Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
E110: The Mary Celeste
1.5k Plays4 years ago
Most of our irrational fears actually do have rational explanations. What does not have a rational explanation is the case we will be talking about today. How does an entire ship’s crew, captain, and captain’s family just disappear and their ship remain afloat?
If you would like to start your OWN podcast on Buzzsprout, please consider using our promo code so you can earn a $20 gift card after your second month on a paid plan:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=709643
Recommended
Transcript
Starting a Podcast with Buzzsprout
00:00:00
Speaker
Sleuth Hounds, have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listening to some of your favorites and thought, I'd love to try this out on my own. Whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are. When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail.
00:00:25
Speaker
But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer microphone, some quiet space, and each other, we knew that this was the way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about our number of downloads to track trends and from where our listeners hail. Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform.
00:00:55
Speaker
What are you waiting for? Fulfill that dream of yours and start today. If you use our coffee and cases referral code 709-643 linked on Facebook and in our show notes, not only will you help support our show, but you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card after your second month on a paid plan.
Exploring Rational and Irrational Fears
00:01:13
Speaker
It's that easy. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Join over a hundred thousand podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world. Now,
00:01:24
Speaker
It's time for the world to hear what you have to say. I know we talk a lot on this show about irrational fears. If you've listened to almost any of our episodes, you know we bring up fears a lot. We've added ball lightning and shifting sand dunes through some of our episodes and probably a bunch more than I'm forgetting. But these fears we can justify with good reason.
00:01:45
Speaker
I can tell you why shifting sand dunes scare me. They scare me because when I was researching a case that was a possible theory to explain a disappearance and being swallowed by a shifting sand dune sounded like a horrific way to go.
00:02:00
Speaker
I can tell you why ball lightning rationally scares me. When Allison painted a picture of experienced hikers running from random balls of lightning that were so fierce they would pick freezing to death over facing them, I can rationalize being scared of them. But some fears I can't rationalize.
00:02:18
Speaker
I'm scared of moths. Why? I've got no idea. There's just something about a monochromatic butterfly that only comes out at night that has me running past my street lamps at home. But one fear that I have and can somewhat rationally explain is my fear of water.
00:02:34
Speaker
When I was very small, maybe three or four, my mommy had a swimming pool. This pool was a family favorite. I remember all of my cousins splashing and jumping around in the pool. Everyone loved it. My cousin Taylor especially loved the water. She would slide into the pool without a care in the world and she was the same age as me. I was the same until one day I jumped into the water without my floaties. Those few moments of panic as I struggled to get air were some of the most terrifying I think I've ever experienced.
00:03:04
Speaker
After that day, I hated the pool. In fact, I didn't learn to swim until fourth grade because I hated being in a pool where my feet couldn't touch. Later, my fear extended to not only water, but to ships as well when my mother thought it was a good idea to let a nine-year-old watch the Titanic.
Understanding the Origins of Phobias
00:03:21
Speaker
An unsinkable ship splitting in two as hundreds of people either drown or froze to death is still the reason that I have not set foot on a cruise ship and probably won't for a while.
00:03:31
Speaker
In an article published on January 1, 2014 in Scientific America called Why Do We Develop Certain Irrational Phobias, author Andrew Watt states, For fear to escalate to irrational levels, a combination of genetic environmental factors is very likely at play.
00:03:47
Speaker
Estimates of genetic contributions to specific phobias range from roughly 25 to 65 percent, although we do not know which genes have a leading part. No specific phobia gene has been identified, and it's highly unlikely that a single gene is responsible.
00:04:02
Speaker
rather varying it since several genes, may predispose an individual to developing a number of psychological symptoms and disorders, including specific phobia. He goes on to say, as for the environmental concept, a person may develop a phobia after a particularly frightening event, especially if he or she feels out of control. Even witnessing or hearing about a traumatic occurrence can contribute to its development.
The Mystery of the Mary Celeste
00:04:26
Speaker
For instance, watching a devastating airplane crash on the news may trigger a fear of flying.
00:04:30
Speaker
So I guess our rational fears actually do have rational explanations. What doesn't have a rational explanation is the case we're talking about today. How does an entire ship's crew, captain, and captain's family disappear and their ship remain afloat? Maybe we can get to the bottom of this mystery today. This is the story of an abandoned ship, the Mary Celeste.
00:05:28
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:05:38
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, and to follow us on Instagram at Coffee Cases podcast and on TikTok
00:06:01
Speaker
at Coffee and Case's podcast because as these families know, conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness, helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:06:17
Speaker
All right, Allison, let's hear the countdown for Patreon. Oh my gosh, I'm telling you, my excitement might exceed any of our listeners. I'm not excited about it. Yes, that is right. So towns, our Patreon here at Coffee and Cases will launch in one week.
00:06:40
Speaker
I know. Can you believe that? One week. It's crazy. Yeah. So on December 16th, we will finally see one of the goals we have for our show, like, come to fruition. And really one of our like, I feel like the goals of our long term listeners as well. Our inbox has been flooded with questions about Patreon and when it will launch and what that will look like.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yes, so for those of you who've been asking, as soon as Patreon launches on December 16th, you will have immediate access to three mini episodes with two more that will be posted in those last two weeks of December. That's even more content in addition to our weekly episodes to keep you company as you drive, as you wrap gifts, whatever you're gonna be doing this holiday season.
