It’s the stuff of maritime legend: a ship sighted in the distance, hailed without response, and boarded to reveal a vessel under full sail, its wheel creaking aimlessly, cabin doors slamming open and shut in the wind, and … not a soul onboard.
The story of the MARY CELESTE is one of the strangest and most infamous of all maritime legends. Most people are familiar with the story, even if they don’t recognize the ship’s name. The MARY CELESTE was found afloat and totally deserted in 1872. A “ghost ship,” as such vessels are called, is spooky enough. There are numerous such vessels documented in the annals of sea lore; the MARY CELESTE is just the most famous, and probably the most intensely investigated. What really gives the extra-added shiver factor to her story is the fact that the crew disappeared so suddenly.
Items such as pipes and eyeglasses were left aboard the ship. Clothing. There remained plenty of food and water. Some accounts state that food was left on plates, partially eaten, although these details are probably embellishments added over time. There WERE recently washed clothes left hanging on a clothesline. There WAS the indentation of a small body left impressed in a mattress in the captain’s cabin; the captain’s daughter had been napping there. It was as if they all simply vanished into thin air. All that was missing, all that was needed to make the MARY CELESTE into a real-life DEMETER, was a corpse strapped to the steering wheel.
