The Mary Celeste

History, Mysteries 5 Minutes

From: All That’s Interesting:

The Mary Celeste was discovered abandoned near the Azores Islands on December 5, 1872 — and to this day, experts are unsure about what happened to its crew.

On December 5, 1872, while sailing through rough weather, the Canadian brig Dei Gratia sighted a seemingly abandoned ship drifting through the Atlantic between Portugal and the Azores Islands. It was the Mary Celeste, an American brigantine that had left New York nearly a month prior.

When the crew of the Dei Gratia boarded the Mary Celeste, they found everything in perfect order. The crew’s clothes were even neatly packed away. Yet there was not a living soul to be found aboard the ship. The only possible clues that could explain the crew’s whereabouts were a disassembled pump in the hold and a missing lifeboat. And so began one of the most enduring mysteries of the sea.

The Crew Of The Dei Gratia Finds The Mary Celeste Abandoned At Sea

On Nov. 7, 1872, a merchant ship with a cargo of denatured alcohol left New York Harbor for Genoa, Italy. The Mary Celeste sailed forth, helmed by Captain Benjamin Briggs and his handpicked crew of seven men. Accompanying the sailors were Briggs’ wife and two-year-old daughter.

The ship and its crew spent two weeks at sea fighting against raging storms and treacherous seas before reaching the Azores. Captain Briggs chronicled the rough journey in his journal, but curiously, his log ended abruptly on Nov. 25, 1872, at 5 a.m.

The night prior, his log recalled, the ship and its crew had continued to face rough seas and winds of more than 35 knots, but by the morning they had come out on the other side unscathed with the island of Santa Maria in sight. All, it seemed, was well.  But when the crew of the Dei Gratia came across the Mary Celeste just over one week later, on December 5th, they found it abandoned, drifting in the seas 400 miles east of the Azores.

Celeste and found the ship in near-perfect condition. Aside from a few feet of water in the ship’s bilge — the lowest point of the ship, which rests beneath the waterline — things seemed to be mostly in order. A few charts had been tossed about below deck, but the crew’s belongings were neatly tucked away, and the ship was stocked with enough food and water to last six months. The only thing missing was its crew.

Theories About The Disappearance Of The Crew Of The Mary Celeste

It made no sense that Briggs, an experienced seaman, would abandon a perfectly seaworthy ship. In fact, Daily Nautica reports, Morehouse had dined with Briggs in New York just before each of the men and their respective crews set sail, and he considered the man to be a friend. He knew just how capable of a captain Briggs was.

Morehouse and his crew towed the merchant ship with them to Gibraltar, where authorities conducted an investigation that ultimately yielded no conclusive results. At this point, several theories began to surface. English inspector Frederick Flood was the first to hypothesize about the disappearance of the crew. With the knowledge that Morehouse and Briggs were friends, the inspector suspected that the two captains may have concocted a scheme to defraud the insurance company and split the profit earned from the eventual sale of the Mary Celeste.  Per the laws of the sea, the abandoned ship did now belong to Morehouse, after all. The inspector then theorized that Briggs had killed his crew and hidden himself away in the cargo hold of the Dei Gratia.

Flood’s theory, however, was full of holes. Briggs had in fact held property shares in the ship, so he would have gained nothing from the scheme. The theory also failed to account for Briggs’ wife and daughter.

The crew of the Dei Gratia eventually received payment. However, it was only one-sixth of the total $46,000 value of the Mary Celeste. Apparently, the authorities weren’t totally convinced of their innocence. Additional theories suggested that the crew had gotten drunk off the ship’s alcohol cargo and mutinied — but there were no signs of violence. Others said the ship must have been raided by pirates, yet no valuables were missing.

The mystery may very well have been left alone had author Arthur Conan Doyle not written the 1884 short story “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement,” a fictitious account of an ex-slave who captures a ship called the Marie Celeste. The story reignited interest in the ship, but as a theory, the story is entirely baseless.

Naturally, stories of sea monsters became associated with the missing crew, as did explanations of water spouts and, much later, extraterrestrial abduction.  Yet for all of these theories, none of the evidence ever matched.  Perhaps the most plausible theory was that vapors from the alcohol had blown the hatch cover off. Then, fearing fire, the crew abandoned the ship. However, the hatch cover was securely fastened, once again leaving no feasible explanation.