00:07:31
Speaker
And just as a reminder, Alice and I are not going to be covering unsolved cases in Patreon because we still want to get those cases out to as many people as possible. So instead, we're going to be discussing cases that are solved. Most of them are crazy. Yes.
00:07:49
Speaker
We will be discussing popular cases, personal stories, other topics that will make you laugh, make you feel creeped out, make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. So in essence, it's everything you need in one little package. It is exactly. Yes. So mark your calendars for December 16th because you want to be, trust us on this one, Sleuth Hounds,
00:08:14
Speaker
one of the first 100 because that will mean that you get all of the perks of the $8 level for only $5 a month. And for $5, you get a shout out on the show also.
00:08:28
Speaker
which is worth it in my opinion. Yes, I agree. So if you're feeling in the mood to give yourself a little gift for getting through the holidays, surviving work, just life in general, or you're looking for the perfect gift for a true crime loving friend, go ahead and sign up.
00:08:45
Speaker
And if you want a happy 2022 card from us, sign up for one of the higher tiers and you'll get that along with a discount on merchandise. Yes. And like Maggie mentioned a minute ago, despite all of these new and exciting additions, nothing about our weekly cases will change. Maggie and I will still be here every week on your favorite podcasting app with our cases as normal. Each week, we will continue to bring you the unsolved and the unknown.
00:09:15
Speaker
And speaking of the unknown, let's get into today's case, Allison. Okay, now you did another missing ship before. I know, and I'm debated on doing this one because I did the USS Cyclops, which that whole ship
00:09:32
Speaker
Right. Right was the one. You all know I have a horrible memory. Yeah. So this one is a little different. My Sleuth Hound joined us from that one. Yeah, we had our first celebrity guest appearance in the form of Alison Sleuth Hound.
00:09:50
Speaker
And so, yeah, I debated on doing this one, but I just needed like, to kind of spice things up a little bit and like, kind of get out of a rut. So I switched genres a little bit to like unexplained weird things that happened in history. Oh, I'm good with this switch up.
00:10:11
Speaker
Okay. And like Allison mentioned, this isn't the first time we've covered something like this on the show. We did the USS Cyclops with our little sleuth hound. And then we did the mystery of the missing lighthouse keepers, which was sort of similar to this. And then Allison did dialogue pass. So these have always been
00:10:32
Speaker
Like this type of topic is one of my favorites to kind of discuss and like diet law passed still to this day is the favorite like my favorite case that we've covered Oh, yeah weird saying and remember I did um
00:10:49
Speaker
the two sisters who were like, yep, the Pollock twins or Pollock sisters. Yeah. So that, that was a creepy one too. Yeah. And like, I don't know, just something about like that type of unexplained just really gets my like brain going. And it honestly is the pick me up I needed. So here we are. So here we are.
00:11:14
Speaker
And today we're talking about the Mary Celeste. And just going into this, obviously, you know that Allison and I are not captains of a ship or a seaman. We're not crew members. We thought a bait and tackle or whatever that was, was something to do with fishing. It wasn't. And it wasn't.
00:11:40
Speaker
So some of these, like the words in here, like, yeah, technical terms, I'm not very familiar with. So, you know, if you're like an experienced voter and you're going to be offended by the fact that I don't know certain things, maybe this week's episode, you just need to fast forward through a little bit.
00:11:58
Speaker
Get brought on past. Yeah, but the Mary Celeste was an American merchant ship and she was discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean on December 4th, 1872.
00:12:13
Speaker
Oh, so right about now in 1872. Yeah, that's true. I hadn't even made that connection. It was faded. It was written in the stars. Mary Celeste was built in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia. And originally she was launched under like the British title of or name or whatever.
00:12:34
Speaker
of Amazon in 1861. She transferred to an American owner in 1868 and then she acquired the new name the Mary Celeste. Must have been a family member or something. I read about why her name was that and for the life of me. I can't remember now so obviously
00:12:54
Speaker
It didn't really stick out. I would like to say that all of her trips were smooth selling, but that really wasn't the case. According to History.com, Mary Celeste had a shadowy past. She was like,
00:13:10
Speaker
Not the best little ship out there. No. When she was originally christened the Amazon, she was given a new name after a series of mishaps, including like the sudden illness and death of like the captain, a collision with another ship in the English Channel. So like, she's not the best. So this is kind of like the family feud curse.
00:13:39
Speaker
Yeah, I'm feeling like they're wanting to give her a new name, thinking that it will change her destiny. But it didn't. And the mishap we're going to discuss today resulted in the disappearance of a seven-member crew, a captain and his wife and daughter. Wow. So on October the 20th, 1872, Captain Briggs, which I think is the perfect name for a sea captain. Yes, it is.
00:14:06
Speaker
Arrived at Pier 50 on the East River in New York City to supervise the loading of the ship's cargo, which was like about 1700 barrels of denatured alcohol. So like, I guess industrial alcohol. Oh, so he's, this is more like a, what's the alcohol, Captain? Captain Morgan. Captain Morgan, see, that should tell you something.
