The 282-ton brigantine Amazon was built in 1861 in Nova Scotia Canada. In Nov 1872, and now called Mary Celeste, the ship sailed from New York Harbour en route to Genoa. It was a merchant ship with a tricky past so presumably the name change was to disassociate itself from a series of mishaps eg the sudden illness and death of its first captain; a collision with another ship in the English Channel. ![]()
On board for the 1872 trip were the ship’s captain, Benjamin Briggs, wife, toddler daughter and 8 trusted crew members. After leaving New York, Mary Celeste battled through treacherous seas and howling winds for two weeks. According to the last entry in the ghost ship’s log book, written 25th Nov, the Mary Celeste was within sight of the Azores island of Santa Maria west of Portugal. Nothing was amiss, according to the log book.
Less than a month later, a passing British brig called Dei Gratia spotted the Mary Celeste at full sail and adrift c450 miles east of the Azores, with no one aboard. When Captain Morehouse and his crew boarded the Mary Celeste, they found it largely in good order. Aside from the disassembled pump, several feet of water in the hold and a missing lifeboat, the ship was undamaged. In fact the ship was still loaded with 6 months’ food and water, and well packed crew uniforms. Even the cargo was intact, apart from some empty alcohol barrels. But there were no humans :(
The ghost ship was still seaworthy, so the crew of the Dei Gratia split up and together the two ships sailed to Gibraltar where they could claim salvage rights under maritime law. When the two ships arrived in Gibraltar, the Dei Gratia submitted its salvage claim from the insurers. The admiralty court at first suspected foul play. But after a 3-month investigation, the Dei Gratia crew eventually received payments. Not the full value, to be sure; were the authorities not totally convinced of their innocence?
This maritime mystery continued: Why would a captain such as Briggs, or his sailors, abandon a perfectly sound ship: mutiny? pirate attack? giant squids attacks? an explosion caused by fumes from the 1,700 barrels of crude alcohol in the hold? A blast large enough to persuade an experienced captain to take the terrible decision to abandon ship would have left signs of fire or explosions on the wooden barrels, or in the hold.
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In the end Anne MacGregor's documentary, The True Story of the Mary Celeste 2007, suggested that rough seas, a faulty chronometer and a clogged onboard pump ?led Briggs to order the ship abandoned, shortly after sighting land. MacGregor’s theory was not provable, but I was at least grateful that the alien abduction was losing favour.
The Peabody Essex Museum is the home of the surviving Mary Celeste artefacts. It’s located in Salem Mass, up the coast from New York. Or visit Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax Nova Scotia. Thanks to Smithsonian, History and Museumhack.
The Mary Celeste, still in full sail, was taken back to Gibraltar
by Capt Morehouse and his crew
Less than a month later, a passing British brig called Dei Gratia spotted the Mary Celeste at full sail and adrift c450 miles east of the Azores, with no one aboard. When Captain Morehouse and his crew boarded the Mary Celeste, they found it largely in good order. Aside from the disassembled pump, several feet of water in the hold and a missing lifeboat, the ship was undamaged. In fact the ship was still loaded with 6 months’ food and water, and well packed crew uniforms. Even the cargo was intact, apart from some empty alcohol barrels. But there were no humans :(
The ghost ship was still seaworthy, so the crew of the Dei Gratia split up and together the two ships sailed to Gibraltar where they could claim salvage rights under maritime law. When the two ships arrived in Gibraltar, the Dei Gratia submitted its salvage claim from the insurers. The admiralty court at first suspected foul play. But after a 3-month investigation, the Dei Gratia crew eventually received payments. Not the full value, to be sure; were the authorities not totally convinced of their innocence?
This maritime mystery continued: Why would a captain such as Briggs, or his sailors, abandon a perfectly sound ship: mutiny? pirate attack? giant squids attacks? an explosion caused by fumes from the 1,700 barrels of crude alcohol in the hold? A blast large enough to persuade an experienced captain to take the terrible decision to abandon ship would have left signs of fire or explosions on the wooden barrels, or in the hold.
