Ghost Ship

The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew

By: Brian Hicks

Narrated by: Paul Woodson

On December 4th, 1872, a 100-foot brigantine was discovered drifting through the North Atlantic without a soul on board. Not a sign of struggle, not a shred of damage, no ransacked cargo-and not a trace of the captain, his wife and daughter, or the crew. What happened on board the ghost ship Mary Celeste has baffled and tantalized the world for 130 years. Brian Hicks plumbs the depths of this fabled nautical mystery and uncovers the truth.

The Mary Celeste was cursed as soon as she was launched on the Bay of Fundy in 1861. Her first captain died before completing the maiden voyage. In London she accidentally rammed and sank an English brig. Later she was abandoned after a storm drove her ashore at Cape Breton. But somehow the ship was recovered and refitted, and in 1872 she fell to the reluctant command of a seasoned mariner named Benjamin Spooner Briggs. It was Briggs who was at the helm when the Mary Celeste sailed into history.

The story of the Mary Celeste becomes the quintessential tale of men lost at sea. Hicks vividly recreates the events leading up to the crew's disappearance and then unfolds the complicated and bizarre aftermath. Brian Hicks reveals the truth is actually grounded in the combined tragedies of human error and bad luck.

©2004 Brian Hicks (P)2024 Tantor

History lead to this Mystery

Gives you a simple yet compelling view as the author takes you on journey through time while learning interesting things that could’ve played a part in the tragedy. Oceans and seas hold there secrets close and without mercy and unfortunately it ends in a watery grave for most

A long expansion of a single event

Details within details becomes too slow and boring, although the story is told well. What happened to the ship? That’s the question we want to know .

Boring. Surprisingly banal.

I read a lot of these maritime shipwreck stories. I like the resourcefulness of the characters in these types of books and the stories that show men in dire straights, in failed systems, personal conflicts, perseverance and friendship and treachery. This had none of that. It was like going to small claims court for a ship and watching that for 9 hours.

An Answer to the Mystery?

Very interesting history of the Mary Celeste mystery. Author covers every angle, sometimes a little too much for my taste, but the writing was good enough to overlook that. I did think delving into the Bermuda Triangle went a little too far, so I skipped some of that. Have to stick with it to get to the authors theory, but that’s where all the groundwork he put in earlier pays off. Recommend!