Seaquake Shakes Crew: Breaking Down the Desertion of the Mary Celeste

In a time before we could recognize underwater earthquakes, would the crews of shipping vessels have known what to do? Did they know what was happening? Would a superstitious crew think it was an act of God, or that the ship was cursed? Did they think hazardous cargo was going to explode? Would they seek refuge on the first island they encountered? Did they think that was the end? Would a captain with family onboard be overly cautious? In late 1872, something unthinkable had to happen onboard the brigantine Mary Celeste that caused her crew to abandon ship.

On 5 December, the Dei Gratia spotted a ship, four hundred miles east of the Azores Islands ship sailing erratically with no signs of distress. It was the Mary Celeste, by then the ship should have been safely anchored in Italy, instead a crew different sailed her into the British territory of Gibraltar. The boarding party found most of the crew's personal belongings, wet and disheveled, with a six-month supply of food and water. The stove and water barrel were ripped from the brackets that were used keep them in place. One of the ships pumps disassembled, sails half furled, a compass was broken, and nine barrels of alcohol were empty (Williams). The evidence left by the crew show the ship had encountered an earthquake at sea while en route to Genoa, Italy

On 5 November, the ship known as Mary Celeste set sail from New York City to Genoa with 1,709 barrels of alcohol. Benjamin S. Briggs, one of the ships new co-owners, captained the brigantine with a seven-man crew, his wife, and two-year-old daughter. It would have been expected for Briggs to be nervous about the cargo he was carrying with his family onboard, but he was an experienced captain with an experienced crew. At that time, alcohol was one of the three most dangerous cargos for a ship to haul because of its flammability; the other two were coal and hay (Hicks 59).

Weather reports show that after weeks of rough weather, the "worst weather since records began"(The True Story), the crew of Mary Celeste had finally found calm seas once reaching the Azores Islands on 25 November. The crewmembers would have been able to relax and the captain would have wanted to ventilate the ships hold (Hicks 239). Then without warning, the ship started to shake violently, with an awful thunderous roar. The ship was lifted out of the ocean then the "whole ship slammed back with violent vibrations," breaking the ships compass (Ambraseys). The ships stove was ripped from its brackets, the crewmembers pumping the bilge knocked off their feet and the ones setting the topsail were sent into the ocean by a wall of water that surrounded the ship (Jack 149).

Unknown to the captain, nine of the barrels of alcohol amounting to 450 gallons leaked into the ships hold (Hicks 239). These handful of barrels made of red oak were more porous then the rest of the barrels made of white oak (Blumberg). The spilled alcohol would have been floating on any seawater that was in the bilge. Upon inspection of the hold for damage, a candle ignited the alcohol fumes into an eerie blue vapor flash. This vapor flash most like would not have show fire damage to an amateur inspector. For fear that the ship was about to set fire, the cautious captain ordered the hatches be opened; his crew and family were ordered to abandon ship. The crew would wait for the cargo hold to air out and let the fumes dissipate.

Before leaving the ship, Briggs took his chronometer, sextant, navigation book, American flag, the ships register, and other papers. In the crews haste to leave the ship they used an axe to cut the lifeboat loose since they did not have time to untie the ropes (Williams). Caught up in the hurriedness and confusion the crew forgot to tie a rope from the lifeboat to the brigantine. Once realizing this, the captain had to make a decision. Should he try to go in pursuit of his boat or sail into Santa Maria explaining why he left a seaworthy ship? Would the fact that he was part owner of the ship sway his decision to pursue her? It is also believable that the passengers did not take food or water with them, since they did not think they would be there long.

A few months later, off the coast of Spain, two rafts were found with six decomposed bodies, one wrapped in an American flag. This discovery could have been some of the passengers of the Mary Celeste (Williams). There are many reports that the Mary Celeste left port with only one lifeboat. The boats other owner, James Winchester, refutes that, claiming he "pointed out the dilapidated condition" of the larger lifeboat and would order another before the ship set sail (Hicks 51).

Before this point, the ship had an interesting history; her crew may have considered that she was cursed. In 1861, the ship was christened Amazon. Robert McLellan, her first captain, "took ill almost immediately after setting foot onboard" (Hicks 16). The second captain, John Parker sailed her into a rivers barricade on its maiden voyage, later catching fire during