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Marine Heritage Database
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Typical Profile
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Tonnage
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198
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Length(ft)
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99.3
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Breadth(ft)
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22.5
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Depth(ft)
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11.7
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Masts
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two
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Decks
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one
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Hull
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Wood
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Shipwreck Details
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Description
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This Nova Scotian built vessel is arguably the western world's most famous mystery ship. She is better known as MARY CELESTE, the name under which she was found mysteriously sailing by herself with no trace of her crew in 1872, a mystery which has never been solved. She had an ill-fated career, killing three of her captains, one entire crew and losing money for most of her owners.
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Story
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Even though this famous incident did not occur in Nova Sotian waters, this event is recorded here because she was built in Nova Scotia as the brigantine AMAZON. After running aground in Nova Scotia in 1868, she was sold to American owners and her name was changed the MARY CELESTE. MARY CELESTE was found abandoned, sailing wildly with no crew by the Nova Scotian brigantine, DEI GRATIA on December 4, 1872 . The entire crew, captain, his wife and their young child had all disappeared from MARY CELESTE and what happened to them remains a mystery. Many wild solutions have been suggested ranging from pirates, to sea monsters to alien abductions. The most likely explanation is a leak of her cargo of industrial alcohol which prompted a hasty abandonment for fear of explosion. DEI GRATIA's owners and crew were eventually awarded salvage. MARY CELESTE went through a string of owners until she was deliberately wrecked in an insurance fraud at Rochelais Shoal on the coast of Haiti on January 3, 1885. In 2001, divers from the Nova Scotian company EcoNova located a wreck at Rochelais Shoal. Testing of ballast stones and wood fragments indicate it to be the MARY CELESTE.
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Vessel Type
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Brigantine
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Type of Event
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Incident
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Nature of Event
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Abandoned
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Cause of Event
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Unknown
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Date of Wreck
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1872-12-04
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Location
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600 miles west of Gibraltar
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Cargo
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Industrial alcohol
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Lives Lost
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10
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Voyage from
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New York, New York , United States
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Voyage to
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Genoa, Italy
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Remarks
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Ship Construction
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Built at
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Spencers Island, Nova Scotia , Canada
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Date
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Registered at
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Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Date
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Propulsion
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Sail
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Rig
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Brigantine
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Details
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Built by Joshua Dewis
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