The Mary Celeste had left New York on November 7 bound for Genoa, Italy, on what was meant to be a routine trip across the Atlantic Ocean.
Its skipper was Benjamin Briggs, 37, who had made the trip many times and was this time in charge of a cargo of raw alcohol for fortifying wines.
Yet he and his experienced crew, along with his wife and daughter, had vanished in what seemed to be good weather.
Even more bemusing, they had left behind enough food and drink for six months, all their belongings and the ship’s logbook.
To this day not a trace of the crew has been found and the case remains the biggest maritime mystery of all time.