Mary Celeste: Encyclopedia II - Mary Celeste - Speculation and fiction on the Mary Celeste

Mary Celeste - Speculation and fiction on the Mary Celeste

Dozens of theories have been proposed to explain the mystery of the vanished crew and passengers, ranging from the mundane to the fantastic. Some suggested there was a mutiny among the crew who murdered Briggs and his family then escaped in the lifeboat. However, Briggs was known as a very religious, just and fair man. He was not the kind of Captain to provoke his crew to mutiny. First Mate Albert Richardson had served in the American Civil War before going away to sea, and the rest of the crew also had excellent reputations. When all theories have been tabled, the answer to the mystery most probably lies with the barrels of raw alcohol. Alcohol fumes were known to be volatile, even explosive. A strict New England Puritan, Briggs had never hauled such a dangerous cargo and did not trust it. Nine barrels leaking would build up a lethal mixture of fumes in the hold. Historian Conrad Byer believes that after a few calm days at sea, Captain Briggs ordered the hold to be opened. There was a violent rush of fumes and then steam. Captain Briggs believed the ship was about to explode and ordered everyone into the lifeboat. In his haste, he failed to properly secure the lifeboat to the ship with a strong towline. The wind picked up and blew the ship away from them. The occupants of the lifeboat either drowned or drifted out to sea to die of hunger, thirst and exposure.

Other, more extreme, speculation is common. Some authors cite a connection with the Bermuda Triangle, though the ship was far from it. Others posit the involvement of paranormal activity or UFOs.

In 1884 Arthur Conan Doyle published a story entitled J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement, part of The Captain of the Polestar. Doyle's story drew very heavily on the original incident but included a considerable amount of fiction and called the ship the Marie Céleste. Much of this story's fictional content, and the incorrect name, have come to dominate popular accounts of the incident.

A Doctor Who episode suggested that the arrival of time-travelling Daleks caused the crew of the ship to jump overboard.

In 1973, Science fiction author, Philip José Farmer penned a novel, The Other Log Of Phileas Fogg, in which he has two of Jules Verne’s most famous characters, Phileas Fogg and Captain Nemo square off against one another in a scene on board the Mary Celeste.

The 1970s British Sci-Fi Serial Sapphire and Steel suggested that Steel had been forced to send the original ship and crew out of time (and presumably to their deaths), because an accident, caused by the crew, would have caused the end of time. He left behind a replica of the ship, but forgot to replicate the bodies.

Old sailors sometimes claimed that they had been aboard the Mary Celeste. Little credence is given to these stories.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Speculation and fiction on the Mary Celeste", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki