wht happened to the mary celsete thanks.?

Answer 1

Dozens of theories have been proposed to explain the mystery of the vanished crew and passengers, ranging from the mundane and plausible, to the fantastic.

The most plausible theories are based on the barrels of alcohol. Briggs had never hauled such a dangerous cargo and did not trust it. Nine barrels leaking would cause a build up of vapor in the hold. Historian Conrad Byers believed that Captain Briggs ordered the hold to be opened. There was a violent rush of fumes and then steam. Captain Briggs believed the ship was about to explode and ordered everyone into the lifeboat. In his haste, he failed to properly secure the lifeboat to the ship with a strong towline. The wind picked up and blew the ship away from them. The occupants of the lifeboat either drowned or drifted out to sea to die of hunger, thirst and exposure.

A refinement of this theory was proposed in 2005 by German historian Eigel Wiese. At his suggestion scientists at University College London created a scale construction of the ship's hold to test the theory of ignition of the vapor from the volatile cargo of alcohol. Using butane as the fuel and paper cubes as the barrels, the hold was sealed and the vapor ignited. The force of the explosion blew the hold doors open and shook the scale model, which was about the size of a coffin. However both ethanol and methanol burn at a relatively low temperature. A minimal spark is needed, for example from two metal objects rubbing together. None of the paper cubes were damaged, nor even left with scorch marks. This theory may explain the remaining cargo found intact and the fracture on the ships rail, possibly by one of the hold doors. This burning of the alcohol vapor in the hold would have been awesome and perhaps enough to scare the crew into lowering the boat, but the flames would not have been hot enough to have left burn marks. A frayed rope trailing in the water behind the boat is suggested to be evidence that the crew remained attached to the ship hoping that the emergency would pass. The ship was abandoned when under full sail and a storm was recorded shortly after. It is possible that the rope to the lifeboat parted because of the force from the ship under full sail. A small boat in a storm would not have fared as well as the Mary Celeste.

Some people theorize that the alcohol was to blame for the crew's disappearances, but for a different reason. Some believe that the crew of the Mary Celeste tried to break into the hold and tried to drink the mass quantities of alcohol and betrayed and murdered Captain Briggs in the process, and later stole a lifeboat. This theory, however, is highly improbable. The alcohol being hauled by the Mary Celeste was of an impure quality (which the crew would have known) and was not fit for human consumption.

Other theories have suggested there was a mutiny among the crew who murdered a tyrannical Briggs and his family then escaped in the lifeboat. However, Briggs, a New England Puritan, was known as a very religious, just and fair man. He was not the kind of Captain to provoke his crew to mutiny. First Mate Albert Richardson had served for three years in the American Civil War before returning to sea, and the rest of the crew also had excellent reputations.

Another theory is that the ship encountered a waterspout, a tornado-like storm with a funnel cloud that occurs at sea. In such a case, it is suggested, the water surrounding the boat may, in being sucked upwards, have given the impression that the Mary Celeste was sinking. It would explain why the Mary Celeste was soaking wet when discovered by the crew of the Dei Gratia, and a mass panic amongst the crew during such an occasion would probably explain the bloodstains, the scratched railing, and the broken compass found on the Mary Celeste, as well as the missing lifeboat. A further theory is that a seaquake panicked the crew into abandoning ship. However, mariners generally agree that abandoning ship is an extreme measure.

Brian Hicks in his recent book posited the entirely plausible theory that Captain Briggs opened the hold to ventilate during a becalmed stretch at sea. The release of noxious alcoholic fumes from the hold might have panicked the captain and crew into abandoning ship for the yawl, tied to the halyard by an inadequate rope. If this broke with a weather change and consequent wind it could easily have explained the sudden and mysterious exit from the ship with numerous hatches, portholes and windows left open.