High Sea

 Two of the most famous shipwrecks most easily recalled by most in the US are the Titanic and the Edmund Fitzgerald. Both occurred under different circumstances, and in different bodies of water-- one in the Atlantic, and the other in Lake Superior. Many bodies of water are homes to lives and ships lost due to actions of other persons, or acts of nature. Even with all of our modern weather technology ships still sink. The sinking this past fall of the El Faro, which was lost during a hurricane in the Atlantic is proof of that point. Ships may face other fates, such as mutiny, but by and large sinking today is usually due to weather. Yet, there is a lesser known ship that saw a different fate, and what occurred is still being debated today. The ship did not sink, but its crew and passengers were nowhere to be found.

Photo of the Mary Celeste

It was on or about this date in 1872 that Dei Gratia, a ship sailing under the British flag, found an American brig erratically moving about the Atlantic, about 400 miles east of the Azores. (I say “on or about this date” since some reports has it being Dec 4, and others Dec 5.) The Dei Gratia noticed that the ship was the Mary Celeste. The Captain of the Dei Gratia, David Morehouse, found it odd since the Celeste had departed New York City on November 7, or eight days before his departure and should have reached its port in Genoa, Italy. Morehouse made preparations to alter course and move to the Celeste in order to offer assistance. The boarding party would come across an eerie scene. The lifeboat was missing, but all provisions were intact—a six month supply. The pumps for the ship were disassembled, but there was about three to four feet of water at the bottom of the ship. The sails were slightly damaged. The cargo of the ship was over 1700 barrels of industrial alcohol, but the cargo was found relatively undisturbed. An odd sight, but the ship was still able to sail.

Captain Briggs

What was not present were people. The boat had been occupied by the Captain, Benjamin Briggs, his wife and their two year old daughter with a crew of seven. The ships last log entry occurred at 5 am on November 25 with the ship placed about 500 miles west of where it was located by the Dei Gratia. The ship was taken to Gibralter, and a British admiralty court hearing was convened to determine disposition of the cargo. A three month investigation, however, delayed the cargo disposition since thoughts of mutiny or bad crew actors had led to the fate of the ship and its crew. Lack of hard facts led to a wide variety of theories—mutiny, pirates, and even sea monsters, were all within the minds of those who heard about the fate of the crew. It may have been more understandable if the ship had sunk, but the ship was found in generally sound condition with no crew. The winds of fate had pushed it east roughly following its intended course to Genoa. However, not unlike the Edmund Fitzgerald or the Titanic, the Mary Celeste would obtain some level of fame. Titanic has a movie, the Fitzgerald a song. Yet, the Mary Celeste had a documentary film (partly funded by Smithsonian).  However, the real conjecture over the story started with the publication in Britain of an article titled “J Habakuk Jephson’s Statement” in Cornhill Magazine, written by one of the great detective writers—Arthur Conan Doyle. This piece led to a 1935 film with the famous actor Bela Lugosi The magazine story even led the Attorney General, who had competed the original investigation, to reopen the case, proving, not unlike Dan Brown novels, that fiction produces fact in the minds of some.

Poster of the 1935 Movie

A few months after its location east of the Azores, a Boston Post article indicated that Pirates had killed those aboard the ship and then abandoned the ship. The article points to a splatter of blood on the sword of Captain Briggs. This seemed counter to the original investigation and is hard to square with the fact that the provisions were left untouched, and the bulk of the cargo intact. The documentary film threw ice water upon the portrayal of a maniac sailor as portrayed by Lugosi.  The Lugosi character is thought to be based on two brothers who arrived on teh ship with few personal belongings, but the reason they had few provisions was not due to their idea of taking over the ship, but because they had lost their gear in a previous voyage. Yes, a few barrels of the alcohol were disturbed, but those had been contained in red oak, not white oak, and red oak is thought to have a higher leakage rate. The pumps may have been torn apart in order to get them to function. A previous voyage hauled coal, and the thought is coal dust affected the pumps ability to function—meaning they had to be cleaned to function correctly. In the end, the thought is that in rough seas they could not tell how high the water was in the cargo deck and with their last known position it is thought land, the Azore island of Santa Maria, was in sight, the group abandoned ship. Why they did not take more provisions or some of the charts and navigation equipment is not known. They likely thought the conditions on board were worse than they actually were. The ship is thought to have been off course by about 120 miles, probably due to broken equipment. The Captain knew he should have spotted land three days earlier than he had. In the end, the Captain and his family, and the crew were never located. Maybe, they found some small uninhabited island, not unlike the Minnow with the Skipper, Gilligan, Mary Ann Ginger the Professor, and the Howell’s. More likely, the life boat went down in rough seas.

Chart of the Route of the Mary Celeste

The curious case of the Mary Celeste shows the dangers of life on the high seas. This ship did not meet a watery grave.  Nor was there clear evidence of piracy or mutiny.  The answers to the fate of the those aboard likely rests at the bottom of Atlantic.  And, the ghost ship sailed the high seas.

Images from Google Images