Mary Celeste

An 1861 painting of the Amazon (later renamed Mary Celeste) by an unknown artist (perhaps Honoré Pellegrin)
History
British North America
Name	Amazon
Owner	Joshua Dewis, William Henry Bigalow and six other local investors
Port of registry	Parrsboro, Nova Scotia
Builder	Joshua Dewis
Launched	May 1861
Identification	Code Letters JFWN
Fate	Ran aground Glace Bay, NS 1867, salvaged and sold to American owners
Notes	official number 37671
History
United States
Owner	James H. Winchester (First American Owner); G.C. Parker (last owner)
Port of registry	New York
Builder	Rebuilt New York, 1872
Fate	Found abandoned near Azores 1872; Intentionally sunk Haiti 1885.
General characteristics
Tonnage	198 Gross Tons as built 1861 282 Gross Tons after rebuild 1872
Length	99.3 ft as built, 107 ft after rebuild
Beam	22.5 ft as built, 26.6 after rebuild
Depth	11.7 ft as built, 16.2 ft after rebuild
Decks	1, as built, 2 after rebuild
Sail plan	Brigantine

The Mary Celeste (sometimes incorrectly spelled Marie Celeste) was a brigantine merchant ship famously discovered in early December 1872 in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned, in spite of the fact that the weather was fine and all crew had been experienced and able seamen. The Mary Celeste herself was in perfect condition and still under full sail heading towards the Straits of Gibraltar. The ship had only been at sea for a month and had over six months 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 was never heard from or seen again and what happened to them is often cited as the greatest maritime mystery of all time. The fate of the crew is the subject of much speculation. Theories range from alcoholic fumes to underwater earthquakes and waterspouts, along with a large number of fictional accounts such as aliens, sea monsters and the Bermuda Triangle. The Mary Celeste is often described as the archetypal ghost ship in the sense that it was discovered derelict without any reasonable explanation according to the evidence.

Origins

The Mary Celeste was a 282-ton brigantine. She was built by Joshua Dewis in 1861 as the Amazon at the village of Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was the first of many large vessels built in this small community. Amazon was owned by a group of eight investors from Cumberland County and Kings County, Nova Scotia led by the builder Joshua Dewis and William Henry Bigalow, a local merchant. She was registered at the near-by town of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, the closest local port of registry.

Her first captain, Robert McLellan, son of one of the owners contracted pneumonia nine days after taking command and died at the very beginning of her maiden voyage, the first of three captains to die aboard. John Nutting Parker, the next captain of the Amazon, struck a fishing boat and had to return to the shipyard for repairs. At the shipyard a fire broke out in the middle of the ship. Because of this incident, Captain Parker lost command of the Amazon. The first trans-Atlantic crossing was also disastrous for her new captain, after it collided with another vessel in the English Channel near Dover. The incident resulted in the dismissal of the new captain.

The ship was thought by some to have had bad luck due to these misadventures, but after this rough beginning, the brigantine had several profitable and uneventful years under her Nova Scotian owners, captained by Flinders Croston, during which time she travelled far further afield to the West Indies, Central America and South America, and began to transport a wide variety of goods. They lost her, however, in 1867, after she was driven ashore in a storm in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. She was salvaged and subsequently sold to a new owner in the United States, James H. Winchester of New York City, for $11,000 ($229,000 in current money). He made substantial changes and renamed her Mary Celeste in 1869. Winchester's intention was to take her beyond the Americas across the Atlantic and make a profit trading with the Adriatic ports.

The vessel was divided into 24 shares. The reputable Benjamin Spooner Briggs of Marion, Massachusets, an experienced and hardy seaman, bought eight of these shares in the ship along with Winchester and sailed her as her captain. Briggs wanted to name the vessel Mary Sellars, but lost out on the choice of name to Winchester who had more shares in the ship.

