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A sea-faring mystery
The name Mary Celeste has become synonymous with concepts like "The ghost
ship from Scooby Doo," but it endures as a true and tragic tale of the sea.
The story begins on Nov. 4, 1872, with a friendly dinner engagement between
old friends Captain Morehouse and Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs.
Morehouse was captain of the English cargo ship Dei Gratia, while Briggs
commanded the American brig Mary Celeste. The two vessels happened to be
moored at neighboring piers on New York's East River and the Mary Celeste
was due to set sail the next day.
A month and a day later, the Dei Gratia crew spotted a two-masted brig
sailing rather erratically in an area of the North Atlantic between the
Azores and the coast of Portugal. After attempts at signaling the unknown
vessel failed, Morehouse cautiously brought his ship near the other to
investigate. He was more than alarmed to discover that the mystery ship was
none other than the Mary Celeste.
Crew abandoned ship
Inspection revealed that the Mary Celeste was deserted. Captain Briggs, his
wife and daughter and the ship's seven-member crew were nowhere to be
found. The lifeboat was missing but all the crew's belongings were still
safely secured in their quarters, implying a rather hasty evacuation of the
ship. Two of the ship's cargo hatches had been ripped off and one cask of
crude alcohol had been severely damaged. The ship had taken on a great deal
of water below deck and two sails were missing, but it was still quite
seaworthy.
The last entry in the general log of the Mary Celeste was dated Nov. 25--it
had sailed without crew for some nine days and managed to travel 700 miles
northeast during that time.
Morehouse's first mate suggested that they might salvage the Mary Celeste
and collect the sizable salvage fee as a result. Morehouse was somewhat
apprehensive, but soon agreed.
The Mary Celeste was known to be an unlucky ship. Her first captain passed
away within 48 hours of her original dedication under the name Amazon. Her
maiden voyage found the ship suffering hull damage as a result of hitting a
fishing weir. Although she later survived fire and a collision in the
Straits of Dover that sank the other vessel involved, her fourth captain
accidentally grounded her on Cape Breton Island. Eventually, the boat was
salvaged, repaired and renamed Mary Celeste.
The Mary Celeste arrived in Gibraltar under its own sails Dec. 13, 1872,
right alongside the Dei Gratia. Unfortunately, British officials in
Gibraltar suspected some plot between American captains Morehouse and
Briggs to scuttle the Mary Celeste in order to claim the salvage fee.
Another hypothesis for the ship's condition was a crew mutiny following a
night of drinking.
Puritan crew
The British Admiralty Court eventually concluded both outcomes were
unlikely. Briggs was a co-owner of the Ma |