Mystery of the Mary Celeste

When the Mary Celeste sailed from New York in late 1872, there was no indication that it would go down as one of the most mysterious ships of all time. It was carrying a cargo of oil and barrels of raw alcohol to Genoa, Italy. Its skipper, Captain Benjamin Briggs, who was also a part-owner of the ship was a veteran of the seas.

For this trip Captain Briggs had with him his wife, two-year old daughter, a mate, second mate and cook and four seamen on board with him. They started on the voyage on November 7. But little did anybody know that this was the last time anybody was to see the Captain and all the people going with him. For twenty-eight days later, on December 5, the Mary Celeste was found floating helplessly about 600 miles west of Gibraltar. There was nobody on the ship.

It was Captain Morehouse of the brig Dei Gratia who found the Mary Celeste. Morehouse knew Captain Briggs very well in New York. In fact he had dined with the Briggs just before the Mary Celeste set sail for Italy. So when Captain Morehouse saw that there was apparently no sign of life on the Mary Celeste, he sent his mate to investigate.

What Had Gone Wrong?

The mate found nobody on the ship. Its only boat was also missing. Apart from that he saw nothing much wrong on the Mary Celeste.

There was no sign of fire or any other calamity. There was plenty of food and water. There was some water in the bilge but the ship was not sinking as there was no hole in it. The ship’s log was in the mate’s cabin but there was no entry of any unusual happening in it. In fact there was no clue as to why the ship had been abandoned and in so much haste. The seamen had not bothered to take their pipes, tobacco and oilskins which were left behind. But strangely enough the captain did have time to take his papers and instruments with him as they were not found anywhere on the ship.

Captain Morehouse had the Mary Celeste taken to Gibraltar. He handed over the ship to the authorities and claimed the salvage money.

Rumors, Theories and Clues

At first everyone expected the survivors to turn up. But they did not. Nor was any trace of their boat found. It was then that wild rumors and theories explaining the disappearance of the people on the Mary Celeste started making rounds.

Maybe the captain of the Mary Celeste had gone mad and killed everybody and then then killed himself. Some pirates had captured the ship and done away with everyone on board. More bizarre still, an octopus had attacked the ship and devoured everyone as well as the ship’s papers and instruments. Then there was Captain Morehouse. Couldn’t he possibly have done all this to claim salvage money? All these conjectures proved groundless by the court of inquiry that was held to look into the affair.

Then there were some “clues”. Why was an antique sword on the ship cleaned recently? Why was the clock on the ship hanging upside down? There was some stain on the deck of the Mary Celeste. Was it blood of the victims?

The “clues” also fell flat on further investigation. The sword was an antique piece and the mate of the Dei Gratia had tried to clean it to pass his time. He had also tried to re-start the ship’s clock. When he could not, he hanged it up not caring whether he had done that upside down. And the doctor found that the stains on the deck were not blood.

So what had actually happened? Where did all the people go? What caused their sudden disappearance? Nobody knows.