The story of the “ghost ship” Mary Celeste is one of the great mysteries of the sea. The merchant brigantine was found 400 miles east of the Azores on December 5, 1872, unmanned and apparently abandoned in fair weather. What happened to the Captain, his family, and the crew has remained a puzzle. The mystery has been the subject of a range of wild theories and speculation, ranging from mutiny to pirates to sea monsters to killer waterspouts in countless articles and books. Now, with the discovery of a previously overlooked transcript of the Mary Celeste‘s log, the answer to the mystery may come down to an inaccurate chronometer and a faulty pump. Here is a fascinating documentary directed and produced by Anne MacGregor and funded in part by National Geographic, The True Story of the ‘Mary Celeste.’ See also Abandoned Ship: The Mary Celeste.
The True Story of the Mary Celeste
Click on the image. The video will open in a new window.
Rick,
Just Don’t let the Captain hear you call her a Ghost Ship!
As far as ghosts go, the captain probably preceded the ship in that regard.
THE LINK FROM THE SITE DOES NOT WORK IN THE U.K. – NOT BEEN PERMITTED – BUT THIS ONE SHOULD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTb54_gLd5Q
CORRECTION: IGNORE MY POST ABOVE, THE LINK ONLY PROVIDED A 2 MINUTE TRAILER – ‘THE UPLOADER HAS NOT ALLOWED VIEWING IN THE U.K.’
WHY ONE WONDERS?
There are many BBC programs that aren’t available from the US. It may be that the National geographic program is not available in the UK. Very annoying.
Here is another link to try.
True Story of the Mary Celeste
Thanks Rik, already tried that one but no go either. Win some, lose some.
If Mary Celeste’s pumps were going to pump coal slurry, and wood shavings, why didn’t they just order coal slurry pumps.
To this very day the issue of pumpage quality still dogs: mechanical seals, pumps, and product lubricated bearings. However, today it’s silicon carbide sand blasting grit, that is embeded in these pumps from the new construction, along with scale, slag, welding flux…
Nothing ever changes.
BTW the Video is as good as Captain Phillips! sans Muse, and Tom Hanks.
I guess you can call Mary Celeste a Ghost Ship. Laurell and Hardy had some problems with an Angry Sea captain regarding calling his ship a
Ghost Ship.
Many Thanks,
walt