00:14:34
Speaker
Captain Morgan. So maybe maybe we need a new alcohol brand Captain Briggs. Captain Briggs. But he was like a family man and I did not read why but was bringing his wife and daughter on board with him when the ship set sail which I've like if you've watched Pirates of the Caribbean apparently like in that time it was like bad luck for women to be on ships or that could be totally like a lie made up by Disney because I haven't read that like
00:15:05
Speaker
verified anywhere. I don't even know. But ships are named after women. Right. And Disney, I trust Disney because it's Disney. So I'm going to say that that statement is back. We're going. Yeah, they were set to join him a week later after his wife got like their younger son like set for school. On Sunday, November 3, Briggs wrote to his mother like to let
00:15:30
Speaker
her know that they were intending to leave on Tuesday. And in that letter to her, he said, quote, our vessel is in beautiful trim and I hope we shall have a fine passage end quote. Oh, no.
00:15:43
Speaker
So on the 7th of November, then Mary Celeste set sail from New York City with all that industrial strength alcohol stored in these barrels. And like I mentioned, they had seven members to their crew, Captain Briggs, his wife Sarah, and their two-year-old daughter Sophia. And they were destined for Italy, which I also wish I was destined for Italy. Me too, especially right now.
00:16:09
Speaker
Yes. That sounds phenomenal. A Christmas in Italy sounds amazing. It really does.
00:16:16
Speaker
And several sources I read, it said that the water was like not, well, the water, yes, but the weather was concerned for the ship as she very first started her journey. Very early on, the weather was so rough that they had to anchor the ship off Staten Island to wait for conditions to fare. So they didn't make it very far. Yeah, they didn't go very far when they were like, okay, just kidding. Like, let's wait this out a little bit.
00:16:43
Speaker
It was noted that Sarah, Captain Briggs' wife, used that delay to send like a final letter to his mother-in-law, like saying, we were delayed a little bit, but the weather is improving, so we should be leaving here in a few days. And they left within two days of that letter.
Theories Behind the Mary Celeste's Abandonment
00:17:00
Speaker
So the Mary Celeste pulled out of the harbor and into the open sea of the Atlantic.
00:17:05
Speaker
While Mary Celeste prepared to sail, so this is a little bit of background information that comes in to play here in a little bit. Okay. So while Mary Celeste prepared to sail, a Canadian ship called De Gratia was nearby in Hoboken, New Jersey.
00:17:23
Speaker
and they were waiting for like this shipment or the cargo of petroleum to be loaded on and they too were headed like in the same direction they are on their way to italy everybody's going to italy but us right oh no we're the ones left in the cold yes fine
00:17:45
Speaker
That ship's captain's name was Captain David Morehouse and he was Nova Scotian. So remember that the Mary Celeste was a Nova Scotian made ship and he was a highly respected seaman. He was like well liked. He knew what he was doing.
00:18:06
Speaker
And he and Captain Briggs, so the captain of the Mary Celeste, obviously shared many common interests and their fates were going to be tied together more than they probably knew. Oh my. Yes. Little cliffhanger there. I'm excited.
00:18:23
Speaker
I actually read that some writers think that they just knew each other casually, almost like business acquaintances, but some argued that they were close friends, actually stating that the two dined together on the evening before the Mary Celeste departure. I'm going to say that that's probably true. Yeah, because I feel like there's not going to be a lot of sea captains in the 1870s. And who else would understand? Yeah.
00:18:51
Speaker
It's kind of like when teachers are in a room with other teachers. They can come as a rate. Yeah, you have similar things to talk about. Yeah, they're going to understand why you get excited about a new ink pen.
00:19:04
Speaker
Yeah. And all the like acronyms that you use. Yeah. Nobody else does. Right. So Anthony just kind of like nods and goes along with it. But I know deep down he has no idea what I'm talking about. And it was the crew of Captain Morehouse a ship that made a very strange discovery in early December of that same year. So they're leaving heading that way like just
00:19:33
Speaker
like a couple of days or later. Yeah. So like just after them. Okay. Nearly a month later, though, on December 5th, the crew of the day Ghatia spotted the Mary Celeste in the Mid-Atlantic. And like, I feel like, okay, so this is a random little story, but like the times that I've flown, like I have never looked out of my window
00:19:58
Speaker
on the plane and seen us passing another plane. Not like you would on the car. I haven't been there, yeah. Okay, well, the last time we flew, when we flew home from Mexico, we did pass, and I'm like, bro, this is a big amount of space. You are way too close to me. If I can clearly see you, I can read the number on the side of your craft. You are too close to me.
00:20:27
Speaker
That's weird that that even happened because I've never. Yeah. Yeah. They were going, we were going one way, they were going the other. And I was like, yeah, keep on going because you're too close. Now imagine if you looked over and you didn't see anybody in the windows. Yeah. I would be like, thank God you're going the other way.
00:20:48
Speaker
just keep on going the way we're going. But they're so like Captain Morehouse and his people are you know on their ship and they look out and they see the Mary Celeste just like floating in the Atlantic. And I told my airplane story because I feel like it would be similar. Like I wouldn't expect to be on a ship and like look over and you're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and see another ship.
00:21:16
Speaker
I mean, I don't know because I've never been on one, but one, especially if they left like way before this ship, then they should be like, well, they should already be there. This is weird. Yes. And they were about a thousand miles west of Portugal and Morehouse like immediately obviously recognizes the Mary Celeste. I mean, they were
00:21:40
Speaker
Like right at the same port, just eight days before his own departures when the Mary Celeste left, he knew the captain. And so obviously he's like, this is kind of weird. Like this ship is just drifting at sea. So, and I mean, maybe they weren't close. Maybe they're using like one of those things. What are they called that you hold up? Periscope? Yeah, I almost called it a telescope, but I don't think that's what it is. Periscope.
