Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genre: History
Book Type: Hardcover
On December 4, 1872, the Mary Celeste was found floating erratically in the North Atlantic by the crew of the Dei Gratia. The sailors from the Dei Gratia rowed over to the erratic ship in a small lifeboat where they found "an empty deck, a tattered sail hanging from the foremast, the ship's wheel spinning untended...and the Mary Celeste was sailing without a soul on board." The ship was in good shape and there appeared to be no reason why it was abandoned. The mystery of what happened to the Mary Celeste became one of the most mysterious unsolved mysteries of the past century and is still discussed today.
This was a very fascinating and intriguing telling of the tragedy of the ship as well as the Captain and crew of the vessel. Hicks did a very good job of fleshing out the story including giving the backstory of the Briggs family. The Captain of the "ghost ship" was Benjamin Briggs who came from a family of seagoing men who nearly all met tragic ends at sea. Briggs had his wife and young daughter also aboard the Mary Celeste which made the story even more tragic. When the ship was found adrift, is was sailed to Gibraltar by some of the crew of the Dei Gratia for a potential salvage reward. This however resulted in a long drawn out trial where many theories and accusations were thrown about as to what happened to the ship and its crew. One of the magistrates in Gibraltar thought there was wrongdoing when a sword was found on board that may have had blood on it. Charges of potential fraud and even possible murder surfaced. Eventually, the ship was released and its cargo of alcohol delivered to its destination but questions lingered about the ship.
Later many theories and stories were spread about the fate of the ship including one published by Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. These stories included potential mutiny, pirates, weather related causes including water spouts, and even sea monsters such as giant squid. Even later in the 20th century UFOs and Atlantis were considered as possible means of the crews' disappearance. In the end, Hicks comes up with a very reasonable explanation for what happened.
Overall, I found this to be very compelling reading. I had heard of the Mary Celeste for many years and this book really fleshes out the circumstances around the tragedy and includes some good background on the time period and how this became one of the most discussed mysteries of the past.
This was a very fascinating and intriguing telling of the tragedy of the ship as well as the Captain and crew of the vessel. Hicks did a very good job of fleshing out the story including giving the backstory of the Briggs family. The Captain of the "ghost ship" was Benjamin Briggs who came from a family of seagoing men who nearly all met tragic ends at sea. Briggs had his wife and young daughter also aboard the Mary Celeste which made the story even more tragic. When the ship was found adrift, is was sailed to Gibraltar by some of the crew of the Dei Gratia for a potential salvage reward. This however resulted in a long drawn out trial where many theories and accusations were thrown about as to what happened to the ship and its crew. One of the magistrates in Gibraltar thought there was wrongdoing when a sword was found on board that may have had blood on it. Charges of potential fraud and even possible murder surfaced. Eventually, the ship was released and its cargo of alcohol delivered to its destination but questions lingered about the ship.
Later many theories and stories were spread about the fate of the ship including one published by Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. These stories included potential mutiny, pirates, weather related causes including water spouts, and even sea monsters such as giant squid. Even later in the 20th century UFOs and Atlantis were considered as possible means of the crews' disappearance. In the end, Hicks comes up with a very reasonable explanation for what happened.
Overall, I found this to be very compelling reading. I had heard of the Mary Celeste for many years and this book really fleshes out the circumstances around the tragedy and includes some good background on the time period and how this became one of the most discussed mysteries of the past.