How A Documentarian May Have Solved The Mystery Of The ‘Mary Celeste’

In 2002, documentarian Anne MacGregor sought to investigate the story of the now-infamous ghost ship.  “There are obvious limitations for historic cases,” she said. “But using the latest technology, you can come to a different conclusion.”

Per Smithsonian magazine, MacGregor enlisted the help of a physical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts named Phil Richardson, and together they reconstructed the drift of the ghost ship and deduced that Briggs’ chronometer — which helps determine a vessel’s position at sea — had been faulty.

The Mary Celeste was hopelessly off course — 120 miles west of where it should have been. The captain thus expected to spot land three days earlier than he did. MacGregor also analyzed Flood’s notes from the time to determine that all had indeed been going as planned with the course of the Mary Celeste — until about five days before Briggs’ final log.

Significantly, Briggs’ logs and Flood’s notes show that the ship had changed course the day before it reached the Azores — Briggs was now sailing directly north towards Santa Maria Island. It’s possible the crew was seeking haven from the foul weather.

But even all of this wouldn’t make a captain abandon ship.

However, MacGregor also discovered that the ship had carried a load of coal on a previous voyage. Coal dust and debris from a recent refitting had potentially clogged the ship’s pumps, meaning any water that made it onto the ship’s lower decks didn’t have a way back out.

It’s possible that Briggs then decided that, with the ship off course, the crew’s best bet was to cut their losses and simply try to save themselves by abandoning ship and heading for the nearest piece of land. In this case, it was Santa Maria Island. Their lifeboat may have then tipped over, causing all ten of them to drown.

MacGregor’s theory is by no means universally accepted or even provable, but it at least lines up with the evidence (the disassembled pump, for example) in a way that other theories do not. Finally, some 130 years after the crew eerily vanished, the mystery of the Mary Celeste may finally have an answer.

SOURCE: ALLTHATSINTERESTING.COM AUTHOR: AUSTIN HARVEY

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90 thoughts on “The Mary Celeste”

    2. Huh! I learned to polka in the early ’70’s – my fiancé at the time, truck driver Rudy Smutney (he’s the one who taught me to drive a cab-over Freightliner) was Polish and his Dad taught me to polka at our engagement party. That relationship did NOT turn out well!!! He was a drunk and years later, was charged with killing his wife and did jail time. Good thing that wife wasn’t me, eh??? It is a small world in NE…..many, many years later, after the Legion Club closed here, I took a job managing the Tilden Legion Club. The previous manager was one of Rudy’s exes!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Grain of salt time until a reputable news source reports it, IMO!

    Just The News: “The FBI has made an arrest in connection with pipe bombs planted  planting pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021, according to a report.

    The arrest comes after a nearly five-year investigation to identify the bomber, who was seen on surveillance video in a hoodie, gloves, and a face mask, CNN reported. Two law enforcement sources told the media outlet about the arrest.”

    Liked by 1 person

  6. EXCERPT: “A key adviser to War Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the upcoming Pentagon inspector general report on so-called “Signalgate” does not find that Hegseth shared classified information when texting about upcoming strikes against the Houthis — and that the report will reveal improper cell phone practices by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

    Navy Reserve Commander Tim Parlatore, a lawyer and an adviser to Hegseth, told “Just the News, No Noise” on Wednesday that the report by Pentagon inspector general Steven Stebbins — which was delivered to Congress and is now expected to be made public on Thursday — “totally exonerates” the war secretary, and that it reveals details about the extensive use of Signal by Biden national security officials as well.

    “You’re going to see that it totally exonerates Pete Hegseth,” Parlatore said. “There is no classified material in those texts. Everything he declassified — that he has within his authority to declassify.”

    Parlatore added: “Classified information — did he violate that, did he put out classified information? And the answer is no. Totally exonerated.”

    “There is a tiny little section in there that is really untethered from the rest of the report where the investigator states their opinion that having this information out there on an unclassified could have endangered the troops,” Parlatore also said. “But the problem is it is completely untethered from the rest of the report. It doesn’t cite to a single source, not to a single document, not to a single interview, because it is not something that the IG was investigating.”

    Trump foe Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, published a story for his outlet in March titled, “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.”

