Drifting at sea she was found totally intact
in or around December of 1872. Just five hundred miles off the coast
of Gibraltar, another ship came upon her. They hailed the ship to no
avail many times. As they came along side of her and boarded her,there
was not a soul in sight.
Where did they go? As they searched the ship
the mystery only got deeper. They searched all compartments and found
that no one was on the ship at all! The Captain of the ship that found
the Mary Celeste knew the captain of the ship on a casual basis. They
had dined together just before both ships left New York on their way
to Europe. The Dei Gratias captain had been parked right next to the
Mary Celeste in the harbour just before the ships put to sea. The Mary
Celeste had a cargo of alcohol on board, and the Dei Gratia was
carrying petroleum. They left within hours of each other heading east.
The captain of the Dei Gratia (Capt David Reed), found that one of the
lifeboats had been used and was missing. He yet could not offer any
reason for why the people left the ship or where they could have gone.
The galley was in good order and there was most of the six month store
of food still on board. All her sails were in place, but there were a
few that were flapping at the time of the find. They believed that
this happened after she was abandoned. There was just no sound reason
for the way they left the vessel totally seaworthy.
No one knows the answer to that question to
this day. The ship had no trouble as far as mechanical systems. There
was ample water and food on board. The ship was just abandoned for
some unknown reason that we still don't understand. There have been
lots of stories about why they may have left, but none of the
speculative stories seem to add up. There was damage to one of the
barrels of alcohol on board, but that hardly would make a crew abandon
a vessel, unless they were drinking it and decided to go on a late
night cruise on the lifeboat for fun.(You know how drunks love to go
rowing). So it is still a mystery. Perhaps you know the answer. If you
have a theory or want to make a guess, go to the discussion board and
let's hear it.
