Mysteries at Sea - The Mary Celeste

[newyorklily]

The Dei Gratia, a small British brig under Captain David Morehouse, spots the Mary Celeste, an American vessel, sailing erratically but at full sail near the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was seaworthy, its stores and supplies were untouched, but not a soul was onboard.

On November 7, the brigantine Mary Celeste sailed from New York harbor for Genoa, Italy, carrying Captain Benjamin S. Briggs, his wife and two-year-old daughter, a crew of eight, and a cargo of some 1,700 barrels of crude alcohol. After the Dei Gratia sighted the vessel on December 4, Captain Morehouse and his men boarded the ship to find it abandoned, with its sails slightly damaged, several feet of water in the hold, and the lifeboat and navigational instruments missing. However, the ship was in good order, the cargo intact, and reserves of food and water remained on board.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...imary-celestei

The Mary Celeste was found by Captain Morehouse on December 4, 1872, just 28 days after it set sail. What happened to the Mary Celeste and the people on board? We may never know.

[G2v[12]]

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...imary-celestei

The Mary Celeste was found by Captain Morehouse on December 4, 1872, just 28 days after it set sail. What happened to the Mary Celeste and the people on board? We may never know.

It is a good mystery to be sure. A researcher who spent decades investigating ghost ships concluded that the Celeste was badly shaken by a submerged and narrowly focused sea-quake, which commonly occurs on the seabed of the Azores. Several hundred gallons of alcohol had leaked from the Celeste's cargo during the time that a wood stove was being used to prepare food. Fearing an impending explosion, the crew evacuated the ship in such a hurray that they had failed to properly attach the tow line. When it was safe to return to the ship, she had sailed so far from the life boat that it was impossible to catch up. About six weeks after the Celeste was evacuated, five decomposed bodies were found on a raft off the coast of Spain, bearing an American flag. I think that the man who did this research really came up with a brilliant theory that does seem to solve the mystery. http://www.deafwhale.com/maryceleste/