Benjamin Briggs's letter

Whilst waiting for a cargo of raw alcohol to be delivered to the Mary Celeste in New York City along with his wife and two-year-old daughter Sophia, who were to accompany Briggs on his next voyage, Captain Benjamin Briggs wrote a letter to his mother back home in Marion, Massachusetts, who was caring for Briggs's seven-year-old son Arthur. The letter is dated November 3, 1872, and reveals his optimism for the trip ahead:

New York, Nov. 3d, 1872

My Dear Mother:

Its 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 took with them and went 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 of 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

On November 5, 1872, under the command of Captain Benjamin Briggs, the ship docked on New York City's East River and picked up a cargo of 1,701 barrels of commercial alcohol intended for fortifying Italian wines on behalf of Meissner Ackermann & Co. worth around $35,000 (an extemely large amount of money for the time, $728,000 in current money) and heavily insured it in Europe. The Mary Celeste set sail from Staten Island, New York to Genoa, Italy.

In addition to the captain and a crew of seven, she carried two passengers, the captain's wife Sarah, who had sailed with her husband numerous times, and also their two-year-old daughter, Sophia Matilda, making ten people in total onboard the vessel. Benjamin Briggs had spent most of his life at sea, and had captained at least five ships before and owned many more. Although the crew of this particular voyage included a Danish man and four Germans, they all spoke fluent English, had exemplary records and were considered experienced, trustworthy and able seamen. The first mate and cook were also Americans. Although the Mary Celeste was seen again, her crew and passengers for this voyage were never seen again.

Before the Mary Celeste left New York, Benjamin Briggs spoke with an old acquaintance and friend, David Reed Morehouse, who was captain of the British merchant ship, Dei Gratia, also a brigantine. Briggs and Morehouse, and their wives, had dinner together on the evening of 4 November. Briggs and Morehouse had served together as sailors on another ship when they were younger men. During the conversation the two captains discovered they had a similar course across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean.

However Morehouse was still waiting on his cargo to arrive when the Mary Celeste left port on November 5. Morehouse's cargo eventually arrived and on November 15, and the Dei Gratia finally set off with 1,735 barrels of petroleum in her hold. The Dei Gratia left New York harbor seven days after the Mary Celeste, in some sources eight days later.

Discovery of the Mary Celeste

An engraving of the Mary Celeste as she was found abandoned.

Sporadic bad weather had been reported in the Atlantic throughout October, although the Dei Gratia encountered none and her journey across the ocean in November was uneventful. Just short of a month later after leaving port, on December 4, 1872 (some reports give December 5, due to a lack of standard time zones in the 19th century), at approximately 13:00, the helmsman of the Dei Gratia, John Johnson, sighted a ship about five miles off their port bow through his spyglass. The position of the Dei Gratia was approximately 38°20′N 17°15′W, some 600 miles west of Portugal. Johnson's keen, experienced eyes detected almost at once that there was something strangely wrong with the other vessel. She was yawing slightly, and her sails did not look right, being slightly torn. Johnson alerted the second officer of the vessel, John Wright, who had a look and had the same feelings about it, and then they informed the captain. As they moved closer to the other ship, they saw that it was the Mary Celeste. Captain David Morehouse was confused as to why the Mary Celeste was not already in Italy by that point, as she had a seven day head start on his own ship. According to the account given by the crew of the Dei Gratia, they got up to 400 yards from the Mary Celeste and cautiously observed her for two hours, having been under full sail, yet sailing erratically on a starboard tack, and slowly heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar. They concluded that she was drifting after seeing nobody at the wheel or even on deck, though she was flying no distress signals.

Oliver Deveau, the chief mate of the Dei Gratia, a powerfully-built man who boasted he was afraid of nothing, led a party in a small boat to board the Mary Celeste along with Charles Augustus Anderson and Charles Lund. They returned sometime later visibly stirred and unnerved. According to his report, Deveau did not find a soul on board, and reported that "the whole ship was a thoroughly wet mess". There was only one operational pump, two apparently having being disassembled, with a lot of water between decks and three and a half feet (1.1 m) of water in the hold. The ship however was not sinking, and in some conditions this amount of water on board was even normal and the vessel was still very seaworthy. As an experienced seaman, Captain Benjamin Briggs would have known this. As for the Mary Celeste herself, apart from the water on board, some minor tearing in the sails and rigging which was in a mess, all of which were easily fixable, the vessel was in superb condition and seaworthy.

