was visited by John Austin, surveyor of shipping in Gibraltar, assisted by an inspector, John McCabe. A local diver and marine expert named Ricardo Portunato was sent to examine in detail the exterior of the hull on the behalf of the Vice Admiralty Court. Austin discovered what he believed to be a few spots of blood in the captain's cabin, an "uncleaned" ornamental cutlass in Briggs' cabin, a knife (without blood), and a deep gash on a railing that he equated with a blunt object or an Axe, but he did not find such a weapon on board. Portunato believed the damage was recent. Part of his testimony reads:

Affidavit of Ricardo Portunato, Diver

In the Vice Admiralty Court of Gibraltar. The Queen in Her Office of Admiralty Ag't. - The Ship or Vessel name unknown supposed to be called the Mary Celeste and her Cargo found derelict. I, Ricardo Portunato of the City of Gibraltar, Diver make oath and say as follows: 1. I did on Monday the 23rd day of Decbr. last by direction of Thomas Joseph Vecchio Esqr. Marshal of their Honble. Court and of Mr. John Austin Surveyor of Shipping for the port of Gibraltar proceed to a ship or vessel rigged as a Brigantine and supposed to be the Mary Celeste then moored in the port of Gibraltar and under arrest in pursuance of a warrant out of their Honble. Court as having been found derelict on the high Seas for the purpose of examining the State and condition of the hull of the said vessel below her water line and of ascertaining if possible whether she had sustained any damage or injury from a collision or from having struck upon any rock or shoal or otherwise howsoever. 2. I accordingly minutely and carefully examined the whole of the hull of the said vessel and the stern keel, stern post and rudder thereof. 3. They did not nor did any or either of them exhibit any trace of damage or injury or any other appearances whatsoever indicating that the said vessel had had any collision or had struck upon any rock or shoal or had met with any accident or casualty. The hull Stern, [sic] keel Sternpost and rudder of the said vessel were thoroughly in good order and condition. 4. The said vessel was coppered the copper was in good condition and order and I am of opinion that if she had met with any such accident or casualty I shld. have been able to discover and shld. have discovered some marks or traces thereof but I was not able to discover and did not discover any.[10]

Horatio J. Sprague, Consul of the United States in Gibraltar, also wanted an investigation because American citizens were involved in the Mary Celeste incident, and Americans had possibly been murdered. He asked immediately for a visit to the ship by his personal representative, United States Navy Captain R. W. Shufeldt of the frigate USS Plymouth.[13] Shufeldt's brief visit aboard the Mary Celeste led him to challenge the report of his British colleagues. For him, the cuts were mere scratches that could have been caused by anything, and the "traces of blood" did not appear to be so to him, but instead were rust. "Blood" seen on an "uncleaned" sword was also rust according to Sprague and Shufeldt, who conducted scientific tests on it to prove it was rust.

Much has been said about the above statements The Attorney General for Gibraltar and Advocate General for the Queen in Her Office of Admiralty Frederick Solly Flood was convinced from the get go that the abandoned ship was the result of piracy and murder. He is said to have been one of the main culprits into why this story got so much headlines etc to start with and was kept in the public's eye for many years later. Blow is one such article:

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Floods accusations were many here is a quick run down:

1. Flood suggested that the crew of the mary celeste, under the influence of alcohol (remember above it is stated between 6-9 barrels were empty), murdered the Captain along with his wife, child and apparently the first mate Richardson. This theory in all fairness has been proposed by several people since then once by William A. Richard, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States in a letter published in the new york times in 1873, Flood however was forced to abandon this accusation as the alcohol on board the ship was in its purest form and if drunk it was likly that the drinkers would have suffered terrible and acute pains.

2. Another Accusation of his was that Briggs and Morehouse were in fact conspires, he stated that Briggs killed his crew and disposed of the bodies, later taking the missing lifeboat and later meeting up with Captain Morehouse - who apparently would have by that point found the abandoned mary celeste and thus claiming the salvage. Flood suggested that they both met later and split the salvage money 50-50. This theory , however plausible i suppose, has no sustenance imo anyway, there is no evidence available to support that Briggs or Morehouse were villains. Moreover, Briggs was part-owner of Mary Celeste and his cut of the salvage money would not have been more than his investment in the vessel. Flood surprisingly enough abandoned this idea too.