    The Atlantic story from March said Goldberg had been added to the Signal group chat by a user named “Mike Waltz” — with Waltz serving as national security adviser at the time — and that the chat included users such as Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, and other national security officials…..”

    https://justthenews.com/government/security/hegseth-adviser-says-igs-signalgate-report-doesnt-find-hegseth-shared

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Just The News: “The Trump Justice Department is on track to compel more than half the states in America to clean up their voter rolls and believes sloppiness that left dead people and non-citizens in a position to vote in Democrat-run states is intentional, a top prosecutor told Just the News.

    “The sloppiness of the elections in blue states is no accident. It is on purpose. It is a feature, not a bug,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet J. Dhillon told the Just the News, No Noise television show on Wednesday night.

    “And the goal is to cram as many people on there and make voters who are not particularly engaged, make it easy for someone else to help them fill out their ballot and return it for them when they didn’t care enough to do it themselves,” she added. “What we can do at the federal government level is ensure that our federal election laws are observed, and that includes each state’s requirement to keep clean voter rolls,” she added. “That is a fundamental basic.”

    Dhillon spoke one day after her division filed lawsuits against six Democrat-run states — Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Washington state and Vermont — seeking to compel them to turn over to the DOJ their voter rolls to be inspected for abnormalities, outdated names or noncompliant names.

    She also struck a deal last week with North Carolina to force it to review and fix over 100,000 voters’ names on rolls in that battleground state that were added without complying with state law.

    Dhillon said her office is now on track to force through litigation, settlement or voluntary efforts at least 26 states to clean up voter rolls. “We’re now in litigation with 14 states. So the six yesterday included Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Washington State and Vermont. That adds to eight we already had going,” she said.

    “We are close to reaching resolution, voluntary cooperation with another dozen states, and I won’t say which those are, but I think we will definitely let the public know when that happens,” she added. “We have voluntary cooperation from four states, and we reached a settlement in a consent decree with the state of North Carolina.”

    Dhillon said the DOJ is checking records from all states, and it has found some states like California that are particularly “loosey, goosey.” She enumerated the sort of problems that are being uncovered in red and blue states alike.

    “There are definitely people on the voter rolls of every state who don’t belong there,” she said. “They’re dead. They’ve moved. They’re registered multiple times there. There have been reported instances of people, because of these insecure, double or extraneous registrations, going to the polls and having their vote recorded before they got there. Then there are clearly people on the voter rolls, including immigrants who are not citizens, and that can include legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, who are on the voter rolls,” she added.”

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I really like Stefanik!!!

    Just The News: “President Donald Trump has brokered a deal between Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson to include a provision requiring that the FBI inform Congress when it opens a counterintelligence investigation into federal political candidates in an upcoming bill.

    “Great news! After a productive discussion I had last night with President Trump and Speaker Johnson, the provision requiring Congressional disclosure when the FBI opens counterintelligence investigations into presidential and federal candidates seeking office will be included in the IAA/NDAA bill on the floor,” Stefanik confirmed.

    “This is a significant legislative win delivered against the illegal weaponization of the deep state. And, of course, while this is an important step, there is so much more work to do.”

    Trump’s intervention followed a high-profile online spat between Stefanik and Johnson over the provision, with Johnson denying any knowledge of the provision’s removal from a planned bill and Stefanik saying his comments were “lies.”

    “This is his preferred tactic to tell Members when he gets caught torpedoing the Republican agenda. It wasn’t on your radar? This is the ONLY provision in the bill to root out the deep state rot,” she said, earlier this week. “You torpedoed this, siding with Jamie Raskin. You said you would fix it, so fix it.”

    Liked by 1 person

  11. “It’s amazing – the shit you’ll find at a Goodwill store…“

    Ha! I remember these….blast from the past, fer sure!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Residential Building X1, Cologne Hahnwald, Germany, Peter Neufert’s private residence, built between 1959 and 1962.

    “The roof shell of the residential building spans the rooms without supports. Sound and heat insulation by Heraklith boards and glass wool are mounted under plasterboard.

    A carport leads into the facade of red cubes which serve as balconies and cupboards. The garden facade is glazed. A basalt stone wall separates the large living room with fireplace from the house bar. The entrance with access to the kitchen, wardrobe and guest toilet is separated from the living room by a blue sliding glass door.”

