the mystery of the mary celeste

THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE! PAGE1

The Mary Celeste © 2009 Kieran McGovern | [email protected] | http://www.eslreading.org/

December 4th, 1872

The Dei Gratia is sailing from the Azores towards the Portuguese coast.

It’s a hot afternoon. The First Mate of the Dei Gracia is looking out to sea through his telescope. In the distance he sees something surprising. He calls to his captain.

‘Look over there, sir’ he tells Captain Morehouse. ‘Do you recognise that ship?’

Captain Morehouse looks through the telescope. For a moment he can’t believe his eyes. ‘The Mary Celeste?’ he says. ‘What’s it doing here?’

The Dei GratiaThe Mary Celeste left New

York a week before its sister ship, the Dei Gratia.

‘Where’s it heading?’ ‘Nowhere,’ says the first

mate. ‘I’ve been watching it for an hour. I can’t see anyone on board.The ship is just drifting on the tide.

More men came out onto the deck. They watch the Mary Celeste drift slowly in the wind.

‘ W h a t ’ s h a p p e n i n g , Captain?’

‘I don’t know,’ says Captain Morehouse ‘But I don’t like it. ’

Boarding PartyMorehouse has known

Captain Briggs for many years. ‘He’s a good sailor,’ he tells his crew. ‘Captain Briggs wouldn’t allow his ship to drift like that. We need to inves t i gate. Organise a boarding party.’

The boarding party consists of the first mate and two other men. They sail out towards the other ship in a small boat.

As they get closer to the Mary Celeste all conversation stops. Something is clearly wrong.

‘Where is everyone?’ one man whispers.

No answerThe deck of Celeste is

completely deserted. There are no signs of life.

The men from the Dei Gratia board the ship. ‘Ahoy there!’ they call out. ‘Is anyone here?’

But there’s no answer. Captain Briggs is not on board. Nor are his wife and daughter. Nor are his seven crew.

‘They’ve all gone,’ says the first mate. ‘It’s like a ghost ship

‘What can we do, Captain?’ ‘We need to to find out

what is going on,’ says Captain M o r e h o u s e . ‘ P r e p a r e a boarding party.’

There was no answer A boarding party sails out

to the Mary Celeste closer. As they get closer all conversation s t o p s . I t ’s o bv i o u s t h a t something is wrong.

‘Where i s ever yone? ’ someone whispers.

The deck of Celeste is completely deserted. There are no signs of life.

Mystery Ship Found Deserted Near Azores NO SIGN OF PASSENGERS OR CREW

Captain Morehouse discovers the Mary Celeste

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The men from the Dei Gratia board the ship. ‘Ahoy there!’ they call out. ‘Is anyone here?’

But there’s no answer. Captain Briggs is not on board. Nor are his wife and daughter. Nor are his seven crew.

The boarding crew explore the ship but find no one. ‘They’ve all gone,’ says the first mate. ‘It’s like a ghost ship

Legends

There are many legends about what was found on deserted Mary Celeste. People say:

• t h e r e w e r e h a l f - e a t e n breakfasts, cups of hot tea & a warm apple pie in the dining room of the ship.

• washing was hung out to dry

• the ship’s cat was found asleep• the ship was clean and tidy

• the weather was good when the crew ‘disappeared’

• the Mary Celeste got lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

None of this is true.

What really happened?

There is very little we can say for certain about what had happened about the Mary Celeste.

The official enquiry into the Mary Celeste relies on evidence from Captain Morehouse and his boarding party. They describe the ship as ‘in a bad state’ and ‘not fit for human habitation’.

In the dining room there were no cups of hot tea or abandoned breakfasts:

• the stove was knocked out of its place, and the cooking utensils were {thrown} around.

• nor was the ship mysteriously clean and tidy.

• the whole ship was a wet mess. The Captain’s bed was not fit to sleep in and had to be dried.

What Really Happened?

