The Mary Celeste (strange)

[PoorOldSpike]

Has anybody got any theories about what happened?
My own theory is that the new superstructure made her top-heavy and she partially capsized onto her beam ends under certain wind and sea state conditions as in this pic of another ship-



The Mary Celeste crew managed to scramble out and took to the lifeboat to make for the Azores, but never made it.
Meanwhile the ship righted itself later and was found in a bedraggled state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste

[ocpaul20]

Why would the crew leave if things were not absolutely dire and they were sinking? Staying with a ship which is not sinking would mean there is more chances of survival rather than all getting into small lifeboats going who-knows-where.

[PoorOldSpike]

Originally Posted by ocpaul20

Why would the crew leave if things were not absolutely dire and they were sinking? Staying with a ship which is not sinking would mean there is more chances of survival rather than all getting into small lifeboats going who-knows-where.

If it capsized onto its side I know I'd get out quick before it rolled right over, they'd have no way of knowing it'd right itself later..

[PoorOldSpike]

She'd been modified a number of times, including a cabin on the main deck which might have made her top-heavy and liable to capsize-

"By 1872 the Mary Celeste was 12 years old. Since builders first laid her keel in 1860 her owners had modified her several times, lengthening her, adding a deck to expand her capacity and building a cabin on her main deck."

https://www.newenglandhistoricalsoci...-mary-celeste/


So because of her added mods, she wasn't the same ship that the original designers designed.
Incidentally I'm no sailing expert but the Mary Celeste seemed to have a lot of sail area which would add to her top-heaviness, especially if a rain shower soaked the sails and made them even heavier-

[Happy in Wyoming]

The case of the Mary Celeste is not unique. Several similar events have occurred. Did something chase them or terrify them? Did some strange disease cause it? The story resembles the beginning of a novel. Are there any similar events recorded on land?

[PoorOldSpike]

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

The case of the Mary Celeste is not unique. Several similar events have occurred. Did something chase them or terrify them? Did some strange disease cause it? The story resembles the beginning of a novel. Are there any similar events recorded on land?

I'll google around for similar Celeste-type events on land and sea.
Offhand I can recall that arctic explorers once found a deserted eskimo village.
And in the Dyatlov incident the Dyatlovs abandoned their tent and froze to death.

As for the Celeste, one theory is that it may have been an insurance scam; suggesting they deliberately capsized the ship then abandoned it, expecting it to sink so they and their shipping bosses could collect the insurance money. The theory goes on to say that when they abandoned the ship they thought they could easily sail to the nearby Azores, but got their navigation wrong and missed the islands by miles and died of starvation and/or exposure..

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histo...ste-174488104/