Mary Celeste: Atlantic Mystery at Gibraltar on December 13, 1872

George Spicer became a world-traveling mate and master of ocean-going vessels. But he began life as a Spencer’s Island boy in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. As the descendant of the rural community’s first known sea-loving settlers from Europe in 1778, George commenced with his sailing career by the age of 12. He experienced two years of sailing local ships throughout the Bay of Fundy along North America’s Atlantic shorelines of:

• Canada, at the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia;
• The United States of America, at Maine.

He found niches in maritime history as:

• Fourteen-year-old ferrier of Amazon Captain Robert McLellan’s pneumonia-wracked corpse in June 1861;
• Second mate on the Amazon for 2+ years until fall 1867.

But what did the Amazon and George Spicer have to do with the Mary Celeste?  George drew upon longstanding associations with the latter’s building, christening, repairing, and sailing under the first-mentioned name. His family had supplied shareholder, shipbuilder, and 25%-owner Joshua Dewis with wood from their 2,500-acre (1,011.72-hectare) timber farm. His father, Jacob Spicer, and his Uncle Isaac Spicer indeed held a total of 16 shares -- and therefore represented 25% ownership -- in the Amazon. He therefore laid claim to front-row seats for:

• The half brig’s construction during the fall months of 1860 with a barkentine-like square-rigged foremast and schooner-like triangular fore-and-aft mainmast sails;
• The hermaphroditic brig’s launching into Minas Channel on May 18, 1861.

Before, during, and following his years of service on the Amazon, George Spicer considered the ship handsome and yar (maneuverable). He did not describe it as unlucky despite:

• The captain’s dying on the ship’s maiden voyage;
• The ship’s ramming and sinking another brig after delivery of its first contracted cargo in London, England;
• The vessel’s undergoing weeks of repairs in Dover, England.

He felt positively about his assignments to the graceful, proud Amazon as second mate and to five subsequent sailing ships (including the brig Globe) as master. He let it be known that each was a “fine vessel” and “good sailor” (Hicks, page 161) until visiting the infamous, neglected, run-down, shoddy Mary Celeste in August 1877.

Not long after George Spicer’s departure with the unloading of corn shipments from Baltimore, Maryland at Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Amazon entered Big Glace Bay in early November 1867 per Captain William Thompson’s command. In the middle of one of the North Atlantic’s howling fall and winter nor-easters, it hit the ground near a dock construction site on Cape Breton Island. George’s father and uncle knew along with Joshua and the other shareholders (including the ship captain) that the Amazon was not worth the daunting removal and repair bills. But by October 1869, the wreck looked almost brand-new after:

• A name change to Mary Celeste and U.S. registry;
• Three owners;
• Work to bottom, keel, sails, spars, stern.

James Henry Winchester, the ship’s fourth owner as the Mary Celeste’s second owner, added to renovations after three busy years of Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean cargo-running. The Mary Celeste left New York with:

• Cargo hold accommodating shipments of 3,500 barrels and total weight of 275+ tons;
• Copper-sheathed, nearly hollow wooden hull;
• Double decks;
• Five foremast yardarms;
• Forward deckhouse for crew and galley;
• 40-foot (12.19-meter) mainmast boom;
• Rebuilt, recaulked boards;
• Roomy quarters for the captain (and family) and for the first mate;
• Stern-built lazaret for crew food and supplies;
• Two masts rising 75+ feet (22.86+ meters) from the deck.

The above-mentioned repairs garnered $14,000 in insurance policies on a ship whose owner-estimated value jumped from $2,600 to $16,000.

But the crew of the Dei Gratia came across a far less pretty sight between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on December 4 (civilian date)-5 (nautical date), 1872. They caught up with the Mary Celeste yawing about halfway between the Azores and Portugal. They found:

• Boarded-up, canvas-covered portholes;
• Broken binnacle and compass;
• Dismantled portside rail;
• Dragged rigging;
• Flooded bilge (with 3.5 feet [1.07 meters] of water), deckhouse, galley;
• Free-spinning, rudder-driven, unlashed wheel;
• Lifeboat-related fenders near the main hatch;
• Littered utensils;
• Open captain’s skylight;
• Opened deckhouse, fore, lazaret, main hatches;
• Sail-draped galley stovepipe;
• Sounding rods and well pump-like boxes on deck;
• Spar-lashed stern davits;
• Splintered hull;
• Swinging cabin doors;
• Tattered yardarm sails;
• Upended stove.

