Does anyone know any information about a ship called “Mary Celeste”? I believe that in the late 1800’s there was some story of this ship’s passengers vanishing and then it being piloted about by ghosts? I’ve heard various old references to this haunted boat, but I figure by now that folks have figured out more or less what really happened. Have they? Does anyone out there know about this?
Sounds a bit like the story of The Flying Dutchman to me.
Off the top of my head, what I remember of the story is that the Mary Celeste set sail and never arrived at its destination. The ship was found still afloat, but completely deserted.
There’s been a lot of speculation on what happened, including many “Bermuda Triangle” type theories. One of the more interesting theories I’ve heard is that some bread on the ship developed an hallucinogenic mold, which, when eaten, caused people to trip and freak out; mass panic ensued and everyone jumped overboard.
Do a web search, my man. There’s TONS of info out there.
http://www.fortogden.com/maryceleste.html
Now, that probably won’t work. I’ll have to go back to ATMB and actually READ Tuba’s damn post about how to put up hyperlinks…
BTW, you are mixing up your stories. There was never any theory about the Marie Celeste being piloted by bogies and banshees, that IS the Flying Dutchman story.
As Cabbage said, the mystery involved why everyone would have vanished off the ship in the middle of the ocean.
My favorite theory holds that the captain, crew and passengers became worried that the cargo would explode {shrug}, so they piled everyone into a longboat and waited to see what would happen. What happened was that the ship merrily sailed off without them.
Can’t you just picture the dropped jaws and frantic scramble for oars? “I thought YOU brought the oars!” Delicious!
Speaking of delicious, I suppose the discouraged castaways fell back on that grand tradition of 19th century seamanship, eating each other. That’s why no one was ever found!
The most credible theory I’ve heard required several things to happen in pretty rapid succession.
First, the captain died while underway; the manner of death is still somewhat speculative. Then, entering somewhat-rough seas or weather, the crew misread the depth of water in the hold and believed that the boat was sinking. They then abandoned ship without taking adequate provisions and either drowned or starved.
The true story of the Mary Celeste…
http://www.gibnynex.gi/home/jimwatt/mary/index.htm