Mary Celeste facts for kids
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An 1861 painting of Mary Celeste (named Amazon at the time) by an unknown artist
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 Canada |
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| Name | Amazon |
| Port of registry | Parrsboro, Nova Scotia |
| Builder | Joshua Dewis, Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia |
| Launched | May 18, 1861 |
| Fate | Ran aground Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, 1867, salvaged and given to American owners |
.svg){kind=small} United States |
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| Name |
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| Port of registry | Principally New York or Boston |
| Builder | Rebuilt 1872, New York (yard not named) |
| Fate | Deliberately wrecked off the coast of Haiti, 1885 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
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| Length | 99.3 ft (30.3 m) as built, 103 ft (31 m) after rebuild |
| Beam | 22.5 ft (6.9 m) as built, 25.7 ft (7.8 m) after rebuild |
| Depth | 11.7 ft (3.6 m) as built, 16.2 ft (4.9 m) after rebuild |
| Decks | 1, as built, 2 after rebuild |
| Sail plan | Brigantine |
The Mary Celeste (sometimes called Marie Celeste by mistake) was a merchant ship. She was a brigantine, which is a type of sailing ship with two masts. This ship was found empty and drifting in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores islands on December 4, 1872. Another ship, the Canadian brigantine Dei Gratia, discovered her. The Mary Celeste seemed a bit messy but was still able to sail. Her small lifeboat was gone. The last entry in her logbook was from 10 days earlier.
The ship had left New York City for Genoa, Italy, on November 7. When found, she still had plenty of food and water. Her cargo of alcohol was untouched. The captain and crew's personal items were still there. No one who had been on board was ever seen or heard from again. This mystery has puzzled people for a very long time.
The Mary Celeste was built in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1861. She was first named Amazon. In 1868, she became an American ship and got her new name, Mary Celeste. She sailed without problems until her famous 1872 voyage. After she was found, a court in Gibraltar looked into what happened. They considered different ideas, like a disagreement among the crew or someone trying to trick an insurance company. But there was no strong proof for any of these ideas. Because of this, the mystery continued, and many stories have been told about the Mary Celeste.
After the court hearings, the Mary Celeste continued to sail with new owners. In 1885, her captain purposely crashed her off the coast of Haiti. This was part of a plan to trick an insurance company. The story of her being found empty in 1872 has been told many times. It has appeared in books, plays, and movies. The ship's name has become a way to describe something that is mysteriously empty or deserted. In 1884, Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, wrote a short story based on the mystery. He called the ship Marie Celeste, and that spelling became very common.
Contents
Building the Ship: Early Adventures
The Mary Celeste started as the Amazon. Her main frame was built in late 1860. This happened at Joshua Dewis's shipyard in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia. The ship was made from local wood. She had two masts and was built as a brigantine. She was launched on May 18, 1861. On June 10, 1861, she was registered in nearby Parrsboro. Her papers said she was about 30 meters (99.3 feet) long. She was about 7.7 meters (25.5 feet) wide and 3.5 meters (11.7 feet) deep. She weighed about 198 tons. Nine local people owned her, with Joshua Dewis leading the group. Robert McLellan, the ship's first captain, was also an owner.
For her first trip in June 1861, the Amazon went to Five Islands, Nova Scotia. There, she picked up wood to take to London, England. Captain McLellan became sick while loading the ship. His health worsened, and he died on June 19. John Nutting Parker became the new captain. The trip to London continued, but the Amazon had more problems. She hit fishing gear near Eastport, Maine. After leaving London, she crashed into and sank another ship in the English Channel.
Captain Parker commanded the ship for two years. During this time, the Amazon mostly traded in the West Indies. In November 1861, she sailed to France. A famous artist might have painted her in Marseille. In 1863, William Thompson took over as captain. These years were calm. A shipmate later said, "Not a thing unusual happened." But in October 1867, a storm hit the Amazon near Cape Breton Island. She was badly damaged and her owners gave up on her. On October 15, Alexander McBean bought her as a wrecked ship.
New Owners and a New Name
Within a month, McBean sold the wreck. In November 1868, an American sailor named Richard W. Haines bought it. Haines paid US$1,750 for the wreck. He then spent $8,825 to fix and restore it. He became her captain. In December 1868, he registered her in New York as an American ship. She was given a new name: Mary Celeste.