00:22:09
Speaker
So maybe they were doing that and it was kind of further along our way but he's concerned so he changes course and launches a boarding party to check on the Mary Celeste crew and passengers because like the ship was kind of acting like erratic the cells were weird and He just knew that something was wrong Hmm
00:22:32
Speaker
Like again, I don't know a lot about ships, but I feel like if I was a captain in 1872, right? Yes. And like I saw all these men, I picture them in a rowboat and they're rowing towards me from their ship. And like we were fine. I would like send some type of signal and be like,
00:22:52
Speaker
we're fine like you're wasting energy you're burning calories you don't need to burn turn around yeah yeah that's way too much of a workout yeah yeah there are no there are no crispy creams on board you were doing this for nothing it's not worth it not worth it turn around
00:23:11
Speaker
But he didn't, they didn't receive any signal so they keep going. And when the captain looked he couldn't see anyone on deck. Again, very strange if you were like working with a ship and spelling it you would be on deck.
00:23:26
Speaker
And the cells were only partly set. Most of them were in very poor condition. Some were missing altogether. Ropes were hanging loosely over the sides. And the shipmates were sure that they had stumbled upon disaster. I mean, that's what I would think too. And again, like, at least we know this probably happened, like, if they were eight days behind the Mary Celeste, like, roughly eight days ago.
00:23:56
Speaker
So it's not like a huge amount of time. Which means, like, I'm sure you could be thinking, even if you saw tattered sails or whatever, that, you know, maybe the people, obviously the people would still be alive. They have food on the ship. Yeah, they had six months worth of food provisions on there. Yeah, and there are only eight days, you know, behind. So, and I know they've been on the water, I guess, a month, because you said nearly a month later is when the other ships
00:24:25
Speaker
caught up to them and they were eight days behind the Mary Celeste. So they should still have plenty of food. Which I guess I forget like how slow ships traveled at this time. I'm like, why would you have six months of food on there? But like, I forgot that it was like a longer journey than it would be right now.
00:24:47
Speaker
The crew approached the ship not knowing really what to think. So was the crew all dead? Had they been attacked? What was going on? But when they boarded the Mary Celeste, most things were in perfect order. The main hatch was secure. A few of the smaller hatches were open with their covers discarded on the deck, but the crew's clothes were neatly packed away.
00:25:18
Speaker
Their rooms were in somewhat like an okay order, but yet no people were seen anywhere. That's weird.
00:25:27
Speaker
Cause you'd think like, okay, if something happened, like let's say they went through a storm, something happened to the ship, right? They can't go anywhere cause the sales are torn or whatever. Even if somebody was passing by, well, you wouldn't think they were attacked because then you would think things would be in disarray. So then you're like, okay, maybe some kind passerby ship, you know, came by, but then you'd think they'd take their clothes.
00:25:55
Speaker
Weird. Strangely, Allison, the ship's single lifeboat was also missing. So, like, the ship is fine, but the lifeboat's gone, so then I feel like you're left to guess that they left the ship on the lifeboat. Hmm. But why? And again, why not take, well, I guess there's limited space on a lifeboat, so then maybe you wouldn't take your clothes.
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. But I feel like, well, I'll get there. I'll get there. So one weird thing was that the ship's compass had shifted and the glass cover was broken. So maybe there was like a storm of some sort.
00:26:36
Speaker
There was about three and a half feet of water in the hold. So like the part of the ship that's actually like underwater, there was about three and a half feet of water under there, which seems like a significant amount, but it wasn't necessarily alarming for the size of ship. I would be freaking out if there was water aboard the ship that I was on. Yeah, I would too. Again, I'm not an experienced salesman, so maybe it is fine.
00:27:05
Speaker
According to one source I read, it appeared that a makeshift sounding rod, like the device used for measuring the amount of water in the hold, was found abandoned on the deck. So is it possible they thought that the ship was sinking? Maybe. But you think again, if he's like this experienced captain, then you'd think he would be like, three and a half feet. We're fine. We'll get the buckets. We'll throw it overboard. Yeah.
00:27:34
Speaker
They did have a little bit of luck though. The ship's log book was found on board. So like the record that Captain Briggs would have been keeping and they were eager to see exactly like what had happened. They thought that a more detailed record would be kept in the book. But when they opened it up, the last entry was dated November 25th. And remember that we discovered the ship on November 5th.
00:28:04
Speaker
December 5th. Yeah, so this is like 10 days later. Right, and in an article I read on history.com it stated that the last entry in the ship's log was made that morning, so the morning of the 25th, and Mary Celeste was inside of Azores Island of Santa Maria, so some 500 miles
00:28:28
Speaker
from where the Descartier would have found it nine days later. So, like, we're a little off track. We're off course. So, like, they're saying that, you know, Morehouse's crew finds the ship, like, the eight or nine days or whatever after, and it should have been, like, in a different location than where it's at. So, basically, I guess, how long has this baby been just, like,
00:28:57
Speaker
drifting on its own. Yeah. Yeah. It was noted that the cabin's interiors were wet and untidy from water that had entered through doorways and skylights, but like it was otherwise in rather reasonable order. The men aboard the Mary Celeste that came from more houseship found personal items scattered through Captain Briggs cabin. So like things it would be weird to leave behind like his sword was under the bed and still in the like sheath.
