Ship Simulator

English forum => Small talk => Topic started by: cptnchris on July 28, 2009, 00:24:08

Title: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: cptnchris on July 28, 2009, 00:24:08: One of the great maritime mysteries is that of the Mary Celeste.

Over 125 years ago, the ship was found floating, crewless, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in apparent pristine condition. The fate of the crew and passengers has never been adequately explained.

The Mary Celeste was launched in 1861, from the shipyard at Spencer's Island near the head of the Bay of Fundy, under the name Amazon. Following an accidental grounding at Cow Bay in Cape Breton in 1868, she was repaired and renamed the Mary Celeste. She operated under an American flag out of New York.

On November 7, 1872, the Mary Celeste sailed under the command of Captain Benjamin Briggs bound for Europe with a cargo of wines and liquors. He was accompanied by his wife, his young daughter and a crew of seven.

On December 4, 1872, the Mary Celeste was found floating 600 miles off Gibraltar. The official reports stated that everything to be in good order, except that the ship's paper and its chronometer were missing. The last entry into the captain's logs, on November 24, gave no indication of anything untoward happening or about to happen.

This is where the story gets a little murky and the mystery deepens.

The condition of the Mary Celeste, at the time of her discovery at sea, vary according to the reporter. One report suggested that there were bloodied weapons on board and blood on some of the sail. If this is true it suggests a pirate attack, something that was common in that area around that period. But if it was a pirating, why was the money box and the ship's cargo of wine and liquor not taken?

Another area of conflicting observation is whether or not the only lifeboat was still strapped to the ship.

Some other theories put forward over the years concerning the Mary Celeste have included:

the entire crew may have been swept overboard (assuming that one of them must have been carrying the chronometer and ship's papers at the time) by a large wave while watching their delirious (or drunken), fully-dressed, captain swimming around the vessel in mid-ocean with his daughter on his back (You can be sure that Mrs. Captain had something to say about that!).
the Mary Celeste came to the aid of a burning cargo ship filled with coal and explosives. The Mary Celeste got a little too close to the burning ship and the crew abandoned ship into a small lifeboat which also picked up the crew of the cargo ship. The lifeboat then capsized and all hands were lost. Unfortunately there isn't any record of a cargo ship being lost during that period and some have reported that the single lifeboat was still onboard the Mary Celeste.
the captain of the Dei Gratia, the ship which found and applied for salvage rights to the Mary Celeste, hatched a plot to takeover the ship by placing three of his cut throats on the Mary Celeste as crewmen. Once at sea, the crewmen overtook the vessel and killed the captain and crew. The Dei Gratia then "discovered" the "abandoned" vessel and claimed salvage rights to the ship and the cargo.

What is the real story of the Mary Celeste? What was the fate of Captain Briggs and his family, and the crew of the Mary Celeste?

what do you think happened?
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: Wave Music on July 28, 2009, 00:30:13: I wonder from where did you got all those infos? Sure you weren't typing all that by yourself. ;)
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: cptnchris on July 28, 2009, 00:31:23: i edited some of it, but what do you think happened?
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: Wave Music on July 28, 2009, 00:35:42: I mean that if you took that from somewhere - you should give a credit. ;) If you don't understand, Fred could explain you that subject in the way how he once explained that to me.
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: Wave Music on July 28, 2009, 00:39:52: http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Nova_Scotia/mary_celeste.htm

Quote
Copyright 1998-2009 to identified authors. All rights reserved.

I'm sure you're not Anna Derks :P
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: capn_cal on July 28, 2009, 00:44:46: maybe it ran out of gas (if it runs off of it)
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: Wave Music on July 28, 2009, 00:48:48: Quote from: capn_cal on July 28, 2009, 00:44:46
maybe it ran out of gas (if it runs off of it)

Wait till Captain Mike will see that! ;D
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: capn_cal on July 28, 2009, 00:50:52: Quote from: Wave Music on July 28, 2009, 00:48:48
Wait till Captain Mike will see that! ;D
why? will he laugh like crazy?
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: Minime on July 28, 2009, 02:12:53: it was a sailboat :doh:
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: firestar12 on July 28, 2009, 03:07:03: Quote from: capn_cal on July 28, 2009, 00:44:46
maybe it ran out of gas (if it runs off of it)
And because of that the crew decided to leave or jump off the ship? Sorry, I don't see that! :doh:
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: capn_cal on July 28, 2009, 04:30:34: Quote from: Minime on July 28, 2009, 02:12:53
it was a sailboat :doh:
well i didn't know until now :doh: :doh:
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: IRI5HJ4CK on July 28, 2009, 10:36:46: Quote from: Wave Music on July 28, 2009, 00:48:48
Wait till Captain Mike will see that! ;D

Fuel Prices then were Sky High, probably didn't have enough to make it...Bahahah :lol:

Economy was booming.... :lol: :D

Jack.
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: RMS Canada on July 30, 2009, 21:54:46: I'm not quite sure.
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: trains on August 02, 2009, 01:43:13: A lone ship with no crew floating 600 miles away from Gibraltar? Now I feel like watching Ghost Ship again :2thumbs:
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: firestar12 on August 02, 2009, 01:44:20: Quote from: trains on August 02, 2009, 01:43:13
A lone ship with no crew floating 600 miles away from Gibraltar? Now I feel like watching Ghost Ship again :2thumbs:
Of course...hehe. (Off topic, but can you get on AIM, Scott?)
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: trains on August 02, 2009, 01:47:43: No, need to charge my phone.

Back on topic ;D
Title: Re: The mystery of the Mary Celeste
Post by: Stuart2007 on August 02, 2009, 16:43:44: vapour from the liquor collected in the bilges and they all (after having a good sniff) jumped into a cutter, connected to the ship... The painter snapped or they rowed away a bit in case of explosion and a sudden wind (from the captain, no doubt) propelled the ship away...

OR... Have you seen the (ridiculous) film 'Ghost ship'... :evil: