The Mary Celeste Read online

  Title Page

  The Mary Celeste

  Legend, Evidence and Truth

  by

  Stan Mason

  Publisher Information

  Published in 2013 by

  Andrews UK Limited

  www.andrewsuk.com

  The right of Stan Mason to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998

  Copyright © 2013 Stan Mason

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  Preface

  When they found her she was dead in the water ......drifting off the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean with no one at the helm.....no one on board. How strange? How could a ship sailing from New York across the Atlantic to Genoa in Italy suddenly lose all its passengers.....including a woman and a child. It didn’t make sense! And what of the state of the vessel? Was everything on board smashed to indicate a fight had taken place.....that the crew had turned to mutiny? Was everything in complete disarray to show that the passengers and crew were in a state of panic? No.....there was nothing like that at all! In fact, the ship was in apple-pie order. Well then, did the passengers and crew decide to jump ship in the middle of an ocean for some reason unbeknown to the rest of the world? Did one of the sailors lose his mind and throw the rest overboard before committing suicide himself in the same way? Were they snatched by aliens from outer space and drawn into some kind of unworldly spaceship? Did they all get very drunk and fall overboard in some kind of game? Was there foul play aboard at all? There was no evidence to support any of these assumptions. However the incident served to set fire to the imagination. People all round the world racked their brains for a solution why the Mary Celeste had become a ghost ship.....for indeed that’s exactly what she became.

  Throughout the first half-century after the incident occurred, writers took the most awful liberties with the common details, stretching every strand of poetic licence to the limit. By the time they had finished distorting the facts few people could determine the truth from the whim. One single, important, example is the fact that nine out of ten people still believe the name of the derelict was the ‘Marie’ Celeste. However, the ship was named the Mary Celeste and never called ‘Marie’. Another fact relates to the Captains of the Mary Celeste and the Dei Gratia.....the ship which found her. Both men dined out together in New York on the night before the Mary Celeste sailed. Thirty days later, the ship was found drifting off the islands of the Azores in the Atlantic by the Dei Gratia. With such a wide ocean, a coincidence of that nature appears to be phenomenal. Yet few people ever knew about the acquaintance of the two Captains. When she was found there was no one on board.....a ghost ship which should have been on its way to Genoa. The bunks were made up, the tables were cleared, valuables were resting where they had been left, and pipes and clothing had all been neatly put away in their usual places. But there was no crew and no evidence was available to explain the abandonment of the vessel. At a later date, one of the crew of the Dei Gratia stated that he had examined the ship and she was ‘fit to go round the world’. This comment dispensed with any idea that the Mary Celeste may have been leaking, or had been in danger of sinking, or of any other default which might have caused concern to the Captain. It was sufficient evidence to prove that there was no reason for anyone to abandon ship. It wasn’t long before suspicion became aroused. Clearly it had to be some sort of insurance swindle which went wrong. They believed it in in 1872, when the event occurred, and those who know the details of the story still believe it now. For those who consider it so, there is sufficient detail to suspect connivance between the two Captains when they went out to dine together the night before the Mary Celeste sailed from New York. They believe that an arrangement took place between them in some form of conspiracy although there is no evidence available to prove it happened. In fact, the evidence indicates they were both entirely innocent in this matter. If that much is discounted, what could be the reason for an empty vessel left on the high seas in ship-shape order? The long-boat carried by the Mary Celeste had been launched at some time during the voyage but no one ever turned up on a distant shore to provide the answer. What happened to that boat and the people in it? The Dei Gratia came across a ghost ship which was drifting unmanned on a slow constant course. To add to the intrigue, the Dei Gratia, the ship that found her, was lying close by in the dock in New York. To the suspicious, there were too many coincidences in this mystery. It made good sense to realise that a conspiracy had taken place. To the rest, it made no sense at all!

  For a hundred-and-twenty five years, the intrigue remained unsolved. Information concerning the event and the aftermath are specific and can be found in the annals of history. Furthermore, after numerous authors had dabbled with the subject, the legend which rose like a phoenix from the ashes became even more absorbing that the mystery itself. The people involved in the story both before and after the incident became characters in their own right in every sense of the word.....from the religious Captain Briggs to the Queen’s Advocate, Frederick Solly Flood, a man hell-bent on proving that foul play had been engineered and that an insurance fraud which went wrong had been in progress. In fact Flood spent the remainder of his life ‘making further enquiries’ and went to his grave an angry man because he had been unable to resolve the matter satisfactorily. Coincidences began to run rife. Firstly, the Captains of the Mary Celeste and the Dei Gratia knew each other and dined together before the former vessel sailed. Secondly, the two ships were docked close to each other in New York harbour. Thirdly, in a wide expanse of ocean.....with many routes available round the Azores.....the two vessels met head on. Not least to be considered in this mysterious affair is the legend of the Mary Celeste and how it developed.....almost as a myth by authors who, in their judgement, used and abused the tale to their own ends. One thing is certain, however, in that there will never be a satisfactory solution accepted by the public.....even if written evidence was forthcoming. Too long has passed since the strange event occurred. In any case, scepticism for any explanation now will reign supreme. The world prefers to enjoy it that way.