In October 1869, Haines's creditors took the ship. She was sold to a group of New York businessmen led by James H. Winchester. Over the next three years, some owners changed, but Winchester always owned at least half of the ship. We don't have many records of what the Mary Celeste did during this time. In early 1872, the ship had a big repair job. This cost $10,000 and made her much larger. Her length grew to about 31.4 meters (103 feet). Her width became 7.8 meters (25.7 feet) and her depth 4.9 meters (16.2 feet). A second deck was added. The ship's total weight became 282.28 tons. By October 1872, Captain Benjamin Briggs owned four of the twelve shares in the ship.
Captain Briggs and His Crew
Benjamin Briggs was born in Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1835. He came from a family of sea captains. Benjamin was a very religious person. In 1862, he married his cousin Sarah Elizabeth Cobb. They had two children: Arthur, born in 1865, and Sophia Matilda, born in 1870.
By the time Sophia was born, Briggs was a respected captain. He thought about stopping his sea career. But instead, he invested his savings in a share of the Mary Celeste. In October 1872, Benjamin took command of the ship. This was for her first trip after the big repairs in New York. The voyage was planned for Genoa, Italy. He decided that his wife and baby daughter would come with him. His son, Arthur, stayed home with his grandmother.
Captain Briggs carefully chose his crew for this trip. The first mate, Albert G. Richardson, was related to one of the owners. He had sailed with Briggs before. The second mate was Andrew Gilling, about 25 years old. The steward, Edward William Head, was newly married. He had a good recommendation from an owner. The four sailors were Germans: brothers Volkert and Boz Lorenzen, Arian Martens, and Gottlieb Goudschaal. They were described as "peaceable and first-class sailors." Before the trip, Briggs wrote to his mother. He said he was very happy with the ship and the crew. Sarah Briggs also wrote to her mother. She said the crew seemed capable.
The Mysterious Abandonment
Leaving New York
On October 20, 1872, Captain Briggs arrived at Pier 50 in New York City. He oversaw the loading of the ship's cargo. It was 1,701 barrels of alcohol. His wife and daughter joined him a week later. On November 3, Briggs wrote to his mother. He said he planned to leave on Tuesday. He added, "our vessel is in beautiful trim."
On the morning of Tuesday, November 5, the Mary Celeste left the pier. Captain Briggs, his wife, daughter, and seven crew members were on board. They moved into New York Harbor. The weather was not good, so Briggs decided to wait. He anchored the ship near Staten Island. Sarah used this delay to send a last letter to her mother-in-law. She wrote, "Tell Arthur, I make great dependence on the letters I shall get from him." The weather improved two days later. The Mary Celeste left the harbor and sailed into the Atlantic.
While the Mary Celeste was getting ready, another ship was nearby. This was the Canadian brigantine Dei Gratia. She was in Hoboken, New Jersey. She was waiting for a cargo of oil to take to Genoa. Her captain, David Morehouse, and first mate, Oliver Deveau, were experienced sailors. Captains Briggs and Morehouse had similar interests. Some people think they knew each other. The Dei Gratia left for Gibraltar on November 15. She followed the same general route, eight days after the Mary Celeste.
Found Adrift and Empty
On December 4, 1872, the Dei Gratia was in the North Atlantic. Captain Morehouse saw a ship sailing strangely. It was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away. The ship's odd movements and sails made him think something was wrong. As the vessel got closer, he saw no one on deck. His signals received no answer. So, he sent his first mate, Deveau, and second mate, John Wright, in a small boat to check. They saw the name Mary Celeste on the back of the ship. They climbed aboard and found the ship completely empty.
The sails were partly set and in bad shape. Some were missing, and ropes hung loosely. The main hatch cover was closed. But the front and back hatches were open, with their covers nearby. The ship's only lifeboat, a small yawl, was missing. It had been stored across the main hatch. The binnacle, which held the ship's compass, had moved. Its glass cover was broken. There was about 1 meter (3.5 feet) of water in the bottom of the ship. This was a lot, but not enough to sink a ship of this size. A makeshift stick for measuring water in the hold was found on deck.
