Today in History: The Mary Celeste is found abandoned, yet in near-perfect condition
The ship was carrying 1 701 barrels of poisonous denatured alcohol when it went missing.
On this day in 1872, the crew of the Dei Gratia discover the Mary Celeste abandoned, and drifting 804km from where its last log entry indicated it should be.
An American merchant brigantine, the Mary Celeste had set sail from New York Harbour on 7 November, two days after its scheduled departure was postponed due to poor weather, with the mission of carrying a cargo of denatured alcohol to Genoa. A Canadian ship, Dei Gratia, also set sail for Gibraltar eight days later and would follow the same general route as the Mary Celeste.
At 38°20’N, 17°15’W, midway between the Azores and the coast of Portugal at about 1pm on Wednesday, 4 December 1872, land time (Thursday, 5 December, sea time) Dei Gratia’s helmsman reported a vessel approximately 9,7km ahead that seemed to be floating astray. When they neared the vessel, they discovered the Mary Celeste, abandoned, with its sails damaged but with its cargo hold still intact.
The last entry into the ship’s log had been nine days prior, approximately 804km from wherethe Dei Gratia found her. Captain of the Dei Gratia, David Morehouse, sent four of his men to man Mary Celeste to harbour in Gibraltar.
Apparently, the Mary Celeste had been drifting towards Genoa on her intended course for 11 days with no one at the wheel to guide her. Captain of the ship, Benjamin S Briggs, his family, and the crew of the vessel were never found, and the reason for the abandonment of the Mary Celeste has never been determined.
According to Wikipedia, the state of the vessel was as follows:
“Oliver Deveau (Dei Gratia’s first mate) saw that the cabin interiors were wet and untidy from water that had entered through doorways and skylights, but were otherwise in reasonable order. In Benjamin Briggs’ (Mary Celeste’s captain) cabin, Deveau found personal items scattered about, including a sheathed sword under the bed, but most of the ship’s papers were missing, together with the captain’s navigational instruments. Galley equipment was neatly stowed away; there was no food prepared or under preparation, but there were ample provisions in the stores. There were no obvious signs of fire or violence; the evidence indicated an orderly departure from the ship, by means of the missing lifeboat.”
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