The Mary Celeste

The Smithsonian

One of nautical history's longest-running mysteries is the tale of the Mary Celeste. This phantom ship, which was discovered drifting in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872, has captured people's attention for more than a century. Its unsettling emptiness and the unresolved issues regarding its fate have sparked a variety of ideas and conjectures, making it an object of fascination and mystery.

Built in 1861, the Mary Celeste was a brigantine, a two-masted sailing ship. Under Captain Benjamin Briggs' command, the ship sailed from New York City on November 7, 1872, with Genoa, Italy, as its destination. Briggs was on board with his wife, their young daughter, and a crew of seven skilled sailors. Denatured alcohol, a highly flammable material used in industry, was on board the ship. Almost a month later, on December 5, 1872, the British brigantine Dei Gratia spotted the Mary Celeste adrift in the Atlantic Ocean. The Dei Gratia's crew was baffled by the scene. The Mary Celeste's sails were only partially raised, and neither a struggle nor damage to the ship were visible. It appeared completely seaworthy. However, nobody was onboard.

The crew of the Dei Gratia arrived at the Mary Celeste and found a puzzling scene. There was no indication of any immediate danger or reason for the crew to abandon ship, despite the fact that the ship's logbook showed that it had been at sea for more than a week. All of the crew and passengers' personal items were still in tact even though the lifeboat was missing. There was plenty of food and fresh water, and the ship's cargo was undisturbed. It appeared as though the people had disappeared.

After that, the Mary Celeste was towed to the straight of Gibraltar, where an official investigation was started. There were many theories offered to explain the puzzling events. Some people hypothesized that the crew panicked and abandoned the ship after the ship encountered a waterspout or a seaquake. Others suggested that the crew had to flee after being attacked by pirates or sea monsters. There were even rumors of a crew mutiny or illegal activity.

Inquiry

The official investigation, however, submitted no proof to back up these theories. The investigation found no evidence of crime and decided that the ship had been abandoned as a result of an unidentified, non-dangerous event. However, the specifics of what transpired on board the Mary Celeste remain a mystery that has never been fully explained. 

Chicago Public Library

The history of the Mary Celeste has been adorned and fictionalized over time in a number of accounts and works of literature.  It has come to represent the mysterious and the unexplainable; it is a vessel that will always be linked to the eerie and mysterious. Writers, historians, and enthusiasts continue to be fascinated by the story, speculating and offering their own interpretations of what happened during that fateful voyage. A testament to the size and vastness of the sea, the Mary Celeste is still an unresolved maritime mystery. Its tale serves as a reminder that there are still mysteries that defy explanation even in our modern age, leaving us to wonder about the secrets that lie beneath the waves and the untold stories of the ships and souls lost to the depths of the ocean.