00:29:26
Speaker
Hmm Strangely though most of the ship's papers were missing along with the captain's navigational instruments. So like again kind of pointing to the fact Did they get on the lifeboat and they needed these navigational? Right try to figure out where they were I feel like you would have taken his weapon with them though, right? Why would you leave the sword? Yeah
00:29:49
Speaker
galley equipment so the kitchen equipment was like neatly sewed away there wasn't really any sign of food preparation there were ample provisions in the like food stores in fact i read that there was that six months of six months supply of food and the food supply had barely been touched like not enough to be like to december the fifth
00:30:13
Speaker
So I mean, cause you said earlier, they've already been on this ship for like a month. So basically they get on there and like, it's like a week's worth of food is gone in a month. Hmm. That's weird.
00:30:29
Speaker
So in one article that I read, or one source I read, sorry, called Mary Celeste, the greatest mystery of the sea. It says there was no obvious signs of like a fire or violence. The evidence indicated like they left the ship willingly by that missing lifeboat upon first inspection, we shall say.
00:30:55
Speaker
yet it still makes no sense. Right. Why would they leave? And that's kind of what we're going to talk about.
00:31:03
Speaker
So after the crewmates returned to the de Gratia, Captain Morehouse decided that like he would split his crew and half would go with the Mary Celeste and half would stay with him and they would bring both ships to port. Remember because his, like the Mary Celeste is filled with alcohol. His was like... And his has petroleum. Yes. And so, you know, if he brings in this ship with all this alcohol in it, he should get the commission
00:31:31
Speaker
Oh, heck yeah. We're bringing that like for making the safe delivery or whatever. And if they're friends, maybe he planned on saying
00:31:41
Speaker
Like, hey, I took this ship in for you. But here's the thing, though. If the ship is still... I almost said crewable. That's not even a word. But if the ship is still sailable, because Morehouse is putting half of his crew on it, well, then that means that Briggs could have captained it to the port. And yet, he didn't. Right. And there are several theories why, and we'll talk about a lot of them. Okay.
00:32:10
Speaker
So in the same source above, the Mary Celeste, the greatest mystery of the sea, the author would go on to write that the weather was relatively calm for most of the trip, like from discovery to delivery.
00:32:24
Speaker
But because each ship was seriously under crude, progress was slow. More houseship arrived to port on December 12th. The Mary Celeste encountered fog and arrived like the following morning. So they made slower progress than normal, but they still end up where they need to be.
00:32:45
Speaker
When Mary Celeste gets into port, she is immediately impounded by the vise. And this like, this is like so much over my like, I feel like I'm out of my wheelhouse. But she was impounded like you would impound a car to prepare for like a salvage hearing.
00:33:09
Speaker
right when she arrived like a car. This is you're not the owner. Yeah. Like why are you why are you bringing in like a shipment that you're not supposed to have. And so they want to figure out
00:33:28
Speaker
Like they wanna get to the bottom of this. One crew member aboard the Mary Celeste would write to his wife about like his time on the ship. And in that letter he said, quote, I can hardly tell what I'm made of, but I don't care as long as I go in safe. I shall be well paid for the Mary Celeste, end quote. What the heck's that mean? I don't know what I'm made of. I don't know like if that means like this has been really hard, but it's worth it cause I'm gonna get paid.
00:33:57
Speaker
So being on this ship made him nervous. I mean, it would me too. Where the heck are all the people? Yeah. And from what I read, there was a pretty long hearing. The Morehouse was not given the payment for the delivery of the alcohol right away. They eventually would.
00:34:17
Speaker
but not before like many theories were developed and investigated over the fates of those on board because like they were interested to know the fate of those on board before they paid for the goods.
00:34:31
Speaker
Oh, we want to make sure you didn't board the ship, kill all the people. And now you're like, hey, look at this ship I found. Yeah, give me the money. Right. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the day Gratia crewmen sailed the ship, some 1-800 miles, where the British bias
00:34:50
Speaker
Admiralty court convened like the salvage hearing, like I mentioned, which was usually just limited to determining whether the salvagers so like in this case, Morrison's crew were entitled for payment.
00:35:05
Speaker
So that's the purpose of that hearing. But the attorney general in charge of the inquiry, his name was Frederick Solly Flood, suspected- Solly Flood? Yes, very 1872. Yes. Respected mischief and decided he wanted to investigate. And for more than three months, that's what happened. But the court found really no evidence and they eventually did give
00:35:31
Speaker
Morehouse's crew like a payment they only paid one sixth of the forty six thousand for which the ship and its cargo would have been insured. So like I think they weren't fully convinced.
00:35:43
Speaker
that they were innocent. So they're like, we can't prove you're guilty, but we also don't think you're innocent. Right. So we'll pay you a little. Yeah. I mean, gosh, so it was originally $46,000. I mean, that's a lot, especially back then. Yeah. And 1870, that's a lot of, that's a lot of money now. Yeah, I take it.
00:36:05
Speaker
So there are lots of theories. We're actually going to talk about seven. Some of them, I say seven, but some of them are like really brief. Okay. Obviously some of them longer. So the first one is one of our longer theories. And it is like mutiny. There's mutiny afoot.
00:36:27
Speaker
Oh my. Yes. So apparently some believed that there were blood stains on like some of the wood in the ship. And they think that basically
00:36:51
Speaker
the crew, some of the crew got drunk, right? And there was some kind of mutinous act. This was investigated by flood. So the guy we talked about earlier. And according to yesterday.com, like I said, initial checks of the ship found strange marks that some believe were caused by an axe along with traces of what some believe to be blood.