Deveau found the ship's logbook in the mate's cabin. The last entry was from 8 AM on November 25. This was nine days earlier. It showed the Mary Celeste was then near Santa Maria Island in the Azores. This was about 740 kilometers (400 nautical miles) from where the Dei Gratia found her. Deveau saw that the cabins were wet and a bit messy. Water had come in through doors and skylights. But everything else was mostly in order. Personal items were in Captain Briggs's cabin, including a sword under the bed. However, most of the ship's important papers and the captain's navigation tools were gone. The kitchen equipment was neatly put away. No food was being cooked, but there was plenty of food stored. There were no signs of fire or fighting. It looked like everyone had left the ship in an orderly way, using the missing lifeboat.
Deveau reported his findings to Captain Morehouse. Morehouse decided to take the empty ship to Gibraltar, about 1,100 kilometers (600 nautical miles) away. Under sea law, a rescuer could get a good share of the value of the rescued ship and cargo. Morehouse split his crew of eight between the two ships. Deveau and two sailors went to the Mary Celeste. Morehouse and four others stayed on the Dei Gratia. The weather was mostly calm on the way to Gibraltar. But each ship had too few crew members, so progress was slow. The Dei Gratia reached Gibraltar on December 12. The Mary Celeste arrived the next morning after some fog. She was immediately held by the court for salvage hearings. Deveau wrote to his wife that bringing the ship in was hard. He expected to be well paid for the Mary Celeste.
The Gibraltar Court Hearings
The court hearings began in Gibraltar on December 17, 1872. Sir James Cochrane, the chief judge, led the hearing. Frederick Solly-Flood, the Attorney General of Gibraltar, was in charge of the case. Flood was described as a person who, once he made up his mind, was hard to change. The stories from Deveau and Wright made Flood believe a crime had happened.
On December 23, Flood ordered an inspection of the Mary Celeste. John Austin, a shipping expert, and a diver, Ricardo Portunato, did the inspection. Austin noted cuts on both sides of the front of the ship. He thought a sharp tool caused them. He also found possible traces of blood on the captain's sword. His report said the ship did not seem to have been in a bad storm. He pointed out that a small bottle of sewing machine oil was found standing upright. Portunato's report said the ship had not crashed or run aground. Another inspection by Royal Naval captains agreed that the cuts on the front were made on purpose. They also found stains on a ship's rail that might have been blood. There was also a deep mark, possibly from an axe. These findings made Flood even more sure that human actions, not a natural disaster, caused the mystery. On January 22, 1873, he sent his reports to London. He concluded that the crew had a serious disagreement, possibly involving the ship's alcohol cargo, which led to a terrible event for the captain and his family. He thought they then cut the front of the ship to make it look like a crash. Then they fled in the small boat. Flood also suspected that Morehouse and his men were hiding something. He thought the Mary Celeste was abandoned further east, and the logbook was changed. He couldn't believe the ship drifted so far without a crew.
James Winchester, one of the owners, arrived in Gibraltar on January 15. He wanted to know when the Mary Celeste could deliver her cargo. Flood demanded a $15,000 payment, which Winchester didn't have. Winchester realized Flood thought he might have planned for the crew to harm Briggs and his officers. On January 29, Winchester spoke strongly against Flood's ideas. He said Captain Briggs was a good person. He insisted Briggs would only leave the ship in extreme danger. Flood's ideas of a disagreement and bad actions faced problems. Scientific tests showed the stains on the sword and elsewhere were not blood. Another report, from Captain Shufeldt of the US Navy, also disagreed with Flood. Shufeldt believed the marks on the front of the ship were natural, not man-made.
With no strong proof for his suspicions, Flood finally released the Mary Celeste on February 25. Two weeks later, with a new crew, she left Gibraltar for Genoa. The decision about the salvage payment was made on April 8. The court awarded £1,700. This was about one-fifth of the ship and cargo's total value. This was much lower than expected. The judge, Cochrane, also criticized Captain Morehouse. He was unhappy that Morehouse had sent the Dei Gratia to deliver her cargo earlier. This implied some wrongdoing, which made Morehouse and his crew suspected by the public forever.
Ideas About What Happened
Possible Bad Actions
The court in Gibraltar found no proof for Flood's ideas of bad actions. But suspicions remained. Flood and some newspapers briefly thought Winchester might have tried to trick the insurance company. They thought the Mary Celeste was insured for too much money. Winchester denied this, and no investigation was started by the insurance companies. Some people later suggested that Captain Morehouse might have waited for the Mary Celeste. Then he might have tricked Briggs and his crew onto the Dei Gratia and harmed them. But this idea doesn't make sense. The Dei Gratia was a slower ship. She left New York eight days after the Mary Celeste. She would not have caught up to her before Gibraltar.