    Liked by 1 person

  16. WeThePeople2016
    December 4, 2025 11:22 am

    Florida Scores Nationwide Win in Fight to Remove Illegal Aliens From Voter Rolls

    Florida has secured a groundbreaking agreement with DHS that now applies across all 50 states, giving officials faster, easier, and free access to the SAVE database so states can verify citizenship status, process bulk requests, match Social Security numbers, and get responses within 48 hours. The SAVE system, run by USCIS, is used to confirm immigration status for benefits and licensing — and now it becomes a powerful tool for election integrity. Secretary of State Cord Byrd said clean voter rolls are essential, and this upgrade will strengthen the system for decades, marking yet another moment where Florida leads the nation under America-First leadership.

    🇺🇸Join👉 @SGTnewsNetwork

    https://t.me/SGTnewsNetwork/116006

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Yet another reason to never buy a new vehicle!!!

    “By government law, newer cars will turn the motor off if you come to a stop, say at a stoplight, then start the car again when you press the accelerator. Supposed to save gas. This button disables that function. Some cars don’t even allow that. Now, the good news is, the car makers are no longer required to add this function to your car, so it won’t shut off every time you come to a stop, and then start again when you ask it to go.”

    “How times have changed!”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Liked by 1 person

  23. Fucking savages!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Authentic Saloon Decor — Inside the Table Bluff Hotel and Saloon in Humboldt County, California. 1889

    Seth Kinman (September 29, 1815 – February 24, 1888) was an early settler of Humboldt County, California, a hunter based in Fort Humboldt, a famous chair maker, and a nationally recognized entertainer. He stood over 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and was known for his hunting prowess and his brutality toward bears and Indian warriors. Kinman claimed to have shot a total of over 800 grizzly bears, and, in a single month, over 50 elk. He was also a hotel keeper, saloon keeper, and a musician who performed for President Lincoln on a fiddle made from the skull of a mule.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. “A cool faucet!”

    “Often, people who have lost their hair due to chemo, alopecia, and other diseases and conditions seek to hide their bald pates under hats or wigs. The lovely people behind Henna Heals worked for five years to change all that. Rather than hiding away people’s bald heads, they turned them into canvases for beautiful, body-positive works of art!

    “For cancer patients, the henna crowns really are a healing experience. This is all about them reclaiming a part of themselves that would normally be perceived as ill or damaged or not nice to look at and making it more feminine and beautiful.” – Francis Darwin, founder of Henna Heals

    Henna Heals also offered henna services for parties, including belly painting for expectant mothers. No matter what the occasion, they always donated 10% of their proceeds to help subsidize the cost of crowns for those who needed them the most. The organization closed its doors in December of 2015, and their website states that they reached their goal of starting the movement. Although it’s sad that they are no longer in business, all is not lost. They left us instructions on how to do our own!”

    Liked by 1 person

  28. holy crap

    Liked by 1 person

  36. Just The News: “The FBI carefully analyzed the Jan. 6 pipe bomber suspect’s credit card purchases to isolate the components allegedly used to manufacture the two bombs, the newly filed criminal complaint obtained by Just the News shows. 

    The complaint, filed secretly on Wednesday, provides a detailed account of how the FBI identified and tracked the prime suspect in the case. It shows the FBI relied on a bank checking account and six different credit cards associated with suspect Brian Cole Jr. to the break in the case.

    Notably, Cole appears to have compiled some of the materials the FBI alleges he used to construct the bombs long before the 2020 presidential election, the results of which preceded the Capitol riot which took place on Jan. 6, 2021, the same day the pipe bombs were discovered at the Democratic and Republican National Committees. The pipe bombs allegedly place the night before.

    “During 2019 and 2020, COLE purchased multiple items consistent with the components that were used to manufacture the pipe bombs placed at the RNC and DNC. COLE used the Accounts to purchase these items from physical retail locations in northern Virginia,” wrote an FBI special agent in the affidavit submitted to the court. 

    According to the charging document, Cole appears to have purchased “six galvanized pipes” matching those used in the pipe bombs on or about June 1, June 8, and November 16, 2020 at two different Home Depot locations in Northern Virginia. Cole also allegedly purchased “a mix of both black and galvanized end caps” on or about October 22, 2019, and March 10, June 20, July 8, and November 16, 2020.

    The timers identified in the FBI laboratory analysis of the pipe bombs were allegedly purchased by Cole in June 2020 from a Walmart in northern Virginia.

