Mary Celeste was a ship built in Canada and registered in the United States. It was found floating and empty in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores on December 4, 1872. The ship Dei Gratia, a Canadian vessel, discovered Mary Celeste in poor condition but still seaworthy. It was sailing with partial sails, and its lifeboat was missing. The last entry in Mary Celeste’s logbook was dated 10 days earlier. The ship had left New York City for Genoa on November 7 and still had enough supplies when found. Its alcohol cargo was undamaged, and the captain’s and crew’s personal items were untouched. No one from Mary Celeste was ever seen again.
Mary Celeste was built in Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia, and first named Amazon under British ownership in 1861. In 1868, it was bought by American owners and renamed Mary Celeste. It sailed without major problems until its 1872 voyage. After Mary Celeste was recovered, a court in Gibraltar investigated possible causes of the abandonment, including crew mutiny, piracy by Dei Gratia’s crew, or fraud. No clear evidence supported these theories, and the case remained unsolved. This led to a small reward for the salvagers.
The mystery of Mary Celeste’s abandoned crew has led to many guesses over time. Some theories include alcohol fumes from the cargo, underwater earthquakes, waterspouts, attacks by giant squids, or supernatural causes. After the Gibraltar hearings, Mary Celeste continued sailing under new owners. In 1885, its captain intentionally wrecked it off Haiti as part of an insurance fraud. The story of Mary Celeste’s 1872 mystery has been told in books, films, and plays. In 1884, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a short story titled "J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement," based on the event. This story helped make the name Mary Celeste more commonly used than its original spelling, Marie Celeste.
Early history
The keel of the ship that would later be called the Mary Celeste was laid in late 1860 at the shipyard of Joshua Dewis in the village of Spencer's Island, on the shores of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. The ship was built using locally cut wood, had two masts, and was rigged as a brigantine. The hull planks were fitted tightly together without overlapping. The ship was launched on May 18, 1861, and named Amazon. It was registered at nearby Parrsboro on June 10, 1861. The registration documents described the ship as 99.3 feet (30.3 meters) long, 25.5 feet (7.8 meters) wide, 11.7 feet (3.6 meters) deep, and with a gross tonnage of 198.42. The ship was owned by a group of nine local people, led by Dewis. One of the owners was Robert McLellan, who was the ship's first captain.
For its first voyage in June 1861, the Amazon sailed to Five Islands, Nova Scotia, to load timber for transport across the Atlantic to London. After overseeing the loading, Captain McLellan became ill and his condition worsened. The Amazon returned to Spencer's Island, where McLellan died on June 19. John Nutting Parker became the new captain and continued the voyage to London. During this trip, the Amazon had more problems. It collided with fishing equipment near Eastport, Maine, and later sank a brig in the English Channel after leaving London.
Parker remained the captain for two years, during which the Amazon mainly worked in the West Indies trade. The ship crossed the Atlantic to France in November 1861. In Marseille, the ship was painted, possibly by Honoré de Pellegrin, a well-known maritime artist from the Marseilles School. In 1863, Parker was replaced by William Thompson, who remained the captain until 1867. These years were calm, with no major incidents. The ship’s mate later said, “We went to the West Indies, England, and the Mediterranean—what we call the foreign trade. Not a thing unusual happened.” In October 1867, the Amazon was driven ashore during a storm at Cape Breton Island and was badly damaged. Its owners abandoned it as a wreck. On October 15, the wreck was acquired by Alexander McBean of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.
Within a month, McBean sold the wreck to a local businessman, who sold it in November 1868 to Richard W. Haines, an American mariner from New York. Haines paid $1,750 for the wreck and spent $8,825 to restore it. He became the ship’s captain and registered it in December 1868 with the Collector of the Port of New York as an American vessel under the new name Mary Celeste.
