The Mary Celeste
December 4, 1872
On 4 December 1872 the crew of the Dei Gratia found the American brigantine Mary Celeste drifting in the Atlantic, seaworthy but abandoned. Its lifeboat was gone, and so were the captain, his wife, young daughter and seven crew. They were never found. Theories range from fear of an alcohol-vapour explosion to bad weather, and the mystery was popularised by a fictional story by a young Arthur Conan Doyle.