00:37:19
Speaker
So weird. The attorney general leading the inquiry on the ship's payment fixated on the idea that the members of the crew had gotten violently drunk on that alcohol that was on board, which if that is like industrial strength alcohol, like you can go blind from that. Don't do that. And then like massacred everyone on board, threw them overboard, and then left on the lifeboat. But like, for what purpose?
00:37:50
Speaker
Yeah so like the sword happened left in the captain's quarters still like in this little cover. Yeah you think if people started to get rowdy he would have been like hey buddy and pulled out that sword and they're like try again. And didn't they wear those like people would have a cell phone in their back pocket like they were just I mean
00:38:12
Speaker
That's what I picture. Yeah. I don't know if that's true. Right. But in my mind, yeah, parts of the Caribbean, which wasn't this time period, but that's what I'm thinking about. Yeah. So they're thinking that, you know, maybe this happened and that's where everybody went. Reports, you know, there were reports of bad weather, you know, the water was on board, you know, but
00:38:43
Speaker
Could we kind of say maybe those places were caused by when she literally ran into another boat? Like, would that not cause damage that perhaps looked like axe marks on the boat? I don't know. It's not like she's brand new. Like, she's gonna have some wear and tear. She's wood. They also thought that there were stains on one of the ship's rails that could have been blood.
00:39:12
Speaker
But all these findings only seem to support, like, this initial thinking of mutiny. And on January 22nd, 1873, Flood sent reports to, like, the Board of Trade in London, adding his own conclusions that the crew basically got shmammered and murdered the Briggs family and the ship's officers, like, in a drunken frenzy and left on the lifeboat.
00:39:39
Speaker
like ashamed of what they did like oh my gosh what have we just done leave on the life boat but again because you didn't take anything so like what's the purpose yeah and if this alcohol is worth so much money first of all i don't feel like he fell overboard i took over and yeah yeah so you get the money or something yeah plus i feel like if you
00:40:06
Speaker
I feel like these crew members would have had to have gone through like some kind of like vetting process. I mean, I know there's like all these theories about like the sailors being like the, you know, rowdy bunch. But I feel like when you've got precious cargo on board, I don't think a captain would be okay with them drinking some of the profit in the first place. Right. Yeah, exactly.
00:40:34
Speaker
unless he didn't know, I guess. Yeah, sure. I guess they could have like not made it known. So speaking of alcohol, that is going to be theory number two. So in one article I read called the Dex of the Mary Celeste, December 1872, the authors, because it was co-written, state that another credible theory centers on the ship's dangerous cargo, right? Because alcohol obviously
00:40:59
Speaker
industrial strength alcohol can be dangerous. Yes, exactly. And when investigators unloaded the like 1700 barrels of alcohol from the hold, none of those turned out to be empty.
00:41:16
Speaker
Now, I did work at Buffalo Trace, which is like the home of Kentucky bourbon for a little bit. So I feel like I know a little bit about barrels. But they had some white oak barrels and they had some red oak barrels. Red oak barrels are more porous. So it allows the vapors to escape more than what like a white oak barrel would, which is what you age bourbon in.
00:41:42
Speaker
So they're thinking that maybe some of the alcohol like evaporated and like smelling this gas and like a possible explosion below deck that Captain Briggs like tells everybody to abandon ship. Oh, like before there's a huge explosion or something. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:05
Speaker
but I feel like there would have been evidence of an explosion. Like I feel like they would have seen charred wood cause the ship is made out of wood. Right. Or like could like that dissipate, like the vapors dissipate and no explosion happened, but they like couldn't get back to the ship. Oh, I don't know. Or they were too far away from the ship. I don't know. So like, if this is the case, then like,
00:42:33
Speaker
We could easily say that they either starved, their lifeboat flipped over in a storm and they all drowned, you know, cause they would easily, could have easily been pushed off course if you're in a little lifeboat. Right. Hence the no people found alive.
00:42:53
Speaker
Theory three, and we have to talk about it because it's some because it was in a lot of what I read. Some people do believe that Captain Briggs and the rest of the people aboard the Mary Celeste were abducted by aliens. So you all know that. I feel like the aliens would have been like, what is this alcohol stuff? I kind of like this, digging it.
00:43:20
Speaker
I feel like they would have probably been like, who are these weird creatures we stumbled upon? I'm going back home. I mean, like if you all are a long time listener, you know that we love a good supernatural theory. We love talking about Bigfoot and what was her name? Yobo Gaga or whatever. What was her name? Oh shoot. Baba Yaga.
00:43:45
Speaker
Mama Yaga, that's what it was. Yeah, we got there together. Yes, we did. We eventually made it.
00:43:51
Speaker
So why would we not talk about aliens? Right. So according to one article that I read that listed like five-ish theories, it says quote, this is probably partly down to the idea many people have of the Mary Celeste being in an eerily pristine condition, end quote. So they're saying like, you know, the ship is still sellable. There's
00:44:17
Speaker
ample food that hasn't been touched, everything's in working order, like something had to happen that just like sucked these people out of thin air and I guess they land on aliens. But then like if aliens pulled them up then did the aliens where they like pause we need a cover-up
00:44:44
Speaker
Let's move the lifeboat. Let's take, or we're on a big thing that is floating in the water. What does this little thing do? Let's see. Yeah. I do think it's weird, because I mentioned it earlier, that the ship is still sailable.
