Today in History: The Fate of the Mary Celeste

On this day (December 4) in 1872, the Mary Celeste was found off the Azores Islands. The vessel was deserted but there was no significant damage to make it not seaworthy. Its cargo and the crew’s belongings were undisturbed. It still bore ample provisions for sustaining life. Only its crew was missing.

To this day no one knows what happened to the crew. Various theories range from mutiny, to piracy, to insurance fraud, to seaquakes and waterspouts, to giant squid, to paranormal or alien intervention. My favorite explanation was put forth in a short story by (I think) Roger Zelazny. His idea was that a sailor finally escaped the damned Flying Dutchman and was plucked out of the sea by the crew of the Mary Celeste leading them to suffer the Dutchman’s fate…