All of the ship's papers, except the captain's logbook, were missing. The forehatch and the lazarette were both open, although the main hatch was sealed. The clock was not functioning and the compass was destroyed, perhaps having fallen over, and the sextant and marine chronometer were missing. The only lifeboat of the Mary Celeste, a yawl, which had been located above the main hatch, was also missing. It appeared to have been intentionally launched rather than torn away, as wooden beams had been removed to release the yawl, suggesting the ship had been deliberately abandoned. Strangely for an abandoned ship however, was the fact that protective rainwear for bad weather was left aboard the Mary Celeste and had not been taken on the lifeboat. Also strangely for an abandoned ship was the fact there had been no attempt to weigh the anchor, roll up the canvas, or tie up the steering wheel, which was rotating freely as wind and tide moved the rudder randomly. 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, washing hung out to dry, a cat found asleep on top of the gallery locker and a bowl of a warm half-eaten apple pie are dubious and most likely originated with fictionalized accounts of the incident, such that by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The cargo of 1,701 barrels of alcohol was intact, although when it was eventually unloaded in Genoa, nine barrels were found to be empty. However there was no evidence of a leak, such as the smell of alcohol. The boarding party smelt no alcoholic vapors.

A six-month supply of uncontaminated food and clean, fresh water was still aboard, and very little of it, if any, had apparently been taken away on the lifeboat. Everything else on the ship inventory was accounted for. The crew's personal possessions, and numerous expensive and valuable artifacts, were left completely untouched, making a piracy raid seem extremely unlikely. It appeared the vessel had been abandoned in a hurry; there was no sign of a struggle, or any sort of violence.

Deveau entered the cabin of the first mate of the Mary Celeste, Albert Richardson, and found some unfinished writings, apparently some sort of calculation, which gave the impression that Richardson had been called away abruptly. He then entered Captain Briggs's cabin to find his effects "thrown hither and thither", Briggs's cap and boots, and a trunk containing a woman's dress. On the table, Deveau discovered a small portable piano with sheet music left on top of it, a portable sewing machine with an apron or a child's sleepwear half sewn, a small bottle of oil and a spool of white thread, and an open bottle of child's cough medicine. In addition, at the bottom of the trunk investigators discovered two silver medallions, several rings, a watch, and a purse containing two pieces of $10 (a lot of money at the time) and on the floor, a broken range, bearing beads.

Deveau went over Briggs's log, to find no mention of any bad weather or any unforeseen events in the apparently uneventful journey of the Mary Celeste. The last log entry of the Mary Celeste was dated November 24 and placed her 100 miles (160 km) west of the Portugese islands, the Azores. The ship's slate, used to record navigation elements, had also been filled in during the voyage of the Mary Celeste, and the last entry on the ship's slate had been written a day after the last entry in the log. The slate showed her as having reached the island of Santa Maria in the Azores at 5am on November 25, a week and a half before the Dei Gratia found her. This does not necessarily mean that the ship was abandoned at that date, because it is rare that captains would record information every day. For example, in her entire eighteen days at sea, only several entries by Briggs appeared in the log of the Mary Celeste before November 25.

In summary, the ship was in good condition and seaworthy, yet the crew had apparently abandoned her very quickly and abruptly, perhaps in panic, although there was no evidence to suggest why this was so. Expensive personal possessions and the ship cargo were left in place and were completely untouched. There was no sign of a piracy raid, a mutiny, or any kind of violence or struggle aboard, nor was severe weather reported or seen in the area. None of the Mary Celeste's crew or passengers were found, nor was the lifeboat, and it is unlikely that the events leading to their disappearance will ever be known with certainty.

