The Mystery
of the Mary Celeste
by
Kieran McGovern
Intermediate
On the
afternoon of December 5th 1872 a ship called the Dei Gratia
was sailing from the Azores towards the Portuguese coast.
Captain Morehouse was standing on the bridge of his ship,
looking out to sea.
Looking troubled, he called to his First Lieutenant.
‘Look
over there,’ said Captain Morehouse. ‘Do you
recognise that ship?’
A look of great surprise came on the First
Lieutenant’s face. ‘It’s the Mary
Celeste!’ he said.
Sister
Ship
The Mary Celeste was the sister ship of the Dei Gratia. It
had left New York a week before the Dei Gratia.
‘What’s it doing here?’ asked the First
Lieutenant. ‘And why is it just blowing in the wind
like that?’
More men came out onto the deck. They watched
the
Mary Celeste drifting
slowly on the tide.
‘This is very strange,’ said Captain Morehouse
‘I’ve known Captain Briggs for many years. He
wouldn’t allow his ship to drift like that ...
’
‘What can we do, Captain?’
‘There's only one thing we can do,’ said
Captain Morehouse. ‘We need to find out what is going
on.’
There was no
answer
Captain Morehouse sailed out to the Mary Celeste in a small
boat. As they got closer, it became obvious that something
was wrong. The deck of Celeste was deserted and there were
no signs of life.
The men from the Dei Gratia boarded the ship. ‘Ahoy
there!’ they cried. ‘Is anyone here?’
But there was no answer. Neither Captain Briggs, nor his
wife and daughter nor his seven crew were anywhere on the
ship. ‘They’ve all gone,’ said the first
lieutenant. ‘It’s like a ghost ship