Another idea was that Briggs and Morehouse worked together. They might have planned to share the money from rescuing the ship. But there is no proof they were friends. If they had planned such a trick, they would not have created such a big mystery. Also, why would Briggs leave his son Arthur if he planned to disappear forever?
Pirates were active near Morocco in the 1870s. But pirates would have stolen things from the ship. The personal belongings of the captain and crew, some valuable, were still there. So, piracy seems unlikely.
The Missing Lifeboat
Captain Briggs's cousin, Oliver Cobb, thought the crew might have gotten into the small boat for safety. He thought they might have tied the boat to the ship. This would let them return when danger passed. But if the rope broke, the Mary Celeste would sail away empty. The small boat and its occupants would be left adrift. It would also be strange to tie a small boat to a ship that you think is about to explode or sink. Experts say Captain Briggs was experienced. He would not have left a good ship for a small boat unless it was an extreme emergency.
Arthur N. Putman, an insurance expert, had a similar idea. He noted that only one lifeboat was missing. He found that the boat's rope was cut, not untied. This suggested a quick departure. The ship's log mentioned rumbling and small explosion sounds from the hold. Alcohol cargo can release explosive gas, and such sounds are common. Putman thought a bigger explosion might have happened. In a panic, the captain, his family, and the crew got into the lifeboat. They cut the rope and left the Mary Celeste.
Natural Events
Most people agree that something very unusual must have happened. It must have made the crew leave a good ship with plenty of supplies. Deveau thought Captain Briggs might have left the ship after a false reading of the water in the hold. Perhaps the pumps were not working right. This could have made it seem like the ship was taking on water quickly. A strong waterspout hitting the ship could explain the water inside. It could also explain the damaged sails and ropes. The low air pressure from a waterspout could have pushed water from the bottom of the ship into the pumps. This might have made the crew think there was more water than there was. They might have believed the ship was sinking.
Other ideas include a large iceberg or a sudden submarine earthquake. But icebergs usually don't drift that far south. Other ships would likely have seen it. An earthquake on the seabed could have caused strong waves. These waves might have damaged some of the cargo. This could release strong fumes. Fear of an explosion might have made Briggs order everyone to leave. The open hatches suggest someone might have checked or tried to air out the hold.
In 2006, a scientist named Andrea Sella did an experiment for a TV show. He built a model of the ship's hold. He used gas to create an explosion. There was a big blast and a ball of flame. But surprisingly, there was no fire damage inside the model. He explained that it was a "pressure-wave type of explosion." There was a spectacular flame, but the air behind it was cool. No soot or burning was left. This experiment helped to bring back the explosion idea.
Stories and False Accounts
Over the years, facts and made-up stories about the Mary Celeste got mixed up. In June 1883, the Los Angeles Times told the story with invented details. It said, "Every sail was set, the tiller was lashed fast, not a rope was out of place. The fire was burning in the galley. The dinner was standing untasted and scarcely cold." These details were not true.
The most famous retelling came from Arthur Conan Doyle in January 1884. He was a young ship's doctor at the time. His story, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", changed many facts. He called the ship Marie Celeste. The captain's name was J. W. Tibbs. The voyage happened in 1873, from Boston to Lisbon. The story included passengers and a fanatic who wanted to harm the white race. Doyle didn't expect his story to be taken seriously. But it was so popular that the name Marie Celeste became common.
Other strange ideas appeared. In 1904, Chambers's Journal suggested a giant octopus or squid might have taken everyone. While giant squid can be very large, it's hard to imagine one taking the lifeboat and navigation tools. In 1913, The Strand Magazine published a story from an alleged survivor. This story claimed the crew was watching a swimming contest when a platform collapsed. Everyone except the storyteller drowned or was eaten by sharks. This story had many simple mistakes and was not true.
A convincing trick was played in the 1920s by writer Laurence J. Keating. He wrote a story from a supposed survivor. It told a complex tale of bad actions and working with the Dei Gratia. This story also had basic errors. But it was so well told that some newspapers believed it was true. These stories show how easily people can be fooled by exciting tales.
