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  • The Mystery of The Mary Celeste - Comprehension

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    Sameen Abdullah
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    The Mary Celeste was discovered abandoned at sea by another ship in 1872. When they boarded, they found the ship intact with plenty of food and supplies, but no crew. The last entry in the log was 10 days prior in another location, and the sails were positioned as if someone had been steering. Various theories were proposed to explain the disappearance of the crew, such as mutiny or attack by sea creatures, but the mystery remains unsolved to this day.

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    The Mary Celeste was discovered abandoned at sea by another ship in 1872. When they boarded, they found the ship intact with plenty of food and supplies, but no crew. The last entry in the log was 10 days prior in another location, and the sails were positioned as if someone had been steering. Various theories were proposed to explain the disappearance of the crew, such as mutiny or attack by sea creatures, but the mystery remains unsolved to this day.

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    548 views7 pages

    The Mystery of The Mary Celeste - Comprehension

    Uploaded by

    Sameen Abdullah
    The Mary Celeste was discovered abandoned at sea by another ship in 1872. When they boarded, they found the ship intact with plenty of food and supplies, but no crew. The last entry in the log was 10 days prior in another location, and the sails were positioned as if someone had been steering. Various theories were proposed to explain the disappearance of the crew, such as mutiny or attack by sea creatures, but the mystery remains unsolved to this day.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 7

    THE MYSTERY

    OF THE MARY
    CELESTE
    COMPREHENSION
    FS, Unit 5, Pgs. 36 - 37
    Some stories are based on events that really happened. Writers use some of the basic facts but may
    change some details and add others of their own. Below is a fictional version of a mysterious event that
    really happened.

    On 5th December, 1872, the Dei Gratia, a ship sailing across the
    Atlantic Ocean from New York to Gibraltar, came across a
    two-masted square rigger in the middle of the ocean. Her
    course was unsteady, going this way and that with the wind.
    As the Dei Gratia got closer, the captain could see that no one
    was at the helm. He signalled to the strange ship but there was
    no reply.

    Lowering a rowing boat into the water, the captain, the second
    mate and two other sailors made their way over to the ship. As
    they got closer, the name on the stern became visible. It was
    the Mary Celeste.
    The captain and the mate climbed aboard, expecting to be greeted by members of the crew, but what they
    found was a mystery that they could not explain, and which remains unsolved to this day.

    They made a thorough search of the ship only to find that it was
    completely deserted. The ship itself was in excellent condition.
    There was plenty of food and water, and the cargo, barrels of
    alcohol, was intact and in place in the hold.

    In the captain’s cabin they found the table laid for a breakfast
    which had only been half-eaten and, in the galley, pots
    containing food hung over a dead fire. In
    the mate’s cabin, there was a piece of
    paper on the desk on which was written a
    half-finished calculation. The only thing
    that appeared to be missing was the ship’s
    chronometer.
    The captain of the Dei Gratia suspected that there had been a mutiny but, as the lifeboat was still there, it was
    impossible to see how the crew had escaped. Had they been taken off by a passing ship? Had they jumped
    overboard? There were, however, some sinister clues. In one cabin there was a cutlass, smeared with blood, and
    there were similar stains on the deck rail.

    The last entry in Mary Celeste’s log was dated 24th November –
    ten days before the Dei Gratia had come across her. The log
    indicated that she had been passing north of St. Mary’s Island in
    the Azores. If she had been abandoned soon after that, there was
    no way she would have drifted to this spot. The way her sails
    were set, she could not have reached where she was unless
    someone had been sailing her.

    An official enquiry came up with an explanation that did not


    hold water. It was decided that the most likely course of events
    was that the crew had murdered the captain and his family,
    thrown their bodies overboard and then escaped on another
    vessel. However, there was no sign of a struggle and no valuables
    were taken.
    Above: The Captain, his wife and child and the First Mate,
    John Wright.

    Right: Mary Celeste Memorial, Spencer’s Island, Nova


    Scotia (Canada).
    There were many popular theories at the time. It was
    suggested that the ship had been attacked by an octopus
    or some such monster, which had taken the crew but left
    the ship completely undamaged! Others suggested that
    the crew had disembarked on an unknown island and
    left the boat to drift away, or that they had been sucked
    off the decks by some bizarre whirlwind. Despite the
    theories, the mystery of the Mary Celeste has never been
    solved.

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