At a glance
Sourced facts, and where they disagree.
- The brigantine Mary Celeste left New York on 7 November 1872, heading for Genoa, Italy.1
- On board was Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife Sarah and their two-year-old daughter Sophia.1
- Briggs’s crew numbered seven: first mate Albert Richardson, second mate Andrew Gilling, steward William Head, and seamen Gottleib Gouldschaal, Arian Martens, and brothers Boz and Volkert Lorenzen.1
- The ship was carrying around 1,700 barrels of high-grade alcohol.1
- On 4 December 1872, the crew of the brigantine Dei Gratia sighted a ship adrift in the Atlantic near the Azores.1
- The Mary Celeste was completely deserted.1
- The only clue as to the whereabouts of her crew was the missing boat, which was normally stowed over the main hatch.1
- The log slate had been left behind, bearing a final entry for the morning of 25 November.1
- Nobody on board was ever seen again.1
- A salvage court convened on 17 December. The proceedings continued until 25 February.1
- Dr J. Patron concluded that, according to the scientific knowledge of 1873, there was no blood either in the stains observed on the deck of the Mary Celeste or on those found on the blade of the sword he examined.2
- The name of the vessel in the United States registers, from the American flag register of 31 December 1868 onwards, was Mary Celeste, not Marie Celeste.3
Sources differ. Royal Museums Greenwich dates the Dei Gratia’s sighting to 4 December 1872. Some later accounts use 5 December. One explanation, often given, is the difference between civil time and the sea time then kept on board; both dates stay in view here, and the main statement follows the museum.
Sources differ. Royal Museums Greenwich names the steward William Head and the seamen Gottleib Gouldschaal, Boz and Volkert Lorenzen. The crew list printed from the court papers in Fay, 1942, has Edward Wm. Head, Gotlieb Gondeschall, and Boy and Volkert Lorenson. This site reports both lists and does not pick a single “correct” spelling from a later webpage.
Sources differ. The Boston Post report reprinted in the New York Times of 26 February 1873 says the brig left New York on the 17th of November. Royal Museums Greenwich gives 7 November 1872. The press date is treated here as a contemporary report, not as a correction of the museum’s figure.