In October 1869, the ship was seized by Haines’ creditors and sold to a New York group led by James H. Winchester. Over the next three years, the group changed members several times, but Winchester kept at least half of the shares. No records of the Mary Celeste’s activities during this time have been found. In early 1872, the ship underwent major repairs costing $10,000, which made it larger. Its length was increased to 103 feet (31 meters), its width to 25.7 feet (7.8 meters), and its depth to 16.2 feet (4.9 meters). Structural changes included adding a second deck, extending the poop deck, and replacing many timbers. These changes increased the ship’s weight to 282.28 tonnes. On October 29, 1872, the group consisted of Winchester with six shares, two minor investors with one share each, and the remaining four shares held by the ship’s new captain, Benjamin Spooner Briggs.
Benjamin Briggs was born in Wareham, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1835, one of five sons of sea captain Nathan Briggs. All but one of his brothers went to sea, and two became captains. Briggs was a religious man who read the Bible often and shared his faith at prayer meetings. In 1862, he married his cousin Sarah Elizabeth Cobb and had a Mediterranean honeymoon on his schooner Forest King. Two children were born: Arthur in September 1865 and Sophia Matilda in October 1870.
By the time Sophia was born, Briggs had gained a high reputation in his profession. He considered retiring to start a business with his brother Oliver, who also wanted to leave the sea. They did not proceed with the plan but each invested in a share of a ship: Oliver in Julia A. Hallock and Benjamin in Mary Celeste. In October 1872, Benjamin took command of Mary Celeste for its first voyage after its major repairs in New York, which was to sail to Genoa, Italy. He arranged for his wife and infant daughter to join him, while his school-aged son stayed home with his grandmother.
Briggs carefully selected the crew for this voyage. First mate Albert G. Richardson was married to a niece of Winchester and had sailed with Briggs before. Second mate Andrew Gilling, about 25 years old, was born in New York and had Danish ancestry. The steward, newly married Edward William Head, was recommended by Winchester. The four general seamen were Germans from the Frisian Islands (brothers Volkert and Boz Lorenzen), Arian Martens, and Gottlieb Goudschaal. A later report described them as “peaceable and first-class sailors.” In a letter to his mother before the voyage, Briggs said he was very satisfied with the ship and crew. Sarah Briggs told her mother that the crew seemed “quietly capable… if they continue as they have begun.”
Abandonment
On October 20, 1872, Briggs arrived at Pier 50 on the East River in New York City to oversee the loading of the ship’s cargo of 1,701 barrels of alcohol. His wife and infant daughter joined him a week later. On Sunday, November 3, Briggs wrote to his mother to say he planned to leave on Tuesday, adding, “our vessel is in beautiful trim and I hope we shall have a fine passage.”
On Tuesday, November 5, the ship Mary Celeste left Pier 50 with Briggs, his wife and daughter, and seven crew members, entering New York Harbor. The weather was uncertain, so Briggs decided to wait for better conditions. He anchored the ship near Staten Island, where Sarah used the delay to send a final letter to her mother-in-law. She wrote, “Tell Arthur, I make great dependence on the letters I shall get from him, and will try to remember anything that happens on the voyage which he would be pleased to hear.” Two days later, the weather improved, and Mary Celeste left the harbor and entered the Atlantic.
At the same time, the Canadian brigantine Dei Gratia was in Hoboken, New Jersey, waiting for a cargo of petroleum destined for Genoa via Gibraltar. Captain David Morehouse and first mate Oliver Deveau were Nova Scotians, both experienced and respected sailors. Captains Briggs and Morehouse shared common interests, and some writers believe they may have known each other, though evidence is limited to a recollection by Morehouse’s widow 50 years later. Dei Gratia departed for Gibraltar on November 15, following the same general route eight days after Mary Celeste.
On Wednesday, December 4, 1872, Dei Gratia reached a position midway between the Azores and the coast of Portugal. Captain Morehouse noticed a ship heading unsteadily toward them at a distance of about six miles. The ship’s erratic movements and damaged sails made Morehouse suspect something was wrong. As the vessel approached, no one was on deck, and signals went unanswered. Morehouse sent Deveau and second mate John Wright in a boat to investigate. They identified the ship as Mary Celeste by the name on its stern and found it deserted. The sails were in poor condition, some missing, and much of the rigging was damaged. The main hatch was secure, but other hatches were open. The ship’s lifeboat was missing, and the compass housing was broken. About three and a half feet of water were in the hold, and a makeshift sounding rod was found on the deck.
