Do Not Open: An Encyclopedia of the World's Best Kept Secrets
My 10-year-old daughter and I have really been enjoying Do Not Open: An Encyclopedia of the World's Best Kept Secrets by John Farndon, a colorful book filled with unexplained mysteries, bizarre anecdotes through the ages, great escapes, codes, optical illusions, hoaxes, and explanations of secret systems and complexes.
My daughter was fascinated by the cutaway drawing and description of the (now unused) underground military base in Cheyenne Mountain. And she is still offering up theories that might explain the fate of the crew of the Mary Celeste. The publisher of Do Not Open kindly gave me permission to include a PDF of the Mary Celeste section.
LinkTHE MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE
On the afternoon of December 5, 1872, the sailing ship Dei Gratia was gliding calmly across the Atlantic towards Portugal. The weather was fair, and Dei Gratia’s captain, David Morehouse, was surprised to look out and see a ship he recognized as the Mary Celeste. This ship had left New York City a week before him, so it should have been far ahead. As he watched, Morehouse saw the Mary Celeste swing around suddenly in the wind as if out of control. This was very strange, for he knew the Mary Celeste’s captain, Benjamin Briggs, was a good seaman. He tried hailing but there was only silence.
For two hours, Morehouse surveyed the Mary Celeste sailing west, all apparently fine except for its strange yawing to and fro. Eventually, Morehouse could watch no more, and sent his chief mate, Oliver Deveau, across in a small boat to the other ship. Climbing aboard, Deveau found the Mary Celeste absolutely empty. There was no sign of Captain Briggs, his wife Sarah, their two-year-old daughter, or the crew. Yet, aside from some water between the decks and a couple of hatch covers missing, the ship appeared in good condition. Where were they all? That question has intrigued people ever since...
After discovering the Mary Celeste was deserted, Morehouse put three men on board. In a sad mood, they sailed her on to Gibraltar. Immediately, an inquiry was launched to discover what had happened. Morehouse hoped at least to claim salvage for the Mary Celeste, but soon found himself in the dock—since the attorney just could not believe they had found the ship drifting unmanned. He was eventually cleared, but the inquiry came to no firm conclusion. So what did happen?
The Evidence
• Two hatches were open.
• The ship’s clock was upside down and had stopped.
• The sextant (instrument for celestial navigation) and chronometer (shipping timepiece) were missing.
• The Captain’s bed was sodden and there was water between the decks.
• Under the bed was the Captain’s sword, with red stains.
• The lifeboat was missing, leaving a frayed rope.
• The cargo of 1,700 barrels of pure alcohol was intact, except for nine empty barrels.
• On board, there was food to last six months.
• The last entry in the ship’s log was about a week old.The Theories
Mutiny!
Theory: The crew became angry with Briggs’ leadership and murdered him and his family, then escaped in the lifeboat.
Evidence: The red-stained sword, the missing lifeboat, and the deserted ship.
Problems: Briggs was renowned for being a good and fair captain. The stain on the sword turned out to be rust and not blood. Even if there was a mutiny, this does not explain why the crew would jump into a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.Drunken sailors
Theory: The crew murdered the captain and his family to get at the alcohol in the cargo, then escaped in the lifeboat.
Evidence: The stained sword and the nine empty barrels, which had contained alcohol.
Problems: The cargo of alcohol was undrinkable and, like the captain, the crew had an admirable reputation. As we know, the stain on the sword was rust, and the crew would have faced great danger on a small lifeboat in the turbulent Atlantic.Rogue wave
Theory: The entire crew was swept overboard by a giant wave.
Evidence: The water between the decks.
Problems: It seems highly unlikely that a single wave would have caught everyone. Even if it had, you would expect a lot more items to be missing than just the sextant and the compass.Sinking
Theory: The crew thought the ship was sinking, so took to the lifeboat to escape. This was the theory decided by the court hearing at the time.
Evidence: Water in the hold.
Problems: The ship’s pump was working well enough for the sailors from the Dei Gratia to pump out the water and take the Mary Celeste safely back to port.Insurance scam
Theory: Briggs and Morehouse conspired in a scam to get the insurance money.
Evidence: None.
Problems: The ship and its cargo would have to be lost for there to be an insurance claim. Instead, everybody on board was missing but the cargo remained largely intact. So who was supposed to claim the insurance, and for what?Poisoning
Theory: They got ergot (a fungus) poisoning from the rye bread they were eating. This drove them insane and they left in the lifeboat.
Evidence: The bread on the Mary Celeste was rye and is poisonous if made from ergot-infected grain.
Problems: All the bread found by the Dei Gratia crew was fine. Even if they did go insane, why would they want to flee together in the lifeboat?The Bermuda Triangle
Theory: The crew was abducted by aliens in the Bermuda Triangle.