The Admiralty Inquiry

Report on the Mary Celeste Inquiry in The New York Times, February 1873

The Dei Gratia was a British vessel. Cpt. David Morehouse sailed the Dei Gratia to British-controlled Gibraltar, whilst his first mate Oliver Deveau sailed the Mary Celeste to the same location, landing there a week and a half later. The investigation held in the Vice Admiralty Court in Gibraltar was to determine the circumstances of the Mary Celeste and apportion marine salvage rights.

During a 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. Some sources even claim that Solly-Flood suspected the crew of the Dei Gratia of foul play and wanted to establish some culpability on their part.

The Mary Celeste was visited by John Austin, surveyor of shipping in Gibraltar, assisted by an English inspector, John McCabe. A local diver and marine expert named Ricardo Portunato was also 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 Brigg's 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:

Affidavit of Ricardo Portunato, Diver
In the Vice-Admiralty Court of Gibraltar. In the Vice Admiralty Court of Gibraltar. The Queen in Her Office of Admiralty Ag't. 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. - 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. 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.

Horatio J. Sprague, Consul of the United States in British Gibraltar, also wanted an investigation due to the fact American citizens were involved in the Mary Celeste incident, and Americans had possibly been murdered. He asked immediately to visit the ship by his personal representative, Captain Shufeldt of the American frigate Plymouth. His brief visit aboard the Mary Celeste lead 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 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.

There was no evidence of piracy or foul play, or mutiny or struggle or violence. Eventually, the salvagers received a payment, but only one-sixth of the $46,000 ($957,000 in current money) for which the ship and its cargo had been insured, suggesting that the authorities were not entirely convinced of the Dei Gratia crew's innocence. This was not enough to ensure a comfortable retirement for any of the crew of the Dei Gratia. The commercial alcohol aboard the Mary Celeste, being heavily insured, was sailed to Genoa by George W. Blatchford, as originally intended, although as previously stated nine barrels were found to be empty upon being unloaded.

The results of this 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 of the Mary Celeste, or any group that could have landed sailors belonging to the Mary Celeste. Also, word was sent out to look for any of the few things missing from the Mary Celeste, such as the two pumps or her navigation equipment. No information was reported back. Locals at ports in the Azores were questioned but were unable to provide assistance.

Later history of the ship and wreck

James Winchester considered selling the Mary Celeste after the terrible and mysterious events she was now known for. His mind was made up when the vessel claimed the life of his father, Henry Winchester-Vinters, who drowned in an accident in Boston, Massachusetts when the ship was brought back to America. James Winchester sold the Mary Celeste at an enormous loss. Over the next 13 years the vessel changed hands 17 times. The misfortunes seem to have hit a new low and the Mary Celeste was in very poor condition.

Her final captain and owner, a man identified as GC Parker, made no profit whatsoever and the Mary Celeste was deliberately wrecked in an insurance fraud in the Caribbean Sea on January 3, 1885. She was loaded with an over-insured cargo of scrap, including boots and cat food. The plan did not work, as the ship refused to sink after having been run up on the Rochelais Reef just off the western coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and south of Gonâve Island,, after which he tried to burn the scuttled wreck — but even after the fire the vessel remained intact, although the ship's log was burnt along with Benjamin Briggs's prior writings in it.

GC Parker then filed an exorbitant insurance claim for an exotic cargo that never existed and a subsequent insurance investigation revealed the fraud. GC Parker was thrown into prison but died in unknown circumstances before his trial. The smashed, partially burnt husk of the Mary Celeste was deemed beyond repair and left over time to slowly fall off the shoal and sink into the waves.

On August 9, 2001, an expedition headed by author Clive Cussler (representing the National Underwater and Marine Agency) and Canadian film producer John Davis along with divers from the Nova Scotian company EcoNova announced that they had found the remains of the brigantine where GC Parker had wrecked her. Maritime archaeologist James P. Delgado identified the wreck as Mary Celeste based on a survey of the large bay and by analyzing vessel fastenings, ballast, timber, and evidence of the fire that burned the stranded hulk. This evidence matched the wreck with historical accounts of Mary Celeste. It is alleged that the 120 inhabitants of the reef, who now live on the reef after building an island of conch shells use the old Mary Celeste groove as a channel to launch their boats.