00:45:04
Speaker
and was left with all the food provisions, the weapon, and stuff like that. I do agree. Aliens though, that's a little too far for me. Yeah. So the next one that we're going to talk about kind of has like a bunch of theories in one, but it was that something natural happened, like a natural phenomenon. So could the sea itself be behind this mystery? Is it possible?
00:45:31
Speaker
that the fate of our crew and family was like completely at the hands of Mother Nature and some type of strange occurrence in nature. Okay, like what? The one person said that because that like makeshift sounding rod that checked like the water height suggested that Briggs abandon shipped after like he thought that the ship was sinking like a false reading.
00:45:59
Speaker
because there was apparently like a malfunction in some pumps and this gave the false impression that the vessel was taking on water rapidly when it really wasn't. So like, did he panic and say like abandon ship without really thoroughly investigating? Cause I feel like if your kid's on there and your wife, you're going to be like trigger happy to abandon ship. If you think anything is going to be wrong, that would like maybe hurt them. That's true.
00:46:28
Speaker
So maybe I'm going to give that one a maybe. Yeah. So another one of these like natural phenomenons was a displaced iceberg, which gives me flash PTSD flashbacks to the Titanic. You talked about it in the intro.
00:46:54
Speaker
I mean like I can watch that movie like every like seven years or something it's not like a movie I would want to watch on the regular but I still fast forward there are a lot of parts of it like mainly so
00:47:10
Speaker
our young sleuth hounds when we first watched the Titanic, it came on to VHS, which is similar to like a DVD or Blu-ray, except you put it in and they were bigger and they had like these films in them. And they only held a certain amount of content. So the Titanic is a long movie and it had to come with two.
00:47:33
Speaker
so when i say i would only watch the first half for a long time that is the like the first the first vhs tape yes the first vhs tape so up until the love scene like after that it's just pretty much all downhill because people start to die but anyways i digress
00:47:53
Speaker
One possibility is a displaced iceberg. So, like, could this explain the, like, gashes in the wood that were, like, maybe axe related, but really it was ice. But, like, how far would this iceberg have to be displaced? Right. Good question. Or how far off course would they have to have been? Yeah. And I think of Portugal, like,
00:48:22
Speaker
Warming, beaches. Yeah, but maybe global warming and it wasn't that back in 1872. Maybe not. I mean, I don't know. I'm giggling it. It's also December, so it would be colder. I mean, true. But like, I'm just thinking like Titanic and I feel like anytime you hit an iceberg, like you're going down. So like, how is this ship still sellable if you hit an iceberg?
00:48:50
Speaker
And most of an iceberg we know is underwater, so you would think it wouldn't just be a few gashes on the top. You'd think it would be. It would rip a hole in the side of your ship. Now, I don't know about the 1800s, but Portugal today in December is around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, 15 degrees Celsius. What would the water temperature be?
00:49:12
Speaker
No, that I don't know. And even at nighttime, it only falls to about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, eight degrees Celsius. That sounds lovely. I know. It's 20 degrees Fahrenheit here today. So there's that possibility, which I completely... Yeah, I'm not big on the iceberg one. Another one is a sea quake or an earthquake at sea. Huh? Okay.
00:49:41
Speaker
which and then I think of like tsunami but maybe I'm wrong because you know I'm not a
00:49:47
Speaker
sea quake expert. But this could have caused sufficient turbulence on the surface to damage parts of the Mary Celeste cargo. You know, it could have released those fumes on board, raising fear of like an imminent explosion, which told Greg to get everybody into the lifeboat. It could explain the displaced hatches that the inspection crew found. Like maybe they were attempting to air out
00:50:14
Speaker
the area where the barrels were being stored. So I'm kind of feeling sea quake. It makes sense. That one makes
Reflecting on the Unknown and Future Content
00:50:25
Speaker
a lot of sense. But I guess I just keep going back to like, where are the people? Well, unless, yeah. Unless they starved or fell overboard. Right, because they were on this like boat. Yeah, for like
00:50:41
Speaker
potentially eight to 10 days, and I just don't think you would last that long in the open sea. That's true. The last natural, well, sort of last natural phenomenon we're going to talk about is a water sprout, which is basically a tornado at sea, which is terrifying. Like a tornado made up of... How's that work?
00:51:06
Speaker
So it like sucks up all the water around it and like, I guess so there you'd be on your cruise ship and you would be like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, but I don't think you're going to land in Kansas. You're probably going to be in the Bermuda triangle with the USS Cyclops and then you're going to air heart and you're going down. Yep. Yeah.
00:51:23
Speaker
According to one source that I read on this site called Mental Floss, it said, quote, today, there are few prevailing theories about what really happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste. Some historians now believe that the ship hit a water sprout, a tornado at sea, that caused the ship to take on water. Although the Mary Celeste was still seaworthy, Captain Briggs may have panicked and abandoned the ship, only to have the lifeboat sink in the storm, end quote, which makes sense to me. OK.
00:51:53
Speaker
I buy it in part, and there's the word I was trying to think of earlier, seaworthy, when I said, when I say crewable or something. But here's the only thing that doesn't make sense to me about that theory. And it's that very last thing that you said that some of these historians think that
00:52:14
Speaker
He could have panicked and abandoned the ship only to have the lifeboat sink in the storm. But the actual ship wouldn't sink? Yeah, like I'm not going to, if there's a tornado, leave my house to go outside covered by an umbrella. Right. Like that's my analogy because I feel like if there's a horrific storm like
00:52:39
Speaker
a tornado at sea. I'm not going to take my chances in a little lifeboat. I'm going to take my chances in the big boat.
