7. Benjamin Briggs, his family, and the crew of the Mary Celeste
On December 5, 1872, the Canadian merchant brigantine Dei Gratia encountered a ship under sail near the Azores. When the ship did not respond to hails and appeared to be abandoned, the Canadians boarded the vessel, named the Mary Celeste. There was no one aboard. The ship was seaworthy, though it was apparent that it had been in some difficulty from the slipshod appearance of its decks. The log had not been updated for ten days, a ship’s boat was missing, and the vessel was well provided with food and water. The cargo was unmolested (it was denatured alcohol) and the personal belongings of the captain, his family, and the crew of seven appeared undisturbed. The vessel was taken into Gibraltar.
So what happened to Captain Briggs, his wife and infant daughter aboard with him (his son remained at home to attend school) and the seven members of the crew? It remains a mystery today. The small boat was never found. Each theory which has been proposed has as many arguments against it as solutions it proposes. The possibility of piracy is discounted by the personal possessions left behind unmolested. The ship was relatively undamaged, the cargo undisturbed. Numerous statements by men who claimed to have been survivors were debunked by research. Mary Celeste returned to service but proved to be unpopular among seamen, often a superstitious lot, and it proved unprofitable to its owners. What became of the people who went to sea on the ship has never been explained, and in the absence of new evidence likely never will be.