In the mate’s cabin, they found the ship’s daily log, with the final entry dated November 25. It recorded Mary Celeste’s position as near Santa Maria Island in the Azores, nearly 400 nautical miles from where Dei Gratia encountered her. Deveau noted the cabin interiors were wet and untidy, but otherwise in reasonable order. Personal items, including a sheathed sword, were scattered in Briggs’ cabin, but most papers and navigational instruments were missing. No signs of fire or violence were found, suggesting the crew had left orderly via the missing lifeboat.
Deveau returned to report these findings to Morehouse, who decided to bring Mary Celeste to Gibraltar. Under maritime law, a salvor could expect a reward based on the value of the rescued vessel and cargo. Morehouse divided his crew between the two ships, sending Deveau and two experienced seamen to Mary Celeste, while four others and he remained on Dei Gratia. The journey to Gibraltar was slow due to being undermanned, but the weather was relatively calm. Dei Gratia arrived on December 12, while Mary Celeste encountered fog and reached Gibraltar the next morning. The ship was immediately taken into custody by the vice admiralty court for salvage hearings. Deveau wrote to his wife that the journey was difficult but worth it, saying, “I can hardly tell what I am made of, but I do not care so long as I got in safe. I shall be well paid for the Mary Celeste.”
Gibraltar salvage hearings
The salvage court hearings for the Mary Celeste began in Gibraltar on December 17, 1872, under Sir James Cochrane, the chief justice of Gibraltar. The hearing was led by Frederick Solly-Flood, the Attorney General of Gibraltar, who also served as Advocate-General and Proctor for the Queen in the Admiralty. A historian of the Mary Celeste affair described Flood as a man who acted with great confidence but whose intelligence was not as high as his attitude suggested. The historian also noted that once Flood made a decision, he did not change his mind. Testimonies from Deveau and Wright convinced Flood that a crime had occurred. This belief was reported in the New York Shipping and Commercial List on December 21, which stated, "The inference is that there has been foul play somewhere, and that alcohol is at the bottom of it."
On December 23, Flood ordered an inspection of the Mary Celeste. John Austin, the Surveyor of Shipping, conducted the examination with the help of a diver named Ricardo Portunato. Austin found cuts on both sides of the ship’s bow, which he believed were made with a sharp tool. He also noted possible traces of blood on the captain’s sword. Austin reported that the ship did not show signs of damage from severe weather, citing a vial of sewing machine oil that remained upright in its original place. He did not consider the possibility that the vial might have been moved after the ship was abandoned, and the court did not address this point. Portunato’s report on the ship’s hull concluded that it had not been involved in a collision or run aground.
A further inspection by a group of Royal Naval captains supported Austin’s findings, confirming that the cuts on the bow were likely made intentionally. They also discovered stains on one of the ship’s rails that might have been blood, along with a deep mark possibly caused by an axe. These discoveries reinforced Flood’s belief that human actions, not natural disasters, caused the mystery. On January 22, 1873, Flood sent his reports to the Board of Trade in London, concluding that the crew had attacked the Briggs family and the officers in a drunken state. He believed they had cut the bow to mimic a collision and then fled in the yawl, leaving the ship to face an unknown fate. Flood suspected that Captain Morehouse and his crew were hiding information, including the possibility that the Mary Celeste had been abandoned in a different location and that the ship’s log had been altered. He could not accept that the ship could have traveled so far without a crew.
James Winchester arrived in Gibraltar on January 15 to inquire about when the Mary Celeste might be released to deliver its cargo. Flood demanded a $15,000 payment as a guarantee, which Winchester did not have. Winchester learned that Flood suspected him of intentionally hiring a crew that might have killed Briggs and the officers as part of a conspiracy. On January 29, during a tense exchange with Flood, Winchester testified that Briggs was a man of high character and would not have abandoned the ship unless forced to do so. Flood’s theories about mutiny and murder faced challenges when scientific analysis showed that the stains on the sword and other parts of the ship were not blood. Another setback occurred when a report by Captain Shufeldt of the US Navy, commissioned by Horatio Sprague, the American consul in Gibraltar, concluded that the marks on the bow were not man-made but resulted from natural sea activity on the ship’s timbers.