Other researchers have, however, disputed this claim. The Caribbean is littered with thousands of wrecks, many of them similar to the Mary Celeste. Scott St. George of the Geological Survey of Canada and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona analyzed samples from wood fragments recovered from the site in an effort to reconstruct sufficient tree ring data for dating. Based on this, St. George felt that the wood was cut from trees still living at least a decade after the ship sank.

Speculation and theories

Over the past century and a half, hundreds of theories have been proposed to explain the mystery. These include:

Piracy

The first theory proposed during the admiralty court proceedings, and perhaps the most obvious explanation at least if taken at face value, was that the Mary Celeste was the victim of an act of piracy and the crew was murdered in pursuit of valuable plunder. North African pirates had been known to historically operate in the area.

However when in full possession of the facts, this scenario seems extremely unlikely. The golden age of piracy had long since come to a close some two centuries earlier, and the authorities had since done away with almost all pirates. There had been no reports of piracy in the waters around the Azores or the Straits of Gibraltar for decades, if not longer, and the British navy stationed at Gibraltar, the most powerful naval force in the world at the time, had seen to that. No other piracy attacks occured or were reported in the area at the time.

Moreover, there were no signs of struggle or violence aboard the Mary Celeste, and only some common navigation equipment was missing.

It seems extremely unlikely that pirates go to the trouble of taking on eight fully able-bodied young men to the death, even killing a woman and toddler in pursuit of plunder, only to not take anything after doing so.

The crew of the Dei Gratia as suspects

Some writers suggest that the crew of the Dei Gratia murdered those on board and then fabricated the story of the ghost ship with the aim of securing the salvage rights. However, there are numerous problems with this theory, such as the fact that there was no sign of struggle and nothing of value had been taken. When the Dei Gratia presented the Mary Celeste to the British authorities in Gibraltar, the ship was intact and her manifests and inventories full and accounted for.

The captain of the Dei Gratia, David Morehouse, was an old friend of Captain Briggs, which makes the scenario of him murdering Briggs, his wife and their two-year-old daughter all the more unlikely.

The Mary Celeste set sail several days before the Dei Gratia and the Dei Gratia would not have been able to catch up the Mary Celeste unless the event had already taken place before the Dei Gratia's arrival on the scene.

The Court Inquiry praised the crew of the Dei Gracia for their courage and seamanship in effecting the salvage.

An insurance scam

Insurance fraud has been cited as a possible explanation, although extremely unlikely given the characters involved and a scenario not entirely fitting the facts. The theory postulates that Briggs and Morehouse were in collusion to reach the level of "rescue"

, and that after November 25, Captain Briggs assumed a new identity. Problems with the conjecture include the fact that the insurance premium to be paid would not suffice to ensure a comfortable retirement for anyone. Furthermore, the ship belonged to a third party, James Winchester, who could not expect to be paid insurance if he had supposedly died. Thus, a staged incident would have required much effort and risk for a very modest profit.

Storm

This theory asserts that the Mary Celeste entered a storm, water began to flood the ship, and the crew left in the lifeboat, thinking the Mary Celeste lost. When she was discovered two of her three water pumps had been mysteriously disassembled, which may have contributed to this fact. The Mary Celeste was sailing with a much larger quantity of water onboard than normal, but it was unlikely enough water to make Briggs order the evacuation, although it has been argued that the presence of his wife and daughter would have made the master cautious and encouraged to accomplish something that he would never do under normal circumstances. He ordered the crew to leave on the lifeboat seeing that the Mary Celeste was taking on water, and got displaced from their mother ship, becoming lost at sea and perishing in the lifeboat.

Whilst this scenario does seem logical, it still does not fit the facts. The Mary Celeste was taking on a lot of water but at the same time was not taking on enough water to sink, and the Mary Celeste was still seaworthy. Briggs as a life-long sailor would have been well aware of this fact, and given his level of experience at sea it is unlikely he would have been unnerved by it.

