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By :
Charles
Edey
Fay
1988
An Intriguing unsolved riddle
of the famed 19th century
ghost ship abandoned on
high seas by crew and
passengers.
The Author dispels
many misconceptions.
ISBN: 0-486-25730-4
This is the Dover Edition
which an unabridged slightly
altered reproduction of the
original work published in
1942 and limited to 1000
copies.
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The 'Mary Celeste' carried 1 701 barrels of alcohol. It is
probable that, in encountering stormy weather, her hatches had
remained closed during most, if not all, of the voyage up to the
day of abandonment. Under these circumstances, the hold had been
getting little or no ventilation. The vessel, having left the
comparatively cool temperatures of New York, and having passed
through the Gulf Stream into the milder climactic areas of the
Azores, it would not be surprising if the atmospheric changes had
been producing some effect upon an unventilated hold containing
1700 barrels of alcohol, some of which may have leaked.
Captain Briggs, mindful of the character of the cargo and
necessity for ventilation, may have taken advantage of the calm
or light wind prevailing on the forenoon of the 25th and ordered
the removal of the bar of the forward hatch. At this juncture,
something unusual happened. The up-rush of fumes from an
unventilated hold, into which the contents of all or part of
eight alcohol barrels had leaked, may have been so strong as to
alarm the crew.
If confronted by this sudden and imminent peril, and fearing for
the safety of his wife and child, and the members of the crew,
Captain Briggs may have given the order to launch the ship's
boat, which was lying across the main hatch. As the wind.
Presumably from the West at the time, and the vessel's course
approximately East by South, it is probable that the boat was
launched from the leeward side, which under the circumstances,
would then have been on the port side of the vessel. As an
additional precautionary measure, Captain Briggs may have
directed one of the men to break out a coil of rope as a tow
line, so that if the threatened danger should pass, they could
return to their vessel.
The tenseness of the situation can easily be imagined as they
anxiously awaited the moment when all hands would be in the boat
and they could cast oft from the "Mary Celeste" and put as much
distance as possible between themselves and the danger
threatening them. They could not foresee that the morning calm
was not to continue. Sudden and violent squalls occur frequently
in the Azores, and according to the meteorological report,
something like this must soon have happened, for it states that
in the afternoon of that date, a gale-force wind prevailed over
this area of the Azores. Under the impact of such wind, the
vessel may have lunged forward so suddenly as to break the
improvised tow line, leaving the occupants of the boat striving
frantically but futilely to overtake the onsweeping Mary Celeste.
A heavy rain accompany such a gale would have materially
increased the difficulties of the people in the small boat. It
seem probable that with its little company, she was blown
southeast, away from the nearest land, Santa Maria, and out into
the broad reaches of the Atlantic-with about 800 miles between
them and the coast of Portugal-and soon was overwhelmed in a
gale-swept sea.
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