Unresolved: The Mary Celeste

For a while now, I've been wanting to start a new series on my blog. I love talking about art, my travels and the history behind the landmarks I visit but for a while now, I've been wanting to add something new, something with much more intensity and emotion.

The two subjects I always find myself deep in a rabbit hole are Crimes and Mysteries, specifically ones that are unresolved or unexplainable. For example, the identity of Jack The Ripper or The Zodiac Killer, what happened to Amelia Earhart, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, ghosts and strange creature sightings, you name it. I am heavily engrossed in both topics and I thought it would be an interesting addition to my blog.

A painting of the Mary Celeste done in 1861. Artist unknown. Www.wikipedia.org

The first strange event I would like to discuss is the Mary Celeste. The Mary Celeste was an American merchant ship that was found adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores Islands back in 1872. It was December 4th when a Canadian ship called Dei Gratia discovered the abandoned brigantine in a disorderly but seaworthy manner however, the lifeboat was gone. The last entry logged was only nine days prior. The entry stated the ships position at that time. It read 37°01′N 25°01′W off Santa Maria Island in the Azores, nearly 740 km from where the Dei Gratia found her.

Last log location and where the ship was found. Www.wikipedia.org

The Mary Celeste left on the 7th of November from New York City and was on its way to Genoa. It was carrying denatured alcohol, all of which was untouched. The crew's personal belongings were also undisturbed. No one who was on that ship was ever heard from again.

On December 4th (December 5th, sea time), Captain Morehouse of the Dei Gratia was told by the helmsman of the ship that he spotted something peculiar 6 miles from them. Morehouse noticed the Mary Celeste moving toward his ship erratically and figured something was wrong. As it got closer, he saw that there was no one on deck. His signals received no replies. Morehouse sent two men to investigate the ship and what they discovered was bizarre.

The two found no one abroad, the life boat was gone and some sails were missing while others were partly set but in poor condition. A lot of the rigging was damaged with the ropes hanging loosely over the sides, the main hatch was secure but fore and lazarette (area near the aft or cockpit) hatches were open with the covers beside them on the deck. The glass case holding the compass was broken with it no where in sight. In the hold, they found 3.5 feet of water which was not a lot for a ship that size, nothing to panic over. They found an abandoned makeshift sounding rod on the deck, a device used to measure the amount of water in the hold.

Deveau, one of the men who was investigating the Mary Celeste searched through everything. In the cabin interior, he found that water had entered through the doorways and skylight leaving things wet but still well in order. He discovered something a little more strange in Briggs' cabin, the captain of the Mary Celeste. Briggs' personal items were scattered about his quarters, his sword was under his bed, a lot of the ships paperwork was missing as well as the captain's navigational instruments. The galley equipment was intact and all the provisions were untouched. There wasn't any signs of violence. Everything that Deveau found showed an orderly exit.

Deveau brought the evidence to Morehouse. He decided to bring the Mary Celeste to Gibraltar which was 1,100 km away. Morehouse sent three men to collect the Mary Celeste and they arrived at Gibraltar on December 13th, a day after the Dei Gratia. Under maritime law, a salvor could expect a large share of whatever is on the recovered ship. This depends on the degree of danger one experiences during the salvaging. When the Mary Celeste arrived, she was immediately impounded and prepared for the salvage hearing.

On December 17th, the hearings began under the chief justice of Gibraltar Sir James Cochrane. It was conducted by Frederick Solly-Flood, the Attorney General of Gibraltar. Deveau and Wright, the other man who was sent to investigate the ship gave their testimonies to Flood and convinced him that a crime was committed. This belief was picked up by the New York Shipping and Commercial List on the 21st of December: it read "The inference of that there has been foul play somewhere, and that alcohol is at the bottom of it."

On December 23rd, Flood order the Mary Celeste to be examined. John Austin who was the Surveyor of Shipping as well as a diver by the name of Ricardo Portunato did the examination. Austin found cuts on both sides of the bow which he believed was caused by something sharp and possibly blood on Briggs' sword. He found a sewing machine vial filled with oil standing upright which according to him, made it clear that the ship wasn't struck by bad weather. He didn't make a note that the vial may have been moved since the abandonment and the court didn't question it either. Portunato's report on the hull concluded that the ship wasn't involved in a clash with another ship. A group of Royal Naval captains also did an inspection of the ship. They suggested that the cuts found on the bow were done on purpose. They also found possible blood on the ship's rails which may have been caused by an axe. Flood believed what happened on the Mary Celeste was done by humans and not a natural disaster. What the Royal Naval captains found only made his belief much more plausible.