Also, no storms were reported in the area at the time, only mildly choppy weather. The waters were calm where the Mary Celeste was discovered. A storm did hit later though, when the Dei Gratia was sailing onto Gibraltar, and there is always the possibility that Briggs was hit by freak weather conditions, albeit unlikely.

Earthquake

A further theory offered by Captain David Williams, who had encountered earthquakes at sea before, is that a seaquake erupted below the ship and jarred open nine barrels of alcohol (~450 gallons), which leaked into the bilge. The earthquake also dislodged the flue for the hot stove on deck and caused embers from the fire to drift into the rigging. Smelling the alcohol in full view of the burning embers caused the crew to panic and abandon the ship. The ship sailed on without the crew. The crew then decided to try to catch the ship and sail off after her in the small sailing dingy, but they never caught up with the Mary Celeste and died at sea. Seismic activity is indeed common in the area, and this theory has been quoted numerous times since.

However, the log made no mention of underwater rumblings, nor did the crew of the Dei Gratia feel any tremors or aftershocks, nor did any other vessel in the area, and most importantly nor did the locals in the nearby Portuguese islands of the Azores feel any rumblings. This theory is also discredited by the fact that no alcoholic vapours were smelt by the salvagers or investigators, and that there was no evidence of alcohol spillage in the hold.

Futhermore, were an earthquack to strike underwater, there would be absolutly no way to feel it on the surface of the water. An earthquace is where the ground shakes, but the motion would NOT transfer through the water, as it is a fluid substance.

Tsunami

Another common theory was that a tidal wave had been caused by an earthquake or perhaps a landslide in the Canary Islands or the Azores. The crew were washed overboard, or a giant oncoming wave scared them into evacuation. This would have explained why the Mary Celeste had taken on so much water. However, again a tsunami, earthquake or landslide was not reported at the time either on land or at sea. Plus, a tsunami are more or less unnoticeable in deep water; they only become dangerous as they approach the shoreline and do not present a threat to shipping (the only ships lost in the 2004 Asian tsunami were in port).

A rogue wave would have caused much more damage, if not sinking the ship outright.

Waterspout

An alternate scenario has the ship encountering a waterspout, a tornado-like storm with a funnel cloud that occurs at sea. In such a case, it is suggested, the water surrounding the ship may, in being sucked upwards, have given the impression that the Mary Celeste was sinking. It would explain why the Mary Celeste was soaking wet when discovered by the crew of the Dei Gratia, and a mass panic among the crew during such an occasion would probably explain the scratched railing and the broken compass, as well as the missing lifeboat. Although unlikely, this theory is still one of the most logical theories put forward.

The risk of explosion

Of the theories consistent with the account given by the crew of the Dei Gratia, the most plausible are based on the barrels of alcohol. The theory, and various versions of it, revolve around the fact that Briggs had never hauled such a dangerous cargo before, was wary of it and did not trust it. The theory was first put forth by the ship's owner, James Winchester, and is perhaps the most widely accepted explanation for the disappearance. There are numerous versions of this theory also, and also, of course, reasons to discredit it.

Indeed nine of the 1,701 barrels in the hold were later discovered to be empty, and the empty nine had been recorded as being made of red oak, not white oak like the others. Red oak is known to be a more porous wood and therefore more likely to leak. Nine leaking barrels would have caused a buildup of vapor in the hold. In addition, poorly-secured barrels could rub against each other and the friction between the barrels' steel bands could throw sparks. The possibility of explosion, however remote, would have been enough to panic the crew.

Historian Conrad Byers believed that Captain Briggs ordered the hold to be opened, resulting in a violent rush of fumes and then steam. Believing the ship was about to explode, Briggs ordered everyone into the lifeboat, failing, in his haste, to properly secure it to the ship with a strong towline. The wind picked up and blew the ship away from them. The occupants of the lifeboat either drowned or drifted out to sea to die of hunger, thirst and exposure.