  Does anyone know what happened to the Mary Celeste after she was found? After being sold and resold a number of times, she sailed on for a few years and was then the subject of an obvious insurance fraud when her then Captain drove her on to a reef in Haiti. He had colluded in a conspiracy with the U.S. Consul there who eventually ran off to the woods to escape capture. The ship was left to rot on the reef.

  For my own part, the story of the Mary Celeste took life one evening at the bar of a hotel where fate led me to meet an American by sheer accident. He was a descendant of John McCormack who was responsible for all that happened at the abandonment of the Mary Celeste. The secret he had nursed for many years emerged that evening and started a quest for information which spanned part of Europe and the United States for the truth. It led me to become the motive force in piecing the solution together. As such, I wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Gibraltar Chronicle, The Daily Express, The People, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The New York Herald Tribune, The New York Times, the Reader’s Digest, the Public Record Office, the American National Archives in Washington and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and many other helpful newspapers, agencies, organisations and people who
willingly supported me in this quest.

  The Start of It All

  On the morning of the nineteenth of October, 1872, Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs, aged thirty-seven, wrapped himself warmly in a heavy overcoat before leaving his home at Marion, Massachusetts, where he lived with his wife Sarah, their seven year old son, Arthur, and their two year old daughter, Sophia Matilda. He was a proud family man in every sense of the word, being a highly-moral person, and his pride extended to the knowledge that he was to be master of a superb sea vessel due shortly to come directly under his command. The only thought clouding his mind was embodied in the fact that the one-third share he had purchased in the ship, as an investment for himself, might not be registered in his name until after leaving shore on her first voyage. However, that matter was purely academic relating solely to personal satisfaction in tying up all the loose ends. Over ten thousand dollars had been spent on work involving the design and restructure of the vessel and she was in excellent trim. Indeed, he was certain he had made a sound investment for himself and his family for the future. Therefore he felt entitled to be satisfied with the decision. But there were other factors which he might have considered carefully, which were temporarily over-ridden by euphoria eclipsing them from his mind. The ship, the Mary Celeste, formerly known as the “Amazon”, had been built only four years earlier. It had been ill-fated from the moment she left the slipway. Not only had her short career proved to be chequered, failing to produce material profit from many voyages undertaken, but within that very brief period of existence she had been wrecked and sold for a pittance. A ship with a record of that nature was one to avoid, as superstition reigned heavily with sailors. However, shortly after Briggs made his investment, in mid-October, 1872, she was a superb sailing vessel, looking very new and fully fitted-out, appearing to be both capable and seaworthy. What more could a Captain demand of a vessel? As he travelled eagerly to New York to take command of his ship, clutching a Bible in his hand, he would not have been quite as self-satisfied with his destiny had he the slightest inclination it was the last time he would set foot in his home.....the last time he would see his son or hold him in his arms.....the last time he would tread on American soil, or indeed on any other soil, again! For reasons or forces which influence and determine the lives of human-beings and yet have never been defined, he was a doomed man!

  The Mary Celeste was built at Spencer’s Island in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. Joshua Dewis, the son of a farmer, born in Economy.....a small village by the Bay of Fundy.....was a carpenter who ran a very modest local business. Although he had been operating as a one-man business for some considerable time, he was dissatisfied with the slow progress he was making and decided to formulate plans on a far grander scale. Ultimately, having discussed his ideas at length with a number of people, he developed a ship-building enterprise with friends, neighbours and relatives in the tiny community. His views were warmly welcomed in that remote area, especially as unemployment was always rife and development of any kind practically non-existent. Dewis changed all that in a very short time. His ideas were considered with great interest and he would never be short of helping hands if, and when, the business began to flourish. The local merchants, Cox & Bigelow, saw merit in his plans and they decided to assist with the development costs for a share of the profits. As soon as this happened, Joshua Dewis was in business. Without delay, he bought an area of land at Spencer’s Island and laid the keel of the first ship ordered from the business, in 1860, which was the “Amazon”.....to be renamed later as the “Mary Celeste”. He had always been regarded as an excellent craftsmen and, with the assistance of kinfolk and friends, the vessel was successfully launched in the Spring of 1861. It was the first of a line of twenty-seven ships to be built by the business but this one was exceptional in that it would become the most ill-fated and the most renowned!

  On the tenth of June, 1861, the vessel was registered at Parrsboro, in Nova Scotia, as a brigantine-rigged ship called the “Amazon”, with tht name painted on her bows. She was built of beech, spruce, maple and birch woods, and the cabins were lined with pinewood. There were two masts.....the foremost being square-rigged; the main mast ‘fore and aft’ (or schooner-rigged), which implies that the arrangement of sails were such that the leading edge of the fore and aft sails abutted the masts. The vessel was built with only one deck, a square stern, and carvel planking.....to produce a flush outward appearance. A carved scroll was sported under the bowsprit. The measurements were ninety-nine feet in length, twenty-five-and-a-half feet in breadth, and a depth of eleven-and-a-half feet. At that time, the gross tonnage was one hundred and ninety eight tons.