    However, many of the materials the FBI believes Cole used to build the weapons were purchased after Election Day. These include: “A wire stripping tool on or about November 14, 2020; Wire nuts, which are used to join wires together, on or about November 14, 2020; Sandpaper on or about November 21, 2020;A machinist’s file, a tool for shaping and smoothing metal parts, on or about November 21, 2020; and Protective gloves and disinfecting wipes on or about November 24, 2020.” 

    You can read the criminal complaint below: 

    Criminal Affidavit – Brian J. Cole Jr..pdf

    Notably, the FBI reports that Cole allegedly continued to purchase bomb-making materials after Jan. 6, 2021, adding fresh mystery to the case and the suspect’s motivations. 

    “Following the placement of the pipe bombs on January 5, 2021, COLE continued to make purchases of components used in bomb making. For example, on January 21, 2021, COLE purchased one white kitchen timer and two nine-volt batteries from Walmart; on January 22, 2021, COLE purchased 2 galvanized pipes measuring 1” x 8” and steel wool from Home Depot; on January 22, 2021, COLE purchased two of a different kind of Nine Volt Distributor’s nine-volt battery clips from Micro Center; on January 23, 2021, COLE purchased various alligator clips from Home Depot,” the charging document reads. 

    So far, neither the FBI nor the Justice Department have revealed anything about what they believe the suspect’s motivates may have been. 

    Both FBI and Justice Department officials declined in a press conference Thursday to address any evidence that would show possible motivations. The criminal complaint provides no new details either. 

    In addition to tracing the suspects credit card purchases, the FBI assembled data associated with Cole’s mobile phone, which the agent working the case testifies matches closely with Cole’s alleged location according to the security footage long in the FBI’s possession.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Just The News: “President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered that flags be flown at half-staff to honor Sarah Beckstrom, the National Guardswoman slain in a recent attack in Washington, D.C.

    Beckstrom was killed while on duty in Washington, D.C., as part of Trump’s crime crackdown in the city. 

    “As a mark of respect for the memory of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, West Virginia Army National Guard, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, December 4, 2025,” Trump said in a statement.

    “I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations,” he added.”

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Well, that’s a surprise!!!

    Just The News: “U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has ordered that a couple pardoned by President Trump for their convictions regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot be refunded their restitution payments and fines, reversing his earlier decision.

    On Wednesday, Boasberg ruled that because of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, Cynthia Ballenger and her husband, Christopher Price, are to be refunded the $570 each in restitution payments and other fees paid as a part of their convictions, Fox News reported. 

    Ballenger and Price had been convicted on misdemeanor charges in connection with Jan. 6, before Trump pardoned them earlier this year with about 1,500 other defendants.

    “Having viewed the question afresh, the court now agrees with the defendants,” Boasberg said. In July, Boasberg rejected the couple’s request to be refunded the $570. However, they later asked him to reconsider.

    Boasberg on Wednesday said that the pardon alone is insufficient to entitle a former defendant to any property or compensation lost as a result of the conviction. However, both their cases had been pending before the D.C. Circuit Court when Trump granted the pardon, “thereby moot[ing] their appeals” and causing their convictions to be vacated completely by the higher court.

    “So even if defendants’ pardon does not entitle them to refunds, the resulting vacatur of their convictions might,” Boasberg wrote. “In plain English, vacatur — unlike a pardon — ‘wholly nullifie[s]’ the vacated order and ‘wipes the slate clean.'”

    “When a conviction is vacated, the government must return any payments exacted because of it,” he added.”

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Wall Street Apes
    @WallStreetApes
    This is insane. In every category of welfare programs, both illegals and immigrants get more aid than American citizens

    Breakdown of Families Receiving Welfare

    Food Assistance

    • U.S.-Born-Headed Households: 25%
    • Legal Immigrant Households: 34%
    • Illegal-Headed Households: 48%

    Medicaid

    • U.S.-Born-Headed Households: 25%
    • Legal Immigrant Households: 36%
    • Illegal-Headed Households: 39%

    Cash Assistance

    • U.S.-Born-Headed Households: 16%
    • Legal Immigrant Households: 23%
    • Illegal-Headed Households: 18%

    Housing Assistance

    • U.S.-Born-Headed Households: 5%
    • Legal Immigrant Households: 5%
    • Illegal-Headed Households: 4%

    Any Welfare (at least one type of welfare program)

    Illegal-Headed Households: 59%

    U.S.-Born-Headed Households: 39%

    Legal Immigrant Households: 52%

    Liked by 1 person

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