The short story and the film
made the Mary Celeste story widely known
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle suggested in a short story, J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement 1884, that the inhabitants of the ghost ship fell victim to an ex-slave seeking vengeance. And The Mystery of the Mary Celeste was a 1935 British mystery film directed by Denison Clift and starring Béla Lugosi. It was called Phantom Ship in the USA.
Why was the ship abandoned? There were numerous competing theories on exactly what happened to Capt Briggs and the other people on board:
1. CRAZED MUTINY Initial checks of the ship found strange marks left by ?axes, along with traces of ?blood. The Attorney-General and his inquiry team believed the crew became violently drunk on the ship's cargo of alcohol, mutinied and then massacred men before taking the ship's sole lifeboat. Unlikely, as there was no sign of violence.
2. CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY Many suspects have been implicated in the case of the Mary Celeste. Could North African pirates have attacked the ship and killed the crew? Unlikely, since no valuables were missing. Even worse was the idea that it was an inside job, with Capt Briggs faking their deaths to claim the salvage money with a co-conspirator.
3. ALIEN ABDUCTION Many people improbably suspected that aliens appeared and whisked away the crew. This was likely due to the Dei Gratia crew finding the Mary Celeste in a reasonable condition.
4. NATURAL DISASTER Perhaps the Mary Celeste fell foul of a tornado at sea, or perhaps a sudden violent seaquake. Either of these events could have caused superficial damage and some waterlogging, perhaps making the crew think the ship was about to sink. Thus the lifeboat.
5. ALCOHOL EXPLOSION Perhaps the best theory related to the ship's cargo of industrial alcohol. Whether due to turbulence or porous barrels, noxious alcoholic fumes may have escaped, making the crew think an explosion was imminent. Then, fearing fire, the crew abandoned ship temporarily, at least until the danger had passed.
But a captain would only abandon ship in the direst situations, and the circumstances found on the ship certainly didn’t seem dire. For all of the above theories, none of the evidence ever matched. In any case, Mary Celeste later sailed under different owners for 12 years.
Why was the ship abandoned? There were numerous competing theories on exactly what happened to Capt Briggs and the other people on board:
1. CRAZED MUTINY Initial checks of the ship found strange marks left by ?axes, along with traces of ?blood. The Attorney-General and his inquiry team believed the crew became violently drunk on the ship's cargo of alcohol, mutinied and then massacred men before taking the ship's sole lifeboat. Unlikely, as there was no sign of violence.
2. CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY Many suspects have been implicated in the case of the Mary Celeste. Could North African pirates have attacked the ship and killed the crew? Unlikely, since no valuables were missing. Even worse was the idea that it was an inside job, with Capt Briggs faking their deaths to claim the salvage money with a co-conspirator.
3. ALIEN ABDUCTION Many people improbably suspected that aliens appeared and whisked away the crew. This was likely due to the Dei Gratia crew finding the Mary Celeste in a reasonable condition.
4. NATURAL DISASTER Perhaps the Mary Celeste fell foul of a tornado at sea, or perhaps a sudden violent seaquake. Either of these events could have caused superficial damage and some waterlogging, perhaps making the crew think the ship was about to sink. Thus the lifeboat.
5. ALCOHOL EXPLOSION Perhaps the best theory related to the ship's cargo of industrial alcohol. Whether due to turbulence or porous barrels, noxious alcoholic fumes may have escaped, making the crew think an explosion was imminent. Then, fearing fire, the crew abandoned ship temporarily, at least until the danger had passed.
But a captain would only abandon ship in the direst situations, and the circumstances found on the ship certainly didn’t seem dire. For all of the above theories, none of the evidence ever matched. In any case, Mary Celeste later sailed under different owners for 12 years.
Mary Celeste Monument
Diligent River, Nova Scotia
In the end Anne MacGregor's documentary, The True Story of the Mary Celeste 2007, suggested that rough seas, a faulty chronometer and a clogged onboard pump ?led Briggs to order the ship abandoned, shortly after sighting land. MacGregor’s theory was not provable, but I was at least grateful that the alien abduction was losing favour.
The Peabody Essex Museum is the home of the surviving Mary Celeste artefacts. It’s located in Salem Mass, up the coast from New York. Or visit Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax Nova Scotia. Thanks to Smithsonian, History and Museumhack.