3. Another theory of Floods (and one it is noted that is shared by a few others) is that the captain and crew of the Dei Gratia boarded and murdered all on board of the mary celeste. Fortunately, the Vice- Admiralty Court denounced such a flagrant abuse of the law and cleared Morehouse and his crew of any suspicion. They granted them a salvage reward of £1700. In the opinion of many people the award should have been twice or three times as much.

More snipped from linked wiki source on the investigation conclusion:

There was no evidence of piracy or foul play, nor of mutiny, struggle or violence. Eventually, the salvagers received payment, amounting to one-sixth of the $46,000 ($688,000 in current money) insurance covering the ship and its cargo, The commercial alcohol aboard the Mary Celeste, being heavily insured, was sailed to Genoa by George W. Blatchford, as originally intended; as previously stated nine barrels were found to be empty on being unloaded.

So according to the official story even they couldn't decide what had happened.

The results of the commission of inquiry encouraged the authorities in Washington, D.C. to send instructions to all consuls and officers in their ports to report anybody matching the description of Briggs or other crew members of the Mary Celeste, or any group that could have landed sailors belonging to the Mary Celeste. Also, word was sent to look for any of the items missing from the Mary Celeste, such as the two pumps or her navigation equipment. No information was reported. Locals at ports in the Azores were questioned, but none was able to provide assistance.

Other theories surrounding the Mary Celeste

A giant Squid or sea monster ate the crew

Sea Mariners are by nature a very superstitious lot and have many tales of the deep that would scare the most hardened person, one such tale involves the Mary celeste's crew being devoured by a giant squid - or Kraken as it was known to the Norsemen. Unfortunately as believable as the story may have been to the sea-men of the day this theory at least in my opinion is not very plausible why? well think about it why would a kraken snatch the missing papers, the chronometer, sextant, the register, bill of lading and other documents from the cabin of the Captain, and why would a sea monster want parts of the ship and then empty out 9 barrels of pure wine. Also it doesn't explain why the wheel wasn't secured with rope as it would have normally been in cases of having to abandon ships, or the compass being broken.

Pirates raided the ship and killed the crew throwing them overboard

A highly plausible theory in what happened, Ottoman pirates were well known to sail around those waters, and part of what they done was to kill everyone on board and throw them over. However, the boat showed no signs of violence or a struggle, and only navigational equipment were missing, this makes it unlikely that a pirate crew raided the ship, killed everyone and then proceeded to leave all the cargo and personal belongings behind. As a side note there were no reports at that time of pirates operating in that area and the naval might of Britain in Gibraltar and the surrounding waters would dissuade any but the most desperate of pirate crews to try their luck.

An explosion of some sort made the crew abandon ship

This theory is believed by many people who have previously investigated the ship, the theories go that somehow some of the barrels stored in the hold were broached, this caused a build up of fumes, these were alighted by flames in the galley thus blowing the hatch covers off. In fear of another explosion the captain ordered an evacuation of the ship, meeting rough weather on the lifeboat, the boat either sank or the passengers died of thirst and exposure afterward, while adrift. The theory has been discredited by some due to the lack of evidence of soot or burn marks within the ship, However taking into account that alcohol is clean burning it would leave no soot, also alcohol is fast burning which means the fumes in the hold could have flash burned without leaving marks on any of the wood.

Sea Quakes

This theory originated with a sailor by the name of Captain David Williams. Over his times on the sea's he had encountered this phenomena a few times, and states that the area's surrounding the canary islands and the Azores are particularly prone to these. His theory suggests that the empty 9 barrels in the cargo area were jarred open during a sea quake, which consequently leaked into the 'bilge', also during the quakes he states that it was possible that the moorings became loosened on the cooker and this released the hot embers. Panicked the captained ordered the crew to evacuate to the safety of the lifeboat (a rope being attached between the lifeboat and the ship to keep it secured), this rope ended up breaking and the lifeboat was set adrift, making them unable to go back aboard the mary celest when they realized there was no danger. The crew consequently dying at sea from starvation and thirst, However neither the logs on board or Briggs personal notes showed no indication of their being any quakes in the sea, there was also no reports made of seismic activities by the crew of the Dei Gratia nor the islands that surrounded the area. Also worth noting is that there is no mention of spilled alcohol by the crew of the Dei Gradia, nor did they claim to smell any, also worth noting is that the barrels were not discovered empty until the ship docked at her final destination in Genoa.