A refinement of this theory was proposed in 2005 by German historian Eigel Wiese. At his suggestion, scientists at University College London created a crude reconstruction of the ship's hold to test the theory of the alcohol vapor's ignition. Using butane as the fuel and paper cubes as the barrels, the hold was sealed and the vapor ignited. The force of the explosion blew the hold doors open and shook the scale model, which was about the size of a coffin. Ethanol burns at a relatively low temperature with a flash point of 13°C or 55.4°F. A minimal spark is needed, for example from two metal objects rubbing together. None of the paper cubes was damaged, nor even left with scorch marks. This theory may explain the remaining cargo being found intact and the fracture on the ship's rail, possibly by one of the hold doors. This burning in the hold would have been violent and perhaps enough to scare the crew into lowering the boat, but the flames would not have been hot enough to leave burn marks. A frayed rope trailing in the water behind the ship is suggested to be evidence that the crew remained attached to the ship hoping that the emergency would pass. The ship was abandoned while under full sail and a storm was recorded shortly after. It is possible that the rope to the lifeboat parted because of the force from the ship under full sail. A small boat in a storm would not have fared as well as the Mary Celeste. This is perhaps the simplest and most convincing explanation expounded in a recent investigation and television documentary that both featured and satisfied one of the descendants of the original Ship's Captain.

Brian Hicks and Stanley Spicer in recent books revived the theory that Captain Briggs opened the hold to ventilate it while becalmed. The release of noxious alcoholic fumes from the hold might have panicked the captain and crew into abandoning ship for the yawl tied to the halyard by an inadequate rope. If this broke with a weather change and consequent wind, then it could easily have explained the sudden and mysterious exit from the ship. Hicks claims that the cargo was a different material, methanol, which is toxic. The records do not support this.

This theory is discredited somewhat however by the fact that the boarding party found the main hatch secured, and upon going into the hold did not report smelling any fumes or vapour, which would have still smelt very powerful by that point if this theory were correct. Nor did people who came aboard in Gibraltar and Genoa smell any vapors. There was no evidence of alcohol been found outside the barrels in the hold. What happened to this missing alcohol from the nine empty barrels is just as much a mystery as what happened to the crew themselves, although it could have gone missing at any stage of the journey, from before even being put on the ship in New York to after the ship left Gibraltar. Hundreds of people could have been responsible for it.

Even if the barrels had leaked in the hold, there is no explanation as to how exactly the barrels were able to leak, except the fact they were a different kind of oak which could, in theory, leak. One logical explanation for this is expansion and contraction in the wood caused by heat differences as the ship traveled between colder then warmer climates.

Ergotamine

Yet another theory claims that ergotamine sometimes found in ergot fungus from possibly contaminated flour aboard the ship and had serious effects of ergotism on the crew. Ergotamine in large quantities can have similar hallucinogenic effects to LSD, and can also cause immense pain in instances of both convulsive symptoms and gangrenous symptoms, ultimately resulting in them perhaps losing their sanity and murder, or them throwing themselves overboard. Mania, delusions, psychosis and suicidal tendencies can be caused by eating such fungus. However, this theory seems very unlikely since high doses are usually needed and usually over some time. Most importantly, the flour aboard the Mary Celeste was not stated as being contaminated, in fact quite the opposite, it was said to be fine, and the sailors from the Dei Gratia were not affected after eating this same flour.

Mutiny

Another theory has suggested there was a mutiny among the crew who murdered a tyrannical Briggs and his family, then escaped in the lifeboat. However, this is strongly discredited by the fact Briggs had no "tyrannical" history to suggest he was the type of captain to provoke his crew to mutiny. By all accounts, he was well respected, fair and able. First Mate Albert Richardson and the rest of the crew also had excellent reputations and were experienced, loyal seamen.

Drunkenness amongst the crew

After the admiralty court proceeding, QC Solly-Flood proposed that the crew, after consuming the alcohol from the kegs that were recovered empty, murdered the Briggs family in a drunken stupor. The mutinous crew are then presumed to have deliberately damaged the vessel to give the illusion of having been forced to abandon it, then they would have left in lifeboats. However, the captain was a believer in abstinence and unlikely to tolerate drinking on board, or a crew inclined to drink alcohol on board.

