The Mary Celeste, 1861 (a public domain image) from ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA by Amy Tikkanen Mary Celeste, formerly Amazon, American brigantine that was found abandoned on December 5, 1872, some 400 nautical miles (740 km) from the Azores, Portugal. The fate of the 10 people aboard remains a mystery. The ship was built in 1861 at Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, and named the Amazon. After being launched on May 18, 1861, it encountered a number of mishaps. During the maiden voyage, its captain caught pneumonia and later died, and the ship was damaged on several occasions, most notably in October 1867, when it ran aground in Cow Bay, Cape Breton Island. The following year the Amazon was sold to American Richard W. Haines, who renamed it the Mary Celeste. The ship underwent significant structural changes over the next several years, and it was eventually sold to a group that came to include Capt. Benjamin Spooner Briggs. On November 7, 1872, the Mary Celeste set sail from New York City, with more than 1,700 barrels of alcohol destined for Genoa, Italy. On board were 10 people, including Captain Briggs, his wife, and their two-year-old daughter. Over the next two weeks, the ship encountered harsh weather. According to the last log entry—dated November 25—the Mary Celeste was some 6 nautical miles (11 km) from the Azores. Ten days later the vessel was spotted by the British brig Dei Gratia. Crew from that ship boarded the Mary Celeste and discovered it deserted. Although there was more than 3 feet (1 metre) of water in the hold—an amount that would not have caused panic—the vessel was seaworthy. Adding to the mystery was the fact that the cargo and personal belongings were largely undisturbed, although a longboat was missing. It appeared that the ship had been abandoned quickly. Crewmen from the Dei Gratia sailed the Mary Celeste to Gibraltar, some 800 miles (1,482 km) away. There British authorities conducted an investigation, which ultimately found no evidence of foul play. The mystery garnered some attention, but it became famous in 1884, when Arthur Conan Doylepublished “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement,” a short story about a survivor of a ghost ship called the Marie Celeste. In his account, a revenge-seeking former slave killed the passengers. While that was purely fiction, many theories were put forward to explain what happened. Most, however, seemed unlikely. There were no signs of violence or missing cargo, casting doubt on claims of mutiny, murder, and piracy. In addition, there was no evidence to support the claim that an explosion caused by alcohol fumes caused the ship to be abandoned. A more likely scenario is that Captain Briggs erroneously believed his ship was taking on too much water and was about to sink. This theory was supported by the fact that the sounding rod—used to determine the amount of water in the hold—was discovered on deck, suggesting that it had been used just before the ship was abandoned. In addition, one of the ship’s pumps showed signs of trouble; it was disassembled. A faulty reading of the sounding rod and an ineffective pump could have led Captain Briggs to believe the ship was foundering and order it abandoned. A mishap may then have occurred in the longboat, causing all to perish. Despite being seen as unlucky, the Mary Celeste remained in service and went through a number of owners before being acquired by Capt. G.C. Parker. In 1885 he deliberately sailed it into a reef near Haiti as part of a plan to defraud an insurance company. When the vessel failed to sink, authorities discovered his scheme. The Mary Celeste, however, was damaged beyond repair, and it was left on the reef, where it deteriorated. Comments are closed.
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MORGAN MOTORS GLOSSARY the world over = all over the world craftsmanship = the skill someone uses to make beautiful things with their hands, zanatsko umeće to establish = to found, to create a three-wheeler = a bike or a car that has three wheels, trotočkaš a 4-4 = a " four-by-four", a system in which a car's engine powers all 4 wheels evenly, vozilo sa pogonom na sva četiri točka iconic = important or impressive because it seems to be a symbol of sth core = central, key, essential ash = a kind of a widespread deciduous tree, jasen bespoke = specially made for the customer who orders it, pravljen po narudžbi tailored = fitted, made or produced to fit closely to one's measures, skrojen heritage = qualities, traditions and features that have continued over many years and have been passed on from one generation to another, legacy cutting-edge (adj.) = the latest, most modern, innovative a roadster = a sports car with no roof and only two seats a two-seater = dvosed in excess of = more than to assemble = to put parts together to make the whole approximately = not precisely, not exactly, roughly multiple = more than one significant stake = major part venture capitalist = an investor who provides capital to companies with a high growth potential eponymous = in the title role to facilitate = to make sth easier or more likely to happen Lord Lucan Crime Mystery Glossaryto shroud = surround a situation or an object making it mysterious and secret
subsequent = that comes after or later Earl = grof to grab (the) headlines = get a lot of publicity from media bloodstained = covered with stains of blood a stain = a mark on sth that is difficult to remove, mrlja to burst (into a place) = to enter suddenly with a lot of energy or force Countess = grofica an assault = an attack substantial = big, considerable ground floor = the floor of a building that is level or almost level with the ground outside basement = the floor of a building which is partly or completely below ground level premises = all the buildings and land that something occupies in one place unharmed = not injured or hurt to fetch = go and get to splash = (of a liquid) to hit something and scatter in a lot of small drops to be battered = to be heavily beaten blunt = not sharp lead = soft, grey, heavy metal, olovo, olovni piping = same as pipe, cev to bend/bent, bent = saviti to doze (off) = to sleep lightly usu during the day, to nap, dremati insistently = to keep insisting incoherent = to be talking in a confusing and unclear way a ward of court = pod sudskim starateljstvom to reside = to live or stay somewhere the battery is/was flat = akumulator je (bio) ispražnjen to admit = to allow someone to come in dishevelled = very untidy, unkempt flannels = men's trousers (made of flannel) to sponge (off) = to wipe with a sponge to peep = to have a quick look at something, often secretly ad quietly a smear = a dirty or oily mark to persuade = to talk sbd into doing sth, nagovarati to validate = to confirm or prove that sth is true or correct to abandon = to desert, leave a place bandaged = wrapped, uvijen, umotan CROSSWORD |