A water spout claimed the crew

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This theory comes from Dr. James H. Kimble, once the head of the United States Weather Bureau in New York (amongst a few others), he states that this theory is very much a possibility, as waterspouts (basically a tornado in the water) are a column of whirling wind and water that can appear without warning, last for up to an hour, and then break up as quickly as it appeared. Typically waterspouts are better known to appear in the tropics however it has been known to occur elsewhere, one example being December 1920 a steamer called the brittish marquis reported as many as 20 water spouts in the english channel, Also there have been many more recent cases that can be googled of these happening outside the tropics. The belief is that in the case of the Mary Celeste all it would take is a small harmless spout to appear (remember they are pretty narrow and travel angular) could have come upon the ship, this wouldnt cause alot fo damage to the ship itself, but it would have caused the hatch covers to be blown off, this being due to the differences in pressures as the spout passed over the ship. It appears at first glance anyways that it would be consistent with the state that the ship was found in by the Dei Gradia crew. In a way to test how the may Celeste sounded etc after such an event the crew would have dropped a rod down into the pump well to measure how much water was in the hold, (like checking a motor for oil). The drop in barometric pressure could have driven the bilge water up the pump-well, where a valve would have prevented it from returning immediately to the hold. Although this would have been merely a temporary malfunction, the crew may not have realized it.

The theory goes on to suggest that in their confusion after the spout passes, and after 'sounding' the vessel for underwater damage, they were under the assumption that the ship had taken on around 6-8 feet of water in less than a minute, this led them to believe that the mary celeste was sinking very fast, and thus the orders were given to abandon ship. This particular theory is made plausible by the unusual facts known to the case and one of the most baffling aspects of it....why they all abandoned ship in a hurry taking with them navigational equipment and the ships papers.

On a side note to this: In 1873 on may 16th it is reported that supposedly 2 rafts were found by fisherman near madrid, spain. 1 raft had the remains of a corpse tied to it and was flying the American flag, The 2nd boat baring the corpses of 5 others. However this was not investigated any further.

The Theory of the Ergot Poisoning

Maybe one particular theory not known to many, for those that dont know ergot is a fungus that causes similar effects to '___', it grows on wheat. When ingested Ergot can cause hallucinations, madness and even death, Its thought that the passengers/crew were poisoned by the bread that they ate, succumbing to hallucination etc. However this is deemed very unlikely when you remember that the crew of the ship Dei Gradia, sailing the stricken vessel back to harbor lived off the provisions of the ship, un affected.

The Time warp/Bermuda Triangle Theory

This one has been put forward by a few people but has been largely discredited by most, why? The mary celeste was never in the Triangle. Its course was north of the Triangle and it was found drifting by the Dei Gratia between the Azores and Portugal.
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although worth noting that there are 12 such triangles dotted around the globe.
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Personally i find this theory improbable.

The Theory Of A UFO Abduction

Hmm as they say but one that has to be included. I found this theory on several sites, one being HERE. this appears to be a question and answer thing by a so-called medium Ron Hubbard. here is an extract from the site, to read the rest please click the link:

Interlocutor: . With regard to the famous ship Mary Celeste which story is known by all, what did it happen to its crew that disappeared mysteriously?

Ron Hubbard: There is no doubt that it was an extraterrestrial abduction.

Interlocutor: And the reason? Was it maybe to experiment with them as if they were “guinea pigs”?

Ron Hubbard: No, not to experiment with them. Directly there was an uninhabited planet and people were necessary to work the land and the aliens have taken them as...

Interlocutor: Slaves?

Ron Hubbard: Let us call that way, but they have been treated very well.

Interlocutor: Concretely, then, they didn’t go voluntarily.

Ron Hubbard: No, but they agreed.

To be honest i find this to be highly unlikely to say the least but hey its not ATS or a theory if it doesn't include a bit of UFO stuff

The Conclusion? or is it?

These are just some of the more well publicized theories i have found surrounding this mystery, im sure there are many more out there i havnt listed. After all the looking around and reading its still hard to say exactly what happened, although a few seem to be highly probable imo anyways. Going by all the available information thus far andd the logs from Captain Briggs 2 things can be certain and stated as a fact:

1. For a reason only known to them, Briggs steered the ship at least 60 miles off course, ensuring that it skimmed the northern coastal island of Santa Maria in the Azores.

2. Something happened just after 8am on the 25th November and it took place in sight of the Santa Maria coastline, this in accordance to the ships logs.

Some interesting Pictures

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Sources & other Links

History speaks

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

The Mary Celeste

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

The Mystery of the mary celeste 2

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Mary Celeste