00:52:47
Speaker
why that would be like leaving your house during a tornado to go to your pool house. Yeah. Like, yeah, I'm not going to do that. Yeah. That's true. True. So it's the theory five, which could kind of, um, help us with the sea tornado thing a little, is that it was just a storm. So a violent storm occurs, the waters become really rough. Um,
00:53:12
Speaker
like so we know that that is impossible because the like she had to wait a few days to leave harbor because of a bad storm there was a lot of water found on board so could a storm kind of be responsible for that could everybody have been thrown overboard like lifeboat included and that's why the like
00:53:33
Speaker
ropes are hanging over and the cells are weird and like there's some evidence of damage like could it have all just been because of this big storm? You know now I'm okay as you were talking about that theory I was thinking back to all the natural theories like this one and I was thinking you know of all the theories I've heard so far I would probably say the sea quake you know
00:54:02
Speaker
But then I started thinking back to the description of the boat and how everything is in order. And even the crew members clothes are like, oh my God, I forgot about. Yeah. If you're being tossed around by way, they'd be everywhere.
00:54:20
Speaker
Okay, so everything is just thrown out the window. Yeah, discredited. Okay, so then I feel like every time I've been like, okay, this one really makes sense, but then we talk ourselves out of it. All right, so theory number six is that the Degratia crew are to blame. So they maybe see the Mary Celeste in their little eye thing that they're looking out of. What'd you say that was called? Periscope. Yes.
00:54:48
Speaker
And Captain Morehouse knows that Captain Briggs has all this valuable alcohol. Right now, sleuth hounds in my room, I'm literally looking through my periscope hands as I'm telling this story. Because it gets me into character. Okay, I'll do it too. Okay.
00:55:04
Speaker
It helps. So he's looking through his little scope and he sees the Mary Celeste on the horizon and he thinks, aha, I know that they have a lot of alcohol. And now I'm pointing like I would be like a captain. I know they have a lot of alcohol on board and that's worth a lot of money. So we are going to board their ship, kill everybody on board, take over their ship.
00:55:33
Speaker
and bring it to port and say we found it abandoned and drifting in the sea. Because his crew was bigger than the crew on Brig's ship, so overthrowing them wouldn't have been impossible. True. But you know I like to play devil's advocate. I guess it's just who I am. So first of all, I think it'd be really hard for them to kill a kid. But maybe not.
00:56:03
Speaker
But here's my big hang up with this theory. I'm not going to deny the fact that the alcohol is worth a lot of money. I'm not going to deny the fact that, you know, maybe they were capable of killing all these people. But what we can't change are the dates when we know that these ships left the harbor. And if the de Gratia crew left the harbor, like
00:56:32
Speaker
over a week after the Mary Celeste. Then they'd have to make up a lot of ground in order to catch up with the Mary Celeste in order to overtake it to pretend like all of this was just some horrific accident. Unless because maybe the Mary Celeste encountered more bad weather and it delayed them because remember she got delayed even just a day because of fog. Mmm.
00:57:01
Speaker
So maybe, your theory is, maybe they did get delayed, but that's a lot of days of delay. But I'll set aside my, what's the word I'm looking for? Disbelief for a second. And so you're basically saying, and I get how this could work, like if they did get delayed, then maybe, you know, Morehouse shows up and he's like,
00:57:27
Speaker
Hey, come on board. We'll give you guys dinner. You know? Like, tell us what's happened. They get them on the lifeboat. The lifeboat comes to the Degratia boat. Right? For them to board.
00:57:45
Speaker
and then they said they could all leave the ship though because then who is like oh yeah it's not like it's anchored somewhere right i feel like we're getting really like yeah we're too hypothetical yeah yeah i'm not buying that one either and the last theory and i see lots of like flaws with this one too is pirates
00:58:06
Speaker
So there were pirates in the area at the time. So some people think that maybe pirates took over the ship, like climbed aboard, killed everybody, threw them overboard. But like, for what purpose? They left everything of value on the ship. Hmm. Yeah. When they could have made money on the alcohol. Right. So what's the purpose there? Yeah. Let's kill them all and then. OK, well, yeah, let's leave now. Yeah. Like, did they just need to quench their thirst for blood?
00:58:37
Speaker
I don't know what to think. I know. Like not a single one of these theories explains everything. So maybe they were objected by aliens. Maybe they were.
00:58:55
Speaker
There's just something about the ocean that haunts some of us. How can something so beautiful also be so deadly? How can the place we vacation be responsible for so many deaths? I think back to the summer, my husband and brother-in-law nearly drowned. There's not a single scenario or theory revolving around the Mary Celeste and possibly drowning or being thrown overboard or being killed by pirates. That does not scare me. Whether it's aliens or ocean tornadoes all sound terrifying.
00:59:24
Speaker
While we likely will never know what happened to the people aboard the Mary Celeste because too much time has passed, we can always remember them and the haunting legacy they left behind. Again, please like and join us on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and to see images related to this episode.
00:59:44
Speaker
as always follow us on instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tick tock at coffee and cases podcast or you can always email us suggestions to coffee and cases podcast at gmail.com please tell your friends about our podcast so that more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well we hope to hear from you soon stay together stay safe we'll see you next week