Evidence: None.
Problems: The ship was sighted near Portugal and so was nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle.Explosion
Theory: Alcohol leaking from some of the barrels exploded, frightening Briggs and his crew into abandoning the ship temporarily. The lifeboat then separated from the Mary Celeste during a heavy storm.
Evidence: The nine barrels may have exploded, blowing off the hatch covers. The missing sextant and chronometer would have been helpful in the lifeboat. The frayed rope that trailed the Mary Celeste could have been used to tie the lifeboat to the ship. The water on board could be evidence of bad weather. Recent scientific tests have shown that alcohol can explode without a fire.
Problems: There was little evidence of an explosion anywhere on the ship.You’ve seen the evidence and you’ve read the theories, so what do you think happened on board the mysterious Mary Celeste?
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Why was there six months' worth of food on the ship, when they were only a week away from home?
A giant squid got em!
They were a week away from home (New York), heading to Portugal etc.
Rapture!! ZOMG, we've all been left behind!
Cybermen. They landed, threw the crew overboard, and siphoned off some alcohol for the trip home.
Sounds like a perfect christmas gift. Last time I heard about the Mary Celeste, I was watching a Jonny Quest cartoon. Anyone remember that ep?
Creating an account doesn't seem to work...
My son and I watched a documentary about the Mary Celeste on the Smithsonian Channel just the other day. The Red Stains on the sword were found to be rust (it said), and the nine empty barrels were made of a different kind of wood (red oak versus white oak?) that turns porous after a while, which explains why they were empty (leaked).
I don't recall anything about the captian's bed being sodden. There were also numerous other clues not investigated at the time (the ship had been 'upgraded' prior to the voyage. It was made higher to accomodate the wife and child, I believe), which could cause more wood shavings to be in the bilge. Also, the cargo on the previous voyage was something I don't now recall, that also could have added crud to the bilge, which may explain why one of the pumps had been pulled (plugged up, or trying to figure out why it wouldn't pump).
Anyway, I recommend it, primarily because I enjoyed it!
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/10668206.html
Jan V.
Dang... tried creating an account but I'm getting some weird Movable Type error. Hence the Anon comment.
I read an interesting book called "Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew" by Brian Hicks.
His theory is that there were some leaking barrels of the alcohol (which was undrinkable and for industrial use) and as a safety precaution to protect the crew from potential explosions and fumes (apparently the alcohol fumes from a leak belowdecks could be quite noxious and/or dangerous), the captain, his wife and child and crew were shuttled to the lifeboat or dinghy or whatever the correct term would be.
At that point, the author believes something -- perhaps a sudden squall -- caused the lifeboat to separate, leaving them behind as the Mary Celeste sailed away without them. The Mary Celeste, which was still under more or less full sail, would have been impossible to catch up with if it caught the wind and the crew was stuck in a little lifeboat.
The last one is the best fit. Alcohol fumes ignited but were not powerful enough to char the wood or cause much other damage. It was strong enough to blow the hatches but not much more, it could happen. Capt and crew were scared shitless though, they knew how much alcohol was below and what it could do, so they took the instruments and retreated to the lifeboat in case there were further explosions. A storm came up and swept them away. End of story.
Second thought, if that is what happened they would want to be far as possible from the ship. I mean, if they were really afraid it would blow and with that much alcohol on board, you'd want to more than a few yards away. So they used a long line as a tether to the ship. The line became entangled in a storm or rough seas and broke. Separating them from the ship and dooming them to die on the open sea.
It's either that or Cthulhu (praise be).
Mrhs sms th mst lkly sspct. Myb thy wr dwn n thr lck nd th crw ws bt t mtny vr lck f pymnt, s thy ll grd t sck Brggs' shp.
t sd h ws clrd bt nt *hw* h ws clrd. Crw ll sdd wth hm? Grsd plms f th lcl mgstrt wth ct f th bty? Frnscs f 1872 prbbly lt y gt wy wth lt s lng s th wtnsss wr n yr sd. Dd h vntlly gt t clm slvg rghts? wld mgn s, snc th crt rld tht th shp ws bndnd nd lst.
Prhps thy sdld p t Brggs' shp, clmng dstrss. Brggs, knwng Mrhs t t lst sm xtnt, plld lngsd t hlp nd whm, tkn wtht fght.
Mrhs tld th crw f th Mry Clst tht thy'll b st flt wth fd nd wtr n th lfbt (lng wth, prhps, ny mmbr f Mrhs's wn crw wh ddn't wnt t g n n th pln). Ld p th lfbt, thn ct th lfbt ls, thn lt t gt bt 10 mtrs wy nd snk t. Nw sht ff th blg pmps nd lt sm wtr bld p t crt lttl xtr "mystry", thn pmp t ll bck t nd thr y g: fr shp, pr prft, mystrs crcmstncs, nvr prv thng, tc.
