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| Prompt: Tuesday, April 6 Ghost Ship: The Mary Celeste On December 4, 1872, a British-American ship called “the Mary Celeste” was found empty and adrift in the Atlantic. It was found to be seaworthy and with its cargo fully intact, except for a lifeboat, which it appeared had been boarded in an orderly fashion. But why? We may never know because no one on board was ever heard from again. In November 1872, the Mary Celeste set sail from New York bound for Genoa, Italy. She was manned by Captain Benjamin Briggs and seven crew members, including Briggs’ wife and their 2-year-old daughter. Supplies on board were ample enough for six months, and luxurious—including a sewing machine and an upright piano. Commentators generally agree that to precipitate the abandonment of a seaworthy ship, some extraordinary and alarming circumstance must have arisen. However, the last entry on the ship’s daily log reveals nothing unusual, and inside the ship, all appeared to be in order. Theories over the years have included mutiny, pirate attack, and an assault by a giant octopus or sea monster. In recent years, scientists have posed the theory that fumes from alcohol on board caused an explosion that, as a result of a scientific anomaly, did not leave behind signs of burning—but was terrifying enough that Briggs ordered everyone into the lifeboat. Give us your opinion of what happened. Maybe you were even there?! The Marie Celeste, a theory by Apondia The Marie Celeste was more than a ghost ship. It’s fate was sealed from the first time the sails filled with wind. The brigantine, Amazon, a ship with two masts, 12 oars to a side, swift and easily maneuvered, was built by Joshua Davis. It was built on Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia She was called the Amazon. It was a grand sight. Buoyant, on the water, she floated in a grand show. As the wind filled her sails every one cheered to see her at the launching, May 18, 1861. A lot of genuine love of sailing and thought was put into this lovely maiden voyage. The sweet brigantine was 99.3 feet long, 25.5 feet wide, and 11.7 feet deep from the deck down. She boasted a tonnage of 198.42 gross weight. With this makeup she could fairly fly over the seas in a steady wind. Keep these facts in mind as the story unfolds. The first captain took her out to fill her hold with a cargo early June, 1861 While overseeing the loading of the cargo the captain became seriously ill. I was startled to see the beauty sailing so quickly back into her home port since I knew she was destined for England once she was loaded. The Captain died on June 19, several days after the Amazon made port. A new Captain was quickly chosen and the ship set out for England, only to become entangled in fishing equipment as she sailed through East Port, Maine. Once freed of the entanglement, Amazon continued without problems to England. We received news at our port, that she hit and sank a brig somewhere in the English channel. I began to worry that some evil spirit was targeting this lithe water traveler. I also worried because crews of a ship that could not shake bad luck were exceptionally difficult to find. Although Amazon did have some good voyages it was soon run aground in Grace Bay, Nova Scotia. Because of being run aground in the Bay, it was designated a salvage ship. Then, it was sold to an American Owner. I hoped to find out a new port would give it a new start on the high seas. Amazon’s new port registry was New York and Boston. I had a sailor friend working ships out of the New York port. I sent him a telegraph to be on the look out for news of the Amazon. I wanted to keep up with her story. Even then, I think I had a premonition of what the ships history would turn out to be. It wasn’t long, when I heard, about the brigantine Amazon, that had been driven onto the shore by a Cape Briton Island storm. I became suspicious of the whole affair when a rumor spread through shipyards, that the newest owners abandoned the ship as a total loss and collected the insurance money. Such an awful loss for a seaworthy vessel in it’s youngest years. I think I still found hope for her when on October 15, of that year Alexander McBean took the ship as a derelict. After that recovery, she was sold twice and landed back in the hands of an American Corporation of ship owners. In what appeared to be an effort to change her history and persuade crews to board her, they changed her name. In 1869 Amazon became The Marie Celeste and was refitted. It was a massive outlay of $10,000 that was spent to increase her tonnage to 298.28, and give her a second deck. The port of registry was now permanently New York. At least it was in a place where I could get news of her as she moved about. I was pretty sure the refitting was not to her advantage. After this there was not any adverse news or rumor so I’m assuming the Mary Celeste had some proper voyages, although I would not know her cargo or destinations. The next I heard of the ship was in 1872. A well-known Captain, Benjamin Briggs, had taken her out with competent first and second mates and a crew of German sailors. Rumor says, she was found with her masts up, some sails furled properly, some sails catching the wind and the rudder held properly in place. The cargo of denatured alcohol and most possessions of the captain and others were also not touched. However, the possessions of two sailors presumed on board were missing. The life boat also was gone. Lots of theories abound. Personally, I think the deck was altered to make her a slave ship. Sometime after the Mary Celeste altered her course to pick up a load of slaves, there was a problem on board. Perhaps someone got into the alcohol, which was popular idea at the time but, being denatured it would only have caused sickness or death in the person or persons who drank it. Or, there was a load of slaves aboard headed for Europe. They got loose, revolted, and threw everyone overboard to the sharks and escaped in the life boat. Pirates were loose on the open seas; although they often took the ship and killed the crews who did not join them. Really, the second deck and refitting make me believe in the slave theory. Slave ships often were refitted with more decks to make room for more bodies. Many slaves died in route because of poor treatment and were just thrown overboard as fish food. A revolt of black warriors was not a new scene in shipyards. Now the ship was sold several more times. She traveled is seas near the West Indies. Which is another thought that leads to slave trading and cargo that did not, in the end, have much value. Her registered ports changed often and without significance. Rumor followed her. Another one of her Captains died suddenly of serious illness. Maybe it was yellow fever, since Europeans often caught this from African travels. In 1885 a group of shippers in Boston shipyard loaded her with worthless cargo. The Captain, Gilman C. Parks set out for Port Au Prince. He deliberately ran the Marie Celeste onto a coral reef as they approached the Port of Haiti, on January 3,1885. She was never recovered, although pieces of the ship were found, after most of the ship had rotted away. Insurance money was claimed but, the Captain who schemed it was jailed for fraud. I’m writing this now to inform a friend about the sad ending of a gallant ship. We were there to see her launch and cheered with the rest of the crowd. I still see, in my mind, the jaunty way she rode the sea as her sails first unfurled and took the wind. WORD COUNT BY THE JOURNAL 7 = 1926 REFERENCE: WIKIPEDIA - THE MARIE CELESTE apondia#1781748 |
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