Fact-check log

How the claims were checked.

Every numbered claim on this site is tied to a cached excerpt. A build fails if the wording no longer appears in that source. Checked 15 November 2026.

• Royal Museums Greenwich, “The mystery of the Mary Celeste,” by Andrew Choong Han Lin, is the main narrative source for the departure, the sighting, the missing boat and the court dates.
• John Austin’s survey and Dr Patron’s blood-stain report are cited from Fay’s 1942 photostat transcriptions of the Gibraltar Vice-Admiralty Court papers, as published on maryceleste.net. The underlying affidavits are nineteenth-century court records; the particular transcription is Fay’s.
• The New York Times of 26 February 1873 is cited from the public-domain scan of the page, and is treated as press opinion.
• Conan Doyle’s 1884 story is cited as fiction.

A full list of sources is on the sources page.