On This Day - November 7th 1872
The 'Mary Celeste' sets sail, only to be mysteriously abandoned at sea, with no sign of its crew ever found.
The Mary Celeste was a ship found abandoned off the coast of Portugal in 1872. Originally named 'The Amazon' when it was first built in Nova Scotia in 1861, the 103-foot, 282-ton brigantine was renamed the 'Mary Celeste' in 1869 after changing hands several times.
On 7 November 1872, under the command of Captain Benjamin Briggs, the ship set sail from New York to Genoa, Italy. A month later, on December 4, it was found adrift and abandoned, yet its cargo of 1700 barrels of alcohol was intact. None of the Mary Celeste's crew or passengers was ever found. Theories have abounded as to what happened. The most logical was that the ship was hit by a seaquake, common in the Azores, where the ship would have been at that time. Evidence indicated that the quake had dislodged some of the alcohol barrels, dumping almost 500 gallons of raw alcohol into the bilge. The galley stove shook so violently that it was lifted up from its chocks, perhaps even sending sparks and embers flying. This, mixed with the alcohol fumes, possibly caused the crew and passengers to fear for their safety. They may have taken to the lifeboats, but were unable to catch up to the brig when the quaking subsided. Regardless of the theories, the mystery endures as to why the 'Mary Celeste' was abandoned.