Nobody was aboard.

First mate Oliver Deveau boarded the Mary Celeste to:

• Investigate with sailor John Johnson and second mate John Wright;
• Navigate with seamen Augustus Anderson and Charles Lund 600 nautical miles to Dei Gratia’s first stop before delivering 1,735 barrels of petroleum to Genoa, Italy.

He headed toward the Mediterranean past midnight of December 5^th after:

• Make-shifting the rigging;
• Pumping 3.5 feet (1.07 meters) of saltwater from the bilge.

Separated during the Strait of Gibraltar’s night-long storms on December 11, both ships reached Gibraltar on Friday the 13th (even though by civilian reckoning 4:00 p.m. still was the 12th for the Dei Gratia). Decision-making thereby transferred from the hands of sailors to those of history and the law.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Bay of Fundy (upper right): maritime birthplace of The Amazon, later renamed as Mary Celeste
The Bay of Fundy (French: Baie de Fundy), located at northeastern end of Gulf of Maine, experiences among the world's highest vertical tidal ranges.
Oct. 31, 2003, mage courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC: Freely available for re-pub/re-use, via NASA Earth Observatory @ https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/12421/smoke-transport-across-the-us

"Amazon of Parrsboro - J.N. Parker Commander - entering Marseille November 1861"
painting commissioned by Captain John "Jack" Nutting Parker, Amazon's second commander
Mary Celeste as Amazon: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Celeste_as_Amazon_in_1861.jpg

The Amazon was launched into Minas Channel on Saturday, May 18, 1861.
As one of Minas Basin's four sections, Minas Channel stretches from Cape Chignecto and Annapolis Valley Shore to Minas Passage (between Parrsboro and Cape Blomidon).
May 7, 2006, image of Minas Basin, eastern Bay of Fundy, northwest-central Nova Scotia: Inmouchar, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BayofFundy.JPG

The Amazon, wrecked by a nor-easter in November 1867, was transformed into almost brand-new condition as Mary Celeste by October 1869.
Powerful nor'easter in the making as eastern United States and Canada are obscured by clouds associated with western frontal system stretching from Canada through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, into the Gulf of Mexico.
Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, image obtained by NOAA's GOES-13 (Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellites) satellite: Image credit NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2445.html

In early November 1867, Mary Celeste as Amazon grounded on rocky shores of Nova Scotia's Glace Bay during brutal nor-easter.
Glace Bay North Breakwater Lighthouse, eastern Cape Breton Regional Municipality, northeast Nova Scotia, eastern Canada: Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glace_Bay_North_Breakwater_Light.jpg

The crew of Dei Gratia sighted Mary Celeste on the afternoon of December 4, 1872: According to nautical time, which starts the day at noon, the date was December 5, 1872.
Dei Gratia at Messina, Italy; from a painting by Giuseppe Coli in April 1873

Abandonment issues: Mary Celeste as derelict ghost ship sighted by Dei Gratia
wood engraving in three colors by Rudolph Ruzicka (June 29, 1883 - July 20, 1978)

Mary Celeste's abandonment issues: two sails were set; one was hanging; one was lowered; two were ripped away; the remainder were furled.
black-and-white closeup of tricolor engraving by Rudolph Ruzicka (June 29, 1883-July 20, 1978): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Celeste_engraving.jpg

Dei Gratia's first mate Oliver Deveau hailed from Plympton on Nova Scotia's scenic St. Mary's Bay, located 85.79 nautical miles (98.79 miles; 158.99 kilometers) southwest of Mary Celeste's birthplace near Parrsboro.
picturesque Smuggler's Cove, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Oliver's hometown
St. Mary's Bay, Nova Scotia, maritime eastern Canada: Wendy Schotsmans, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SmugglersCoveParkNS.jpg

On December 12/13, 1872, the Mary Celeste reached Gibraltar and entered into the pages of history's mysteries.
"American Shipping off the Rock of Gibraltar": 1873 oil on canvas by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (July 29, 1817-May 2, 1900)
Strait of Gibraltar, southern Iberian Peninsula, southwestern Europe: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aivazovsky_gibraltar.jpg

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