My mum's been telling me this one since I was a baby, and her grandfather used to tell her. You never know... maybe one day someone will be doing deep sea exploration in the Atlantic and will come across bodies, the lifeboat, or equipment.
Duh, it was pirates.
I call time travel.
Keyser Soze
There was a german TV-Feature a few years ago. As far as I remember they explained that gases from the cargo forced them to leave the ship. They went into a tiny boat, secured it with a long rope to the Mary Celeste and then somehow lost that lifeline.
They also said something more about the cargo, I think it was not pure alcohol, but cant remember exactely what. Hope this helps.
Michael
Mark, if I ever have kids (unlikely at this point), I've already decided to try to be a dad like you.
Clearly the experiments at Montauk started a lot earlier than anyone expected.
Instant steampunk!
um, duh. it was daleks.
#8 sounds pretty possible.
It's obvious they either left with the escape pod and navigation equipment, or were made to look like they were. Probably left with other supplies too. If they did leave on their own, they drifted out to sea.
Tried to login, wouldn't let me.
The Mary Celeste was built in Nova Scotia - there's a monument next to the location of the shipyard. At the lighthouse, they sell booklets on what happened. It's close to #8, but goes on to explain in great detail about the effect of the change in temperature on the barrels of alcohol, and about the history of the crew. In essence, the booklet points out that a squall likely hit the ship after the crew evacuated - a smart move considering the possibility of the alcohol exploding. Since the hatches were open, it explains the water between the decks and why the lifeboat sank.
Also, the line they used to put the lifeboat out to sea was actually from the mainsail - probably the longest and largest rope on board that could be easily and quickly accessed. It may have been worn from the blocks (the pulleys) and that could explain the break.
Theory: Sleestaks
Evidence: As everyone knows, Sleestaks are the silent killers. They could have come on board at night, turned the clock over, rusted the sword, and pulled the crew down, down into their caves, where they lay eggs in their throats.
Problems: Sleestaks have no way to operate a sextant. Their ridiculous talons are only good for operating equipment with a "gems" interface.
Also, even though they are often known as the "silent killers" for some reason, the crew probably would have heard their constant hissing, and walked calmly out of harms way.
The late iconoclastic polymath, Thomas Gold of Cornell, suggested that methane hydrate deposits of the floor of the atlantic periodically become unstable. When triggered they erupt(evidence for this happening, circular depressions, are abundant) on the floor of the North Atlantic as a expanding mass of gassy bubbles from below which, for an unlucky ship, would mean that the inherent bouyancy of the water would be less (foamy water has little lift and little density to support a craft). The foundering vessel would find itself in utter confusion with no experience on how to manage what was happening to them. Taking to the lifeboat would be perfectly sensible and in the slowly foundering situation one would be reluctant to be attached to a vessel going down...the barrels of alcohol may have been knocked open in the chaos, the contents evaporating over the interval when the ship was foating free.
These methane eruptions are relatively brief in duration and leave no sign of their existence. They have been implicated in certain classes of disappearances for both ships and planes.
What if the ship was flipped in a squall and then righted itself afterward?
Didn't those ships self-right?
It would explain why the captain's bed was wet.
Wait, what, sea farts?
Another Aaron
What if the ship was flipped in a squall and then righted itself afterward? Didn't those ships self-right?
I agree, first and most simple explanation in my mind.
If the ship had flipped, there'd be stuff missing from the deck, more disorder belowdecks, and the sextant and chronometer wouldn't be missing.
Here's a theory: alcohol had leaked out of the barrels, and enough had evaporated to make the air belowdecks unbreathable. The crew, fearing fire or explosion, opened two hatches, then removed themselves to the lifeboat for safety while the ship aired out. While they were in the lifeboat, a sudden squall came up and snapped the towrope. They were blown away from the ship, and subsequently drowned.
About the barrels: isn't pure alcohol hygroscopic? If nine of the barrels weren't up to spec, the drying action of the alcohol could have slightly shrunk the staves, opening up narrow cracks that would let the alcohol seep out.
One point against Morehouse being the cause of the missing crew is that the Mary Celeste left a full week before the Dei Gratia. Unless the Mary Celeste was having trouble, the Dei Gratia (and this Morehouse) wouldn't catch up over the course of a single week. They probably wouldn't catch up over the whole journey, unless the capabilities of the ship were very different.
And I doubt very much that high-profile of a mystery could remain a secret throughout all the crew's lifetime. Secrets like this are usually broken by the human element: at least one of the crew would be just bursting with excitement (or guilt) to tell a friend the first time he got drunk.
I think it was some catastrophe, perceived or real, on the ship itself. The alcohol exploding, the ship overturning in a storm, something like that.
Pirates killed them all.