With no clear evidence to support his claims, Flood reluctantly released the Mary Celeste from the court’s jurisdiction on February 25. Two weeks later, the ship left Gibraltar for Genoa with a locally hired crew led by Captain George Blatchford from Massachusetts. The question of salvage payment was resolved on April 8, when Cochrane announced an award of £1,700, or about one-fifth of the ship and cargo’s total value. This amount was much lower than expected, with some experts believing it should have been twice or three times higher due to the risks involved in bringing the derelict ship to port. Cochrane criticized Morehouse for his earlier decision to send the ship Dei Gratia under Deveau to deliver its petroleum cargo, even though Morehouse had remained in Gibraltar for the court’s use. In his 2005 book, Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew, writer Brian Hicks noted that Cochrane’s tone implied wrongdoing, ensuring that Morehouse and his crew would face suspicion in public opinion for years to come.
Proposed explanations
The evidence found in Gibraltar did not support Flood's theories about murder or conspiracy, but some people still believed something bad had happened. Flood and some newspapers briefly thought that Winchester might have committed insurance fraud because the ship Mary Celeste was insured for more than its value. Winchester denied these claims, and no official investigation was started by the insurance companies. In 1931, an article in the Quarterly Review suggested that Morehouse might have waited for Mary Celeste, then lured Briggs and his crew onto Dei Gratia and killed them. Paul Begg pointed out that this theory ignores the fact that Dei Gratia was a slower ship; it left New York eight days after Mary Celeste and would not have reached Gibraltar before her.
Another idea is that Briggs and Morehouse worked together to share money from salvaging the ship, but there is no proof they were friends. Hicks wrote that if they had planned this, they would not have created such a mysterious situation. He also questioned why Briggs would leave his son Arthur behind if he meant to disappear forever.
Although Riffian pirates were active near Morocco in the 1870s, Charles Edey Fay noted that pirates would have taken valuable items from the ship, but the captain and crew’s belongings were not disturbed. In 1925, historian John Gilbert Lockhart suggested that Briggs might have killed everyone on board and then committed suicide due to religious reasons. However, Lockhart later talked to Briggs’ family and changed his mind about this theory.
Briggs’ cousin, Oliver Cobb, later said that moving people to the small boat might have been a temporary safety plan. He thought that the ship’s main rope might have been used to attach the boat, allowing the crew to return to Mary Celeste once the danger passed. However, if the rope had broken, the boat would have drifted away with its passengers. Begg argued that attaching the boat to a ship the crew believed was about to explode or sink would not make sense. Macdonald Hastings said Briggs was an experienced captain who would not have led a panicked escape, writing that staying on Mary Celeste would have been safer than using the lifeboat.
Arthur N. Putman, an early 20th-century insurance expert, proposed that only one lifeboat was missing from the ship. He found that the boat’s rope was cut, not untied, suggesting the crew left quickly. The ship’s log mentioned strange sounds, like rumbling and small explosions, from the hold. Alcohol naturally produces flammable gas, which can cause such noises. Putman thought a stronger explosion might have happened, and a sailor might have lit a flame or cigar, causing a fire that damaged the ship’s hatch. He believed the crew then rushed to the lifeboat, cut the rope, and left Mary Celeste.
Most experts agree that something unusual and frightening must have happened to make the crew abandon a seaworthy ship with enough supplies. Deveau suggested that a faulty measurement might have made the crew think the ship was taking on water. A waterspout could explain the water and damage to the ship’s sails and rigging. Low air pressure from the spout might have caused water to rise in the pumps, making the crew believe the ship was sinking.
Other theories include a drifting iceberg, fear of running aground, or an underwater earthquake. Evidence suggests an iceberg drifting that far south was unlikely, and other ships would have seen it. Begg thought the ship might have drifted toward a reef when it was becalmed, leading Briggs to launch the boat in hopes of reaching land. However, if the ship was becalmed, its sails should have been set to catch any wind, but Mary Celeste was found with many sails folded.