On January 22nd in 1873, Flood sent his findings to the Board of Trade in London, adding his own conclusion that the crew of the Mary Celeste had gotten into the alcohol (totally ignoring the fact that it's not consumable and untouched) and murdered Briggs', his family who was also on the ship with him and the ship's officers in a drunken hysteria. He concluded that the bows were cut to simulate a collision and then they fled on the lifeboat only to suffer an unknown fate. Flood thought that Morehouse and his crew were hiding something, specifically that they were lying about the location of where the ship was abandoned. Flood believed that it was left somewhere more east than which they said and the log that they found was doctored. He couldn't believe that the Mary Celeste traveled such a far distance unmanned.

James Winchester, the owner and man who bought the Mary Celeste in 1869 arrived in Gibraltar on January 15th to ask when the Mary Celeste may be released to deliver the cargo she was carrying. Flood demanded collateral of $15,000 from Winchester. Winchester didn't have the money. He became aware that Flood might of thought he was involved in the horrible event that possibly happened on the ship. On January 29th, after arguing with Flood, Winchester insisted that Briggs was a good man and would not have abandoned the ship unless he absolutely had to.

Flood theories of mutiny and murder became less and less possible when new evidence came about. Scientific analysis of the stains found on Briggs' sword and elsewhere on the ship proved that it wasn't blood. That wasn't it. More evidence was found disproving Flood's theory on how the cuts were made on the bow. The evidence proved that the marks were not man-made but due to the natural movement of the sea on the ship's timbers.

There was nothing to support Flood's hypothesis. On February 25th, Flood released the Mary Celeste from the court's jurisdiction. Two weeks later, Captain George Blatchford and a local crew took the Mary Celeste and headed to Genoa from Gibraltar. It wasn't until April 8th that the salvage payment was decided. Cochrane announced the award of 1,700 euros, only one-fifth of the value of the ship and cargo. The award was far lower than expected. One authority thought the award shouldn't been three times as much but Cochrane didn't think so. He was very critical of Morehouse's decision he made during the hearing regarding the ship's cargo. Morehouse wanted to send Deveau to deliver it. Cochrane didn't trust Morehouse or his crew and believed there was wrongdoing.

There are a few different theories of what happened to the Mary Celeste. The first theory is indeed foul-play even though Flood's evidence was disproved. Flood, and even some newspaper reports momentarily believed there may have been insurance fraud on the part of Winchester on the basis that the ship was over-insured. Winchester was able to rebut these claims and no investigations were set-in-motion by the insurance companies that issued the policies. In the 1930's, an article was published in the Quarterly Review suggesting that Morehouse could've been waiting for the Mary Celeste, and he was the one to kill Briggs and the others. This is a very unlikely theory for a very good reason. The Dei Gratia left New York 8 days after the Mary Celeste. They would not have been able to catch up with the Mary Celeste before she reached Gibraltar.

The second theory hypothesizes that Briggs and Morehouse were buddies and conspired a plan to share the salvage. There was no proof that the two were friends. This would have made the plan totally plausible however, Briggs' had another child who didn't join him on the journey to Genoa. Why would Briggs' create a plan that involved him disappearing forever and leave his kid behind?

Another theory suggests pirate were involved however, that can easily be debunked. They would have looted the ship.

Due to the evidence that was provided, I feel what happened was accidental and unfortunate. I think the weather or some sort of malfunction with the ship caused Briggs' and the crew to panic. Although, the ship was still seaworthy and the safer option than the lifeboat, I think fear took over and they thought they were in enough danger to leave and unfortunately didn't make it to safety. Several commentators agree that what happened was a natural phenomena. Some suggest that there was a problem with the pumps and that's why water got onboard. A severe waterspout strike could explain the amount of water found on the ship and the state of her sails and rigging. If this was the case than the ship would eventually have been unseaworthy and the abandonment defensible.

There are many other theories proposing what happened and why, some possible and some not. What do you think happened to the Mary Celeste?

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