The Mysterious Case of the Mary Celeste: 150 Years of Myth and Mystique

by Graham Faiella

Overview

4 December 1872: The brigantine Dei Gratia chances upon another brigantine out on the Atlantic near the Azores. She is the Mary Celeste. She is under sail. But she is deserted. Silent as a drowned cadaver.

For 150 years since then, the mystery of why the Mary Celeste was abandoned, and what happened to the ten souls on board, has spawned thousands of conjectures, conspiracy theories, fictions and fantasies. Some have thought they solved the mystery. Some have just spun yarns. One, at least, has claimed it was all a hoax.

The Mysterious Case of the Mary Celeste: 150 Years of Myth and Mystique unveils those stories – the 'fake news', 'alternative facts' and the myths fabricated from fractured truths. These are the real facts in search of a truth that remains unfathomable to this day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781803991313
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	07/14/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

GRAHAM FAIELLA was born and raised in Bermuda. He has sailed across the Atlantic twice. In 1973-74 he joined an eighteen-month voyage around the world on a 1,750-ton ex-hydrographic research ship. After graduating from Edinburgh University he became a professional editor and writer. His most recent works reflect his interest in the lives of seafarers and ships, especially in the era of the deep-sea wind-ships.

Table of Contents

Preface 5

Acknowledgements 7

Part I The Mystery

Origins of the Mary Celeste 11

The 1872 Mystery Voyage 22

Gibraltar Court of Inquiry 34

Last Years of the Mary Celeste 64

Part II The Myth

Yarns, Tall Tales and "Fake News' 69

'J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement', Anonymous (Arthur Conan Doyle) 80

Jacob Hammell's Story 97

'The Case of the Mane Celeste: An Ocean Mystery' by J.L. Hornibrook 103

'Mystery of the Mary Celeste' by John Ball Osborne 109

Abel Fosdyk's Story 120

R.E. Greenhough's 'Message-in-a-Bottle' Story 131

Captain Lukhmanoff's Story 138

Captain Lucy's Story 144

John Pemberton's Story 149

Part III The Mystique

'Solutions' 165

From 'Mary Sellers' to 'Marie Celeste' to Mary Celeste 166

Filling the Vacuum of Truth 171

Capt. T.E. Elwell: 'A Chronometer Clue' 174

The Burning Ship Theory 177

The Mystic's Version - or Vision - or … Something 180

The Brains Trustee 'Solves' the Mystery 184

A Sandbank-Stranded Solution 186

Dr Oliver Cobb and Charles Edey Fay 190

The Books: A Select Review 197

Conclusion 217

Notes 218

Bibliography 220