An earthquake could have caused turbulence that damaged the ship’s cargo, releasing dangerous fumes. Fear of an explosion might have led Briggs to order an evacuation. The New York World reported cases where alcohol ships exploded. Briggs’ cousin, Oliver Cobb, believed that sounds from the hold, smells of fumes, and possibly an explosion caused the crew to leave. In their rush, Briggs might not have secured the boat properly, and a sudden wind could have blown the ship away, leaving the boat’s occupants to face the elements. However, the lack of explosion damage and the ship’s intact cargo weakens this idea.
In 2006, an experiment by chemist Andrea Sella for Channel Five television tested the explosion theory. He used a model of the ship’s hold and butane gas to create an explosion. The test caused a large flame but no fire damage. Sella explained that the explosion was a pressure wave with cool air behind it, leaving no soot or burning marks.
Retellings and false histories
Fact and fiction became mixed together in the years after the Mary Celeste story. In June 1883, the Los Angeles Times shared the Mary Celeste story, adding made-up details. It described sails set, the tiller lashed tightly, and the galley fire still burning. The November 1906 Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine reported that the Mary Celeste drifted near the Cape Verde Islands, 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) south of where the ship was actually found. The article included errors, such as naming the first mate "Briggs" and claiming live chickens were on board.
The most influential retelling came in January 1884, when Arthur Conan Doyle, a 25-year-old ship's surgeon, wrote a story for Cornhill Magazine. His story, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement," changed many facts. He renamed the ship Marie Celeste, gave the captain a new name, J. W. Tibbs, and set the voyage in 1873 from Boston to Lisbon. The story included fictional events, such as a man named Septimius Goring killing the crew and leaving only Jephson alive. Doyle did not expect his story to be taken seriously, but Sprague, who was still a U.S. consul in Gibraltar, asked if any parts might be true.
In September 1904, Chambers' Journal suggested that a giant octopus or squid took the crew of the Mary Celeste one by one. The Natural History Museum notes that giant squid can grow up to 15 meters (49 feet) and may attack ships. However, experts believe such a creature could not have taken the ship's small boat or navigation tools.
In 1913, The Strand Magazine published a story by Abel Fosdyk, claiming to be the Mary Celeste’s steward. He said the crew was on a floating platform watching a swimming contest when it collapsed, killing all but him. This story had many errors, like misspelling names and incorrect details about the crew. A 1920s story by Laurence J. Keating, presented as a survivor’s account, also included errors but was widely believed. The New York Herald Tribune even claimed the story’s truth was certain.
In 1924, the Daily Express published a story by Captain R. Lucy, claiming the Mary Celeste’s former boatswain told him the crew stole gold from a derelict ship and fled to Spain. This story had no basis in records, yet many readers believed it. Other theories, such as paranormal events or alien abductions, were also suggested, though the Mary Celeste was found far from the Bermuda Triangle.
Later career and final voyage
Mary Celeste left Genoa on June 26, 1873, and reached New York on September 19. The Gibraltar hearings, which included newspaper reports about violence and murder, made the ship unpopular. Hastings wrote that the ship was "… rotted on wharves where nobody wanted her." In February 1874, a group of people sold the ship at a big loss to a partnership of New York businessmen.
Under new ownership, Mary Celeste mainly traveled on routes between the West Indies and the Indian Ocean, but she often lost money. Occasionally, news about her movements appeared in shipping reports. In February 1879, she was reported near the island of St. Helena, where she stopped to get medical help for her captain, Edgar Tuthill, who was sick. Tuthill died on the island, which led people to believe the ship was cursed—he was the third captain to die early. In February 1880, the ship was sold to a group of Bostonians led by Wesley Gove. A new captain, Thomas L. Fleming, stayed in his role until August 1884, when he was replaced by Gilman C. Parker. During these years, the ship’s registered port changed several times before returning to Boston. No records of her voyages during this time are known, though Brian Hicks, who studied the ship, said Gove worked hard to make the ship successful.