  The first trip took place from Spencer’s Island shortly after registration, when it carried a load of plaster to Windsor.....a port further up the Minas Basin.....which was ultimately bound for New York. Ill-fortune was to strike quickly and without warning. Robert McLellan, her Captain and part-owner, was taken ill and died shortly afterwards. It was only the beginning of continued disaster for the vessel and those involved with her.....with two exceptions. Captain Jack Parker took command and sailed in her for two years making profits on every trip for the owners. At that time most of the commercial activities involved coastal trade off the New England States, occasional trips to the West Indies, and a single voyage to France. In 1863, Captain William Thompson was appointed its new Captain and continued with the same satisfactory progress as his predecessor for two full years. Sadly, however, the fortunes of the owners changed thereafter through a combined series of bad weather, poor crews, difficult cargoes, and unwise contracts which provided very low margins. Consequently, in the face of severe competition, unsatisfactory results ensued which meant that Captain Thompson had a limited budget to hire a good crew, food and victuals, and to make essential repairs. Nonetheless, following many heated discussions on these matters with the owners, he continued his duties for two further years, until October 1867, when the vessel was involved in a heavy storm and a large proportion of the cargo became badly damaged. The owners insisted the Captain was at fault for not ensuring the cargo was securely loaded and fastened and considered he should be held fully responsible for the cost of the damage. Thompson was furious at the allegation and refuted it entirely but the owners were entirely unmoved by his tirade. They had fought him many times before without conceding; it was not their intention to give in now. After a long and furious discussion, in which the owners firmly adhered to their decision, the Captain stormed out of the room and, in a fit of anger, sailed the ship to the shores of Cow Bay, Cape Breton Island, where he deliberately wrecked her on the strand shortly after the first of November, 1867.

  When the owners learned of the fate of the vessel, they decided not to repair it in view of the cost involved. It was not known whether it had been insured but seemingly, in view of the decision to leave it, it is clear that no insurance had been arranged at that time. Within a few days of the information reaching them, ownership passed to an Alex McBean of Big Glace Bay who purchased the wreck for a pittance. He had no intention of becoming involved with the vessel except as a profiteer, or intermediary, for it was resold to John Howard Beatty on the ninth of November, 1867. Whatever Beatty’s intentions with regard to the wreck was never known. Indeed, there was some difficulty at the time concerning the transfer and registration of the vessel from McBean to Beatty which took some months to unscramble. The wreck lay dormant at Cow Bay for thirteen months with its timbers slowly rotting away as decay set in. In December, 1868, Beatty decided to divest himself of the problem and sold it to an American businessman named Richard W. Haines for the miserable sum of $1,750. Consequently, the ship was transferred to Haines on the thirty-first of December, 1868, and registered in New York. It was recorded that he sold a one-eighth interest to Sylvester Goodwin, a business colleague, at that time. The arrangement was fitting for both of them because Haines purchased the wreck with a view to building a new ship, using the original framework, which S
ylvester Goodwin would sell to his connections. In this way, the cost of rebuilding the vessel would be low enabling both men to enjoy a high level of profit. Haines decided to change the name of the ship at the outset and, within a short period of time, the “Amazon” ceased to exist while the ‘Mary Celeste’ was born. As a businessman, he set to work to make capital from his venture and arranged for extensive and essential repairs to be carried out..... changing the entire structure of the vessel. He engaged local ship-repairers to build two decks in place of the old one, and to improve the length by five feet. The breadth remained the same, the depth increased from eleven-and-a-half feet to just over sixteen feet, and she was registered as two hundred and eighty two tons.....some forty-two per cent heavier than the original registration. The cost of these repairs amounted to $8,825 dollars, which was five times the cost of the wreck. A further $1,500 dollars was spent on the final fittings by her new owners.....James H. Winchester, Sylvester Goodwin and Daniel Sampson.

  The ‘new’ vessel, now the Mary Celeste, was acquired by them on the thirteenth of October, 1869, and taken into their keeping. However, it was three months later, on the eleventh of January, 1870, when Captain Rufus Fowler, an experienced sea-farer, purchased a share in the ship to ensure his appoint-ment as her master. She was now credited to be a hermaphrodite brig, sometimes known as a brig schooner.....a two-masted sailing ship rigged on the foremast as a brig, with square sails set on yards, and as a schooner on the mainmast with a square topsail above a gaff mainsail. In those days, the term brig was the shortened version of ‘brigantine’ but later types of ships in their own right, after some modifications in the original rig, were widely used in the days of sail for short and coastal trading voyages. In this guise, the Mary Celeste was used again commercially but despite all the efforts of her owners, she failed to pay her way satisfactorily which led Captain Fowler to sell his share to Captain Briggs in October, 1872. Briggs could hardly believe his good luck on the investment for she was clearly in first-class condition and the timbers gave her the appearance of being a newly-built ship. In addition, he was more than delighted to be associated with the well-known and highly-respected shipping company of J.W. Winchester. However, the crux of his problem revolved round his lack of sufficient finance to purchase his captaincy. This was resolved eventually by the assistance of Simpson Hart, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, who loaned Captain Briggs the necessary amount on a mortgage.