Mary Celeste (found adrift)

Name: Mary Celeste (found adrift)
Address: PT

메리 셀레스트호 (유령선)

On 4 December 1872 this American merchant brigantine was found drifting empty in the Atlantic between the Azores and Portugal. The ship was sound and her cargo of 1,701 barrels of alcohol and her food were still aboard, but the captain, his wife, their two-year-old daughter and seven crew had left in the lifeboat and were never seen again. A story by Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle made her the most famous ghost ship in the world.

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At a glance

Country: Portugal
Kind: Mysteries

Quick answers

Where is Mary Celeste (found adrift)?

Mary Celeste (found adrift) is in Portugal.

The Mary Celeste was a merchant sailing ship, a brigantine built in Canada and registered in the United States. On 4 December 1872 another ship, the Dei Gratia, found her drifting in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores. The ship was messy but still seaworthy, and nobody was on board. Her lifeboat was gone, and the last log entry was ten days old.

She had left New York on 7 November, heading for Genoa in Italy, with a cargo of alcohol that was still safe. The crew's belongings had not been touched. Neither the captain, his family, nor the crew were ever seen again, so the ship's name became a byword for a sudden, unexplained disappearance. This page separates what is documented from what people have guessed.

What the finders saw

The Dei Gratia's crew boarded and found the ship in a rough but sailable state. Food and drink were still plentiful, the cargo of alcohol was intact, and personal belongings were left in place. Only the lifeboat and some papers were missing. A court hearing in Gibraltar looked into mutiny, piracy and insurance fraud, but found no convincing evidence for any of them.

Guesses and fiction

Over the years people have suggested alcohol fumes, underwater earthquakes, waterspouts, a giant squid and even ghosts. None is proven, and the story has often been mixed with invented details. In 1884 Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a short story based on the mystery, which made the ship more famous. The ship stayed in service until 1885, when her captain deliberately wrecked her off Haiti in an insurance scam.

Fun facts

Found sailing empty in 1872 with plenty of food and water aboard, it became famous after Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a story about it.
The ship was first launched in 1861 under the name Amazon.
A young Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a story about her in 1884, and it helped spread the name 'Marie Celeste'.
Her cargo of alcohol was untouched when she was found.