History - Mystery & unexplained events - Mary Celeste - Maritime mysteries - Atlantic Ocean
You board the Mary Celeste as it drifts without a crew in the Atlantic in 1872. What makes the discovery especially mysterious?
Correct!
When the Mary Celeste was discovered, neither the captain, his family nor the other crew members were aboard. The ship was damaged but still seaworthy. Some provisions and personal belongings remained, but the lifeboat was missing. The crew may have abandoned ship out of fear of an explosion or another imminent disaster. What happened to the people afterward has never been conclusively determined.
The Mary Celeste was not found as the perfectly untouched ghost ship later stories often portrayed. There was water aboard, damaged equipment and evidence of a hasty departure, but no definitive explanation for the disappearance of the ten people.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
