Ghost Shipby Brian Hicks | |
| Category: |
"Crime and Disaster (non-fiction)" |
|---|---|
| Pages: | 261 |
| Year of Publication: | 2004 |
| Date Added: | 01/12/2025 |
| Date Read: | 01/02/2026 |
| Notes: | Subtitle: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew In December, 1872, the cargo brigantine Mary Celeste was found drifting in the Atlantic Ocean, basically intact, but with none of her 10 officers, crew members, and passengers on board. It was discovered by the Dei Gratia and brought to Gibraltar. During the salvage hearing, British court officials did everything they could the make the disappearance of the crew a crime, even accusing the crew of the Dei Gratia of being involved. Nothing came of it, and a small salvage settlement was made. But the Mary Celeste's passengers were never found, and no solution to the mystery has ever been discovered. Theories and hoaxes abound. Hicks has his own, and it makes sense to me in light of the known facts. The Mary Celeste was carrying a cargo of industrial alcohol. Several of the barrels were found to have burst open, which would have created dangerous fumes. He thinks Captain Briggs and the others on board opened up the hatches and portholes on the ship to air it out and climbed in the lifeboat to get some distance from the fumes. The tow rope broke when a wind came up that pushed the ship away from the lifeboat. For another 15 years or so, the Mary Celeste carried cargo, but rarely made a profit. It was finally wrecked on purpose off the coast of Haiti in an insurance scam. In 2001, the remains were found by Clive Cussler and his NUMA crew. |
| My Rating: | 7 |
Reviewed by Roger on 2026-01-02 16:22:03