Again, there was no trace of struggle or violence aboard the vessel, and the crew had good records.

Cultural impact

Main article: Mary Celeste in popular culture

The fictional depiction by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is credited as creating the Mary Celeste myth. In 1884, Conan Doyle published a story entitled "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", part of the book The Captain of the Polestar.

Doyle's story drew very heavily on the original incident, but included a considerable amount of fiction and called the ship the Marie Céleste. Much of this story's fictional content, and the incorrect name, have come to dominate popular accounts of the incident, and were even published as fact by several newspapers.

There is a possibility that Doyle made reference to the mystery in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories. In "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" (in The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes), Watson notes that Holmes's reference files mention one "Mathilda Briggs". Holmes explains that this name is the name of a ship involved in the case of "the Giant Rat of Sumatra", which the detective feels the world is not ready to know about. The name of Captain and Mrs. Briggs's infant daughter was "Sophia Matilda Briggs". This could be a reference. However, in the 1889 poisoning trial of Florence Maybrick in Liverpool, England, one of the witnesses against her was also named "Mathilda Briggs". Conan Doyle, an avid student of crime, might have been referring to the latter, not the former.

Abel Fosdyk published an account of the incident, now known as the Abel Fosdyk papers, in Strand Magazine, a monthly publication of works of fiction. Though Fosdyk claimed to be aboard the Mary Celeste at the time of the incident, his account does not match the known facts.

Timeline

• 1861 – Amazon built in Nova Scotia, Canada
• 1867 – Driven ashore in a storm in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
• 1869 – Salvaged, repaired, and sold to an American owner. Renamed Mary Celeste
• 1872 – Set sail from New York City to Genoa, Italy on November 7
• 1872 – Last entry in captain's logbook dated November 24
• 1872 – Last entry on ship's slate dated November 25
• 1872 – Ship found abandoned on December 4
• 1885 – Ship wrecked on reef captained by Parker on January 3
• 2001 – Remains of wreck re-discovered off coast of Haiti (disputed)

Ship's manifest

The crew and passengers of the vessel who inexpicably disappeared were listed in the ship's log as:

Crew

Name	Status	Nationality	Age
Benjamin S. Briggs	Captain	American	37
Albert C. Richardson	Mate	American	28
Andrew Gilling	2nd Mate	Danish	25
Edward W. Head	Steward & Cook	American	23
Volkert Lorenson	Seaman	German	29
Arian Martens	Seaman	German	35
Boy Lorenson	Seaman	German	23
Gottlieb Gondeschall	Seaman	German	23

Passengers

Name	Status	Age
Sarah Elizabeth Briggs	Captain's wife	31
Sophia Matilda Briggs	Captain's daughter	2

• 
  Captain Benjamin Briggs
• 
  Sarah Briggs
• 
  Sophia Briggs
• 
  First mate Albert Richardson

Further reading

• The Saga of the Mary Celeste: Ill-Fated Mystery Ship, Stanley T. Spicer - ISBN 088999546X
• The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved, Lawrence David Kusche - ISBN 0-87975-971-2
• Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and her Missing Crew, Brian Hicks - ISBN 0-345-46391-9
• The "Mary Celeste", John Maxwell - ISBN 87-15-01118-6

External links

• The Mary Celeste Pictures and Video
• http://www.deafwhale.com/maryceleste/ (home page of the Seaquake Theory)
• http://www.maryceleste.net
• http://www.occultopedia.com/m/mary_celeste.htm
• Project Gutenberg – The Captain of the Polestar by Arthur Conan Doyle
• BBC News story about the discovery of the wreck
• NUMA site with photos and video of the wreck
• J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement by Arthur Conan Doyle Learn about Conan Doyle's short story based on the Mary Celeste.
• "The Straight Dope" on the Mary Celeste'
• Film "The Phantom Ship" (1936) on the Internet Archive
• The True Story of the Mary Celeste, Smithsonian Networks