The Mary Celeste

Written and ResearchedBy

Noelle McGarry 2014

Introduction

The Mary Celeste is a famous brigantine built in Canada; it was originally called the Amazon. It had a bad history. Three captains died aboard the ship. It also ran aground during a storm but was salvaged, rebuilt and renamed the Mary Celeste.

Arthur Conan Doyle

One man named Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a short fiction story about the Mary Celeste. He renamed it the Marie Celeste. He also said that the lifeboat they had was still there when they found it. “So how had they escaped?” he asked. The story became very popular and most people thought it was true.

The Voyage

The Mary Celeste set sail on 5th November from New York harbour heading for Gibraltar. The crew included Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife and seven crewmen. The cargo carried was caskets of alcohol.

On 4th December 1872 at approximately 1pm a ship called the Dei Gratia spotted the Mary Celeste. As they looked closer they realised something was wrong, there was no one on deck.

Two members of the Dei Gratia boarded the ship. They found no one on the ship. There was plenty of food on board and the ship seemed to be in good condition.

Everything seemed to be left as if the crew were in a hurry. No wonder they felt there was something eerie about the ship! They did find the ship’s log. The last entry had been made at 8.00am on 25th November. This meant that no one had been on the ship for over two days yet it stayed on course to Gibraltar.

Mate Deveau and two crewmen sailed the ship to Gibraltar while the captain and remaining crew sailed the Dei Gratia. When they arrived, an official inquiry was held.

Theories on What Happened

They had thought that the crew had drunken the alcohol on board and being drunk murdered the captain, his wife and child and escaped on the lifeboat.

As the years went on more stories and theories were created. Some say they were in the Bermuda Triangle, others that they struck an ice-berg and others that they were hit by plague.

Some even suggest that a giant octopus swept them over-board or that they were abducted by aliens.

• The most logical reason was that the barrels of alcohol, which were tied together, had rubbed together causing a spark. On seeing this, the captain was frightenened the ship would blow up or go on fire.

He probably ordered his family and the crew into the lifeboat. The life boat could have sunk beneath the waves, drowning them all.

What’s your theory?