Some explanations even suggested magic or aliens. An old astrology journal called the Mary Celeste story a "mystical experience." It connected it to ancient pyramids and lost continents. The Bermuda Triangle was also mentioned, even though the Mary Celeste was found in a different part of the ocean. These are just fantasies, not real explanations.
Later Life and Final Journey
The Mary Celeste left Genoa on June 26, 1873. She arrived in New York on September 19. The Gibraltar hearings and newspaper stories of bad events made her an unpopular ship. She "rotted on wharves where nobody wanted her." In February 1874, the owners sold the ship at a big loss.
Under new owners, the Mary Celeste sailed mostly in the West Indies and Indian Ocean. She often lost money. In February 1879, her captain, Edgar Tuthill, became sick and died on St. Helena island. This added to the idea that the ship was "cursed." In February 1880, the owners sold the Mary Celeste to a group in Boston. A new captain, Thomas L. Fleming, took over. He was replaced by Gilman C. Parker in August 1884.
In November 1884, Captain Parker worked with some Boston shippers. They filled the Mary Celeste with a cargo that was mostly worthless. But they said it was valuable on the ship's papers. They insured it for US$30,000. On December 16, Parker set sail for Port-au-Prince, Haiti. On January 3, 1885, the Mary Celeste approached the port. She went through a channel with a large coral reef, the Rochelois Bank. Parker purposely ran the ship onto this reef. This ripped out her bottom and wrecked her beyond repair. The crew and he then rowed ashore. Parker sold the parts of the cargo he could save for $500. He then tried to claim the insurance money for the alleged value.
When the consul reported that what he bought was almost worthless, the ship's insurers started an investigation. They soon found out about the over-insured cargo. In July 1885, Parker and the shippers were tried in Boston. They were accused of planning to trick the insurance company. Parker was also charged with a very serious crime called barratry. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the planning case. So, the judge arranged a deal. The defendants dropped their insurance claims and paid back what they had received. The barratry charge against Parker was put off, and he was allowed to go free. However, his career was ruined, and he died in poverty three months later.
In August 2001, an expedition led by marine archaeologist Clive Cussler announced they found the remains of a ship. It was stuck in the Rochelois reef. Only a few pieces of wood and metal were saved. The rest was lost in the coral. Early tests on the wood suggested it was from the type used in New York shipyards. This was around the time of the Mary Celeste's 1872 repairs. It seemed they had found the Mary Celeste. However, later tests on the wood showed it came from trees that were still growing in 1894. This was about 10 years after the Mary Celeste was wrecked. So, it was not the Mary Celeste.
Legacy and Commemorations
The Mary Celeste was not the first ship found mysteriously empty at sea. But she is the one everyone remembers. Her name, or the misspelled Marie Celeste, has become famous. It means something that is mysteriously deserted.
In October 1955, a motor vessel called MV Joyita disappeared in the South Pacific. There were 25 people on board. The ship was found a month later, empty and drifting. No one from the ship was ever seen again. An investigation could not explain what happened. This case is called a "classic marine mystery of Mary Celeste proportions."
The Mary Celeste story has inspired many things. There were popular radio plays in the 1930s. Several novels have been written. They usually offer natural, not magical, explanations. In 1935, a British film company made The Mystery of the Mary Celeste. It starred Bela Lugosi as a sailor. A 1938 short film, The Ship That Died, showed different ideas for why the ship was abandoned.
In November 2007, the Smithsonian Channel showed a documentary. It was called The True Story of the Mary Celeste . It looked at many parts of the case. It didn't offer one clear answer. One idea was that the ship's pumps were blocked. Also, the ship's clock might have been faulty. The Mary Celeste had carried coal before. Coal dust could have blocked the pumps. The pump was found taken apart on deck. So, the crew might have been trying to fix it. The ship was full, and the captain couldn't tell how much water was inside during rough seas. If the clock was wrong, Briggs might have thought they were closer to land. This could have made him order everyone to leave.
At Spencer's Island, where she was built, the Mary Celeste and her lost crew are remembered. There is a monument at the building site. There is also an outdoor cinema built like the ship's hull. Postage stamps remembering the event have been issued by Gibraltar and the Maldives.
See also
- Ghost ship
- List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea
