Mary Celeste
The Mary Celeste was a ship found abandoned off the coast of Portugal in 1872. What happened remains unknown.The Mary Celeste was a 103-foot brigantine of 282 tons, under one Captain Briggs. Originally built as the Amazon, the ship seemingly had bad luck, and due to numerous negative occurrences, she changed hands several times. She was eventually renamed to Mary Celeste.
On November 7 of 1872, the Mary Celeste picked up a cargo in New York City and was bound for Genoa, Italy.
On December 4, 1872, the Mary Celeste was found abandoned, half way between Portugal and the Azores. The ship was discovered by the Dei Gratia, a ship that had left New York harbor only seven days after the Mary Celeste The ship seemed to be in good condition, but no one was aboard.
Significantly, the sextant and chronometer were missing, suggesting the ship had been deliberately abandoned. The only lifeboat appeared to have been intentionally launched, rather than torn away. Other accounts claim the lifeboat was still on the ship. The forehatch was found open.
The cargo of 1700 barrels of alcohol were intact. A six-month supply of food and water was aboard, and three and one-half feet of water was found in the hold. All of the ship's papers except the captains logbook were missing. The last log entry was dated November 24 and placed her 100 miles west of the Azores.
Captain Briggs, all officers, crew and passengers were never seen again. Old sailors sometimes claimed that they had been aboard the Mary Celeste. No credence is given to these stories.
The fate of the crew will doubtless never be solved, and rumors abound. As these are pure speculation, we refer the reader to the references for these. Some cite a connection with the Bermuda Triangle, though the ship was far from it.
Mary Celeste is the proper spelling of the ship's name though it may sometimes be found as the Marie Celeste. This spelling is from an Arthur Conan Doyle story entitled J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement, published in 1884. Doyle's story drew very heavily on the original incident, but included a considerable amount of fiction which has become mixed with fact in the public mind.
After being recovered in 1872, the ship was then used for 12 years by a variety of owners before being loaded up with rubber boots and cat food by her last captain who attempted to sink her to claim insurance money. The plan did not work as the ship refused to sink having been run up on the Rochelois Reef in Haiti. The remains of the ship were recently discovered there by an expedition headed by author Clive Cussler and Canadian film producer John Davis.