The 280 ton half brigantine merchant ship named “Amazon” which passed through a number of owners became involved in several accidents over the space of a decade and eventually was auctioned at a New York salvage where it was purchased for $3,000. After repairs the ship was under American registry; it was later renamed “Mary Celeste” - the name of the Captains wife.
The new captain, Benjamin Briggs set sail on November 7th 1872 from New York heading for Genoa, Italy. Onboard were the Captain, his wife, his young daughter and a crew of eight. Also on board was a cargo of 1,701 barrels of raw American alcohol worth over $34,000 - cargo to be delivered to Genoa in Italy.
What was the mystery you may ask? - The fact was that the captain, his
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It was later discovered that nine of the 1,701 barrels in the cargo hold had leaked. This could be due to the constant change in temperature from hot to cold causing the barrels to leak; the leaking barrels could have caused a build up of vapour in the hold. If the barrels were not secured well they could have rubbed together causing a spark that would ignite the vapour. The explosion could have alarmed the captain causing him to order his crew abandon ship and brave the possible death at sea fearing the ship was going to sink or possibly fear another explosion. Some argue that this theory is based on the lack of soot and/or burn marks. However, alcohol is a clean burner; therefore it would not leave any soot. Furthermore, alcohol burns fast, fast enough that the fumes could have flashed without leaving burn marks on the wood. To support this theory; Chemist Dr. Andrea Sella built a replica of the Mary Celeste’s hold. He used paper cubes and simulated an explosion with butane gas at London University in 2005. The paper cubes neither burned nor blackened. Given the scientific evidence, this seems to be the most plausible
At 11:54 p.m., Hashimoto ordered 6 readied torpedoes at a depth of 4 meters and a speed of 48 knots. Next, Hashimoto had the torpedoes fired at the ship. At 12:02 p.m., the first explosion came and then the second. Red flames shot up lighting up the darkness. Smoke soon followed.
Firstly, the Caribbean smuggling was viewed as necessary and positive in the late eighteenth century. According to William Taggart, a British sailor traveling to testify at his smuggling trial in April 1760, the illegal transportation of goods from the Spanish port of Monte Christi led to general prosperity in the area, as there were only 100 relatively poor families and that the governor had full knowledge of this and demanded a tax of one silver Spanish coin. Taggart mi...
Farmers who lived west of the Appalachian Mountains shipped all their surplus produce by boat down rivers that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. In a treaty of 1795, Spain agreed to give Americans the "right of deposit" at New Orleans. This right allowed Americans to store in New Orleans, duty-free, goods shipped for export. Arks and flatboats transported a great variety of products, including flour, tobacco, pork bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, cheese, hemp, p...
What were conditions like on the boat? What type of boat is it? What section of the boat does Fievel and his family travel in? (10 pts)
In 1850, the side wheeler “Columbia”, which commenced regular services between Astoria and Portland in 1850, was the first steamship to ply Columbia as a common carrier. Half a dozen steamships soon joined her on interior waters, and their numbers greatly increased after the gold discoveries of the 1860s (Schwantes, 181).
This battleship displayed the flag of the United States, representing fifteen states. At first, the frigate was used for commerce before Commodore Truxtun charged it for the upcoming war. During the Quasi-war, the USS Constellation of 1797 took its first battle mission to attack the French pirates in the Caribbean Sea. From this time, this ship was able to surrender the L’Insurgente frigate in 1799. The La Vengeance ship challenged it in return, so the American schooner shot down this ship in the year, 1800. “The Yankee Racehorse” was the nickname for the Constellation. Unfortunately, the heavy currents damaged Constellation on the way back to its headquarters in the shipyard.
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Haitian Revolution and the Latin American War of Independence, the 1823 United States Gazette estimated that almost 3,000 attacks had been made on merchant ships by pirates inhabiting the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Piracy in this region not only contributed to financial loss but frequently, murder and torture were seen as well. The 1820s was comprised of a resurge of pirates who had not been seen since the days of Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts in the previous century. This increase led insurance companies to raise their premiums above those charged at the height of the British blockade in 1815 which further hindered the common mariner’s ability to sail and trade.
... in the control of a less than qualified captain, and thus jeopardized the entire fleet, the crew and the contents designed for the colony at Senegal. A cover-up was affected, and Captain De Chaumereys was the person deemed liable and summarily court martialed, ruining his naval career.
Little is known about the infamous Blackbeard's early life; in fact, the first documentations of him are not recorded until the early 1700s, long after his childhood. Yet with so little knowledge of him, he is arguably regarded as the most notorious pirate in history due to his fearsome personality, distinguished look, daring acts of piracy, and stalwart death.
Blackbeard was a pirate during his adult years, but when he was younger he worked on a British ship as a privateer; whose mission was to take over or attack enemy ships (“Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea”). His Father, whose name is unknown, was believed to also be a senior privateer on a Jamaican ship (“Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea”). Later he joined a group of fierce Caribbean pirates (“Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea”). The group of about two hundred fifty men became his crew after they stole a ship to be their own (“Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea”). His ship that is most commonly known was called Queen Anne’s Revenge (“Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea”). They captured this ship in 1716 and sailed it for two years (“Pirate Shipwrecks”). For the two years they ...
... (Lukee 3). Not one survivor emerged from the wreckage and the fate of the ship lasted unknown for almost three centuries (Lukee 2). The wrecked slave ship was found in 1972, during a magnetometer survey, operated by a subsidiary of Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors, Inc (Lukee 4). Some artifacts were collected from the wreck that included bilboes and iron shackles that were used to restrain slaves (Lukee 4). When they realized that the wreck was most likely a slave ship and not a treasure ship, the company reburied the ancient findings and pieces of the ship hull that they had exposed and left the site.
into cargo containers which were then transported primarily to New York from San Juan's Munóz
The titanic was a ship that was huge and extremely advanced. The ship took 3 years to be completed and over 3, 000 people worked on it. Although the final product could not be fully used it was a well built ship. This ship was well equipped with the best and
The ship, R.M.S Titanic, has been popular several different times in a little over 100 years. The first time in April 1912 when it first sailed for North America. This great ship was said to be unsinkable. Many errors led to the major tragedy of the Titanic, including the life boats were not all there or filled as much as they should have been, the ship tried to go full speed to break the iceberg, and the Californian ship did not respond the Carpathia had saved the rest.
Although the definite cause of the explosion still remains a mystery, the death of the members on board of the USS Maine persists to live on, marking the end of a new beginning.