In November 1872 a sea captain named Benjamin Briggs set out across the Atlantic with his wife and their two-year-old daughter. His ship was the Mary Celeste, a brigantine, which is a two-masted sailing vessel. In her hold sat 1,701 barrels of raw industrial alcohol, bound for Italy, where it would be used to strengthen wine. Briggs was respected and did not drink. The seven sailors he hired were experienced. Ten people in all stepped aboard, and the ship sailed on November 7. Within a month she was found far out at sea, still sailing, with nobody on board and her only lifeboat gone. This is one of the most famous mysteries of the sea, and one of the most buried in myth. This story sticks to what is known. What happened to those ten people?
The Mary Celeste
In 1872 the Mary Celeste was found sailing the Atlantic with 3.5 feet of water in her hold and none of her ten people aboard.
Ten People and a Cargo
Frequently Asked Questions
Was there a half-eaten breakfast and warm tea on the Mary Celeste?
No. The boarding party found the cabin a wet mess, with no warm tea and no half-eaten breakfast. Those details came from later legend and fiction, not from what was found aboard.
What is the best modern explanation for why the crew left the Mary Celeste?
A 2006 experiment by Dr. Andrea Sella at University College London showed that ethanol vapor can ignite in a spectacular flame without leaving soot. About 300 gallons of alcohol had leaked from the cargo, so a fume explosion may have frightened the crew into fleeing. It is a plausible theory and not proven.
Why do people call the ship the Marie Celeste?
Arthur Conan Doyle's 1884 short story J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement misspelled the name as Marie Celeste. The story was published anonymously and was so convincing that the Boston Herald reported it as fact. The misspelling has persisted ever since.
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