The ship was clearly abandoned in a hurry. There was no attempt

to weigh the anchor, roll up the canvas, or tie up the steering wheel.







What do we know?

The Mary Celeste was sailing from New York to Genoa in Italy with a cargo of alcohol.

On board were 37-year-old Captain Briggs, his wife, Sarah, his two-year-old daughter Sophia.There were also seven crew.

There was a six-month supply of uncontaminated food.

Clean, fresh water was still aboard.

What possessions were found in the captain’s cabin?

clothes “thrown hither and thither”

Briggs’s cap and boots

a trunk containing a woman’s dress

a small portable piano with sheet music left on top

a portable sewing machine with a child’s sleepwear half sewn

small bottle of oilspool of white thread

an open bottle of child’s cough medicine

two silver medallions

several ringsa watcha purse containing two pieces of $10

In the !rst mate’s cabin

diary with un!nished entry

un!nished calculations

In the Cargo hold1, 701 barrels of alcohol

(9 empty)

On the bridge:one broken clockCaptain’s Log

Missing:Life boatChronometerSextant

Navigation Chart

Where Mary Celeste was found

First Mate Albert Richardson







Theories

Did Briggs order the passengers and crew to leave the ship? If so, why?

is was a very dangerous thing to do and would normally only happen in an emergency.

But Briggs was an experienced captain. He was also a part owner of the ship.

One theory is that the cargo of alcohol caused an explosion. Another is that Captain Briggs feared an explosion was imminent

Did Captain Briggs believe that the Mary Celeste was sinking?

If so, he was wrong. When Morehouse boarded the ship it was seaworthy

Did Morehouse !nd anything unusual?

e chronometer or navigation book was missing. So was the ship’s register.

Where were they? Why would the crew take them onto a lifeboat?

Did pirates attack the ship?

ere were rumours that a bloody sword was found on board.

Another rumour was that there was bloodstains on the deck. But this information did not come from the enquiry and seems very unlikely

Was there a sword !ght?

No. Morehouse and his men did "nd an old sword on the ship – but it had not been used for years.

Was there a robbery?

ere was no sign that a robbery had taken place e ship’s cargo of alcohol was still on board. Only nine bottles were empty..

Key

Pirates

Did robbers rob & kill?

I don’t think pirates attacked. The cargo was intact. It’s like robbing a bank without taking the money!

Lifeboat

Did the rope break?

Perhaps the rope connecting the lifeboat to the ship broke - or was deliberately cut?

Aliens

Sucked into space?

I think The Mary Celeste sailed into a time warp. Aliens came down from space and sucked the people away.

Bermuda Triangle?

Many ships have disappeared into what they call the Bermuda Triangle. This is an area of the sea where mysterious things happen.

Okay, so the Mary Celeste wasn’t sailing through the Bermuda triangle but ....

Tsunami

Seaquake?

Perhaps a ‘seaquake’ swamped the ship







I cannot know for certain what happened on the Mary Celeste. My personal view is that something happened to make the crew panic. I think they left the ship because they thought it was sinking.

When we boarded the Mary Celeste we found a broken rope hanging over the side of the deck. Perhaps this was used to tow the smaller boat behind until it broke.

Storm

There was very bad weather in the days before we found the Mary Celeste. For four days there had been a storm – it only ended on the morning we found her.

Of course they may not have tied their lifeboat to the Mary Celeste. But I still think they would have been unlikely to survive a storm in a small boat on the open sea. If only they had just stayed on the Mary Celeste we could have rescued them.

So why did they leave on that lifeboat? That is the real mystery. I knew Captain Briggs well – I had dinner with him in New York a few days before the Mary Celeste sailed. He was a good man and an experienced seaman.

He would not have left the bridge of his ship unless he believed it to be in mortal danger. What happened to frighten him into risking the lives of his family and crew?

If only they had

just stayed on the Mary

Celeste we could have

rescued them

Captain Morehouse’s Theory





the mystery of the mary celeste

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