On December 4th, 1872, the good ship Dei Gratia, plying the Atlantic halfway between the Azores and Portugal, sighted another ship that looked a little odd: although it did not indicate distress, it was listing badly, and seemed to be making very aimless headway. An hour later, the men who had been sent to investigate returned, and they were pale and shaken. Everything aboard appeared to be quite normal. In the crew's quarters, clothing lay folded neatly on the bunks; in the galley, breakfast had been prepared and some was served; and the last entry in the captain's log recorded that on November 25th the ship had passed uneventfully close to Santa Maria in the Azores. Yet not a living soul was found aboard the mystery ship; the Mary Celeste was ghostly, empty, like the vessel of the Ancient Mariner. . .
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
The abandoned Mary Celeste remains one of the great mysteries of the sea. The 103-foot brigantine had sailed for Genoa from Staten Island 125 years ago today, on November 7th, 1872, under the command of Capt Benjamin Briggs. Also aboard were the captain's wife and twoyear-old daughter, and a crew of seven - none of whom were ever heard of subsequently.
None of the common theories as to what may have occurred have credibility. There were no signs that bad weather might have been the cause, and the ship had taken on only a normal amount of water. Mutiny, some thought, was possible, but there was no sign of any struggle - and why would the mutineers have afterwards abandoned ship? And perhaps the greatest mystery was how the ship had managed to keep on course without a crew for 10 days and 500 miles. When found by the Dei Gratia, the Mary Celeste had her sails set on a starboard tack; to have travelled the entire course with her sails arranged like that was just impossible. Someone had clearly been on board since the last log entry of November 25th - but who? And why?
The Mary Celeste - commonly misremembered as the Marie Celeste, allegedly because a signwriter erroneously first painted the word "Marie" on her side to match the spelling of the French "Celeste" - continued to sail for 12 years after being discovered by the Dei Gratia. In 1884 her final owners over-insured her and sent her to Haiti where she was deliberately run aground so they could claim unjust reward. The conspirators were brought to book - but the Mary Celeste took her secret to her watery grave.