On this day 139 years ago, the Mary Celeste set out from New York, bound for Genoa, Italy. On board were Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs (37), his wife Sarah Briggs (31), their daughter Sophia Briggs (2), and a crew consisting of first mate Albert Richardson (28), second mate Andrew Gilling (25), cook Edward Head (23), and seamen Volkert Lorenson (29), Arian Martens (35), Boy Lorenson (23) and Gottlieb Gondeschall (23). Their cargo consisted of 1,701 barrels of alcohol for fortifying Italian wines.
On the 4th of December 1872, almost a month later, John Johnson, the helmsman of the Dei Gratia, another ship sailing from New York to Europe, sighted a ship which was travelling strangely. Upon moving closer, they discovered that the ship was the Mary Celeste. Oliver Deveau, the chief mate of the Dei Gratia, boarded the ship and reported that there was nobody aboard. There was a lot of water between decks and in the hold, but the ship was not sinking.
The ship’s papers were missing, apart from the captain’s logbook. The ship’s clock and compass were not working. The sextant and marine chronometer were missing. The lifeboat was missing. The cargo was fully intact, although 9 of the 1,701 barrels of alcohol were empty. There was a six month supply of food and fresh water on board. There was no sign of a struggle. No trace of any of the people on board the ship has ever been found, and their disappearance remains the greatest maritime mystery of all time.