In November 1884, Parker worked with a group of Boston shippers to fill Mary Celeste with cargo that had little value, but they listed it as valuable goods on the ship’s manifest. They also insured the ship for US$30,000 (about $1,070,000 today). On December 16, Parker set sail for Port-au-Prince, the capital and main port of Haiti. On January 3, 1885, Mary Celeste reached the port through a channel between Gonâve Island and the mainland, where a large, well-mapped coral reef called the Rochelois Bank was located. Parker intentionally ran the ship onto the reef, damaging it beyond repair. The crew and Parker then rowed to shore, where Parker sold the ship’s salvageable cargo for $500 to the American consul and claimed insurance for the supposed value.
When the consul reported that the cargo was nearly worthless, the ship’s insurers began an investigation, which uncovered the truth about the over-insured goods. In July 1885, Parker and the shippers were tried in Boston for plotting to commit insurance fraud. Parker was also charged with "wilfully cast[ing] away the ship," a crime called barratry, which at the time carried the death penalty. The trial for the conspiracy charge was held first, but on August 15, the jury could not agree on a verdict. Some jurors did not want to risk affecting Parker’s upcoming trial by finding him guilty. Instead of a retrial, the judge arranged for the defendants to withdraw their insurance claims and return all the money they had received. The barratry charge against Parker was postponed, and he was allowed to go free. However, his professional reputation was ruined, and he died in poverty three months later. One of his co-defendants went mad, and another killed himself. Begg wrote, "{I}f the court of man could not punish these men … the curse that had devilled the ship since her first skipper Robert McLellan had died on her maiden voyage could reach beyond the vessel's watery grave and exact its own terrible retribution."
In August 2001, an expedition led by marine archaeologist and author Clive Cussler announced they had found the remains of a ship embedded in the Rochelois reef. Only a few pieces of wood and some metal items could be recovered, with the rest of the wreckage lost in the coral. Initial tests on the wood suggested it was the type used in New York shipyards during Mary Celeste’s 1872 refitting, which made it seem like the ship had been found. However, tree ring analysis by Scott St George of the Geological Survey of Canada showed the wood came from trees in the U.S. state of Georgia, which were still growing in 1894—about 10 years after Mary Celeste’s final voyage.
Legacy and commemorations
The Mary Celeste was not the first ship found abandoned at sea. Rupert Gould, a naval officer and researcher, recorded similar incidents between 1840 and 1855. While these stories remain unexplained, the Mary Celeste is the most famous case. Its name, or the misspelled Marie Celeste, is now closely linked to mysterious desertions at sea.
In October 1955, the MV Joyita, a 70-ton motor vessel, vanished in the South Pacific while traveling between Samoa and Tokelau with 25 people on board. A month later, the ship was discovered drifting 600 miles (970 km) off course, north of Vanua Levu. No one on board was ever seen again, and an official investigation could not explain what happened. David Wright, a historian, called the case "a classic marine mystery of Mary Celeste proportions."
The Mary Celeste’s story inspired two popular radio plays in the 1930s by L. Du Garde Peach and Tim Healey. A stage version of Peach’s play was performed in 1949. Many books have been written about the ship, usually offering natural explanations rather than supernatural ones. In 1935, the British film company Hammer Film Productions released The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (called Phantom Ship in the United States), featuring Bela Lugosi as a troubled sailor. Though the film was not a hit, some consider it a notable piece of its time. A 1938 short film titled The Ship That Died explored theories such as mutiny, fear of alcohol fumes, and supernatural causes.
In November 2007, the Smithsonian Channel aired a documentary titled The True Story of the Mary Celeste. It examined many aspects of the case but did not provide a clear answer. One theory suggested pump problems and faulty instruments. Before carrying alcohol, the Mary Celeste had transported coal, which produces dust. The pump was found broken on deck, suggesting the crew may have tried to fix it. The ship was heavily loaded, making it hard for the captain to measure how much water had entered during rough seas. The documentary also proposed that a broken chronometer led the captain to believe they were near Santa Maria when they were actually 120 miles (190 km) farther west.
At Spencer’s Island, a monument honors the Mary Celeste and its lost crew at the site where the ship was built. A memorial outdoor cinema shaped like the ship’s hull also stands there. Postage stamps featuring the Mary Celeste have been issued by Gibraltar (twice) and the Maldives (twice, with one stamp incorrectly spelling the ship’s name as Marie Celeste).