The Most Mysterious Maritime Mystery Ever - The Marie Celeste, Part One

The Marie Celeste, (in fact, in reality it was calledre-named her Mary Celeste. On 5 November
the Mary Celeste), is the greatest maritime1872, the ship set sail from Staten Island, New
mystery of all time. She was built in 1861 byYork bound for Genoa, Italy under the command
Joshua Dewis in Nova Scotia, Canada and wasof Captain Benjamin Briggs. She was carrying a
initially named the Amazon. The Amazon wascargo of seventeen hundred barrels of
rather calamitous; her first captain died ofcommercial alcohol, intended for fortifying Italian
pneumonia within a week of taking charge; hiswines in Genoa; it was expensive stock with a
replacement struck a fishing trawler, forcing thecurrent evaluation of over half a million US dollars.
ship to return to the shipyards for repairs whereThe souls on board the Mary Celeste included the
it subsequently caught fire; on it's firstcaptain and seven crew, the captain's wife Sarah
trans-Atlantic crossing it once again collided withand their two-year-old daughter Sophia Matilda. All
another vessel.of the crew were very experienced, trustworthy,
In 1867, she ran aground during a storm in Glaceable and seriously competent, but as it sailed
Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada; it was the final straw,away from the hustle and bustle of New York, it
her owners, sick and tired of it's bungling sold herwould be the last time that any of the ten were
to James H. Winchester of New York City, whoseen again, alive or dead.