Mary Celeste
An 1861 painting of Mary Celeste as Amazon, by an unknown artist
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| History | |
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 Canada
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| Name: | Amazon |
| Port of registry: | Parrsboro, Nova Scotia |
| Builder: | Joshua Dewis, Spencer's Island Nova Scotia |
| Launched: | May 18, 1861 |
| Fate: | Ran aground Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, 1867, salvaged and sold to American owners |
| History | |
 United States
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| Name: |
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| Port of registry: | Principally New York or Boston |
| Builder: | Rebuilt 1872, New York (yard not named) |
| Fate: | Deliberately wrecked off the coast of Haiti, 1885. |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: |
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| Length: | 99.3 ft (30.3 m) as built, 103 ft (31 m) after rebuild |
| Beam: | 22.5 ft (6.9 m) as built, 25.7 after rebuild |
| Depth: | 11.7 ft (3.6 m) as built, 16.2 ft (4.9 m) after rebuild |
| Decks: | 1, as built, 2 after rebuild |
| Sail plan: | Brigantine |
Mary Celeste (often misreported as Marie Celeste) was an American merchant brigantine, discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Azores Islands, on December 5, 1872. The Canadian brigantine Dei Gratia found her in a dishevelled but seaworthy condition, under partial sail, and with her lifeboat missing. The last entry in her log was dated ten days earlier. She had left New York City for Genoa on November 7, and on discovery was still amply provisioned. Her cargo of denatured alcohol was intact, and the captain's and crew's personal belongings were undisturbed. None of those who had been on board were ever seen or heard from again.
Mary Celeste was built in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, and launched under British registration as Amazon, in 1861. She transferred to American ownership and registration in 1868, when she acquired her new name, and thereafter sailed uneventfully until her 1872 voyage. At the salvage hearings in Gibraltar, following her recovery, the court's officers considered various possibilities of foul play, including mutiny by Mary Celeste's crew, piracy by the Dei Gratia crew or others, and conspiracy to carry out insurance or salvage fraud. No convincing evidence supported these theories, but unresolved suspicions led to a relatively low salvage award.
The inconclusive nature of the hearings helped to foster continued speculation as to the nature of the mystery, and the story has repeatedly been complicated by false detail and fantasy. Hypotheses that have been advanced include the effects on the crew of alcohol fumes rising from the cargo, submarine earthquakes (seaquakes), waterspouts, attacks by giant squid, and paranormal intervention.
After the Gibraltar hearings, Mary Celeste continued in service under new owners. In 1885, her captain deliberately wrecked her off the coast of Haiti, as part of an attempted insurance fraud. The story of her 1872 abandonment has been recounted and dramatized many times, in documentaries, novels, plays and films, and the name of the ship has become a byword for unexplained desertion.
The keel of the future 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 constructed of locally felled timber, with two masts, and was rigged as a brigantine; she was carvel-built, with the hull planking flush rather than overlapping. She was launched on May 18, 1861, given the name Amazon, and registered at nearby Parrsboro on June 10, 1861. Her registration documents described her as 99.3 feet (30.3 m) in length, 25.5 feet (7.8 m) broad, with a depth of 11.7 feet (3.6 m), and of 198.42 gross tonnage. She was owned by a local consortium of nine people, headed by Dewis; among the co-owners was Robert McLellan, the ship's first captain.
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Wikipedia