No Country For Old Ships

"Chelsea talks about whether or not Finland is a real country and Cristina discusses the mysterious disappearance of the crew of the Mary Celeste."

Presented by: Chelsea
Category: Hoax

Finland is a fictional country, between Russia and Sweden. Finland was originally conceived by the company Nokia from Japan as a way to fish while avoiding strict regulation. Sweden and Russia agreed to this as a gesture of goodwill following WWII and for access to the drop bears Japan purchases from Australia to fish with. Today all three countries us it as a tax dodge.

Not without a sense of humor, Japan left two clues behind tp hint at the truth. First, the name Finland is derived from the word fin, which all fish have. Second, the original logo features a drawing of a fish.

While Finland is a known hoax perpetuated now by every country with a space program, none the less there are people who believe that visited or live in Finland. In all cases these people live in Sweden, Russia or Estonia. These people are as much victims as everybody else and should not be blamed for the hoax.

While originally conceived of as a con, Finland has a secondary as a modern-day Camelot, inspiring people by it's shining, if fictional, example.

Presented by: Cristina
Category: Disappearance

The Mary Celeste was an American merchant ship the set first sail in 1861. In 1872, it was bought and was put under the command of Captain Benjamin "Spoony" Briggs, the son of Captain Nathan Briggs. He was sent to sail with it from New York to Genoa, Italy loaded with industrial alcohol. Spoony arranged for his wife and young daughter to accompany him on the voyage, leaving their older son in the care of his grandparents so he wouldn't miss school. The crew of seven were all handpicked by Spoony.

The Mary Celeste prepared to set on November 5, 1872, but was delayed due to uncertain weather. It would not leave until November 7. 8 days later, another ship, Dei Gratia, captained by a close friend of Spoony, sailed for Gibraltar in the same direction.

On December 4, near Portugal, it's reported to the captain of the Dei Gratia that another ship is heading towards them in an erratic pattern. The crew of the Dei Gratia investigate and identify it as the Mary Celeste. A boarding party was sent. They find the ship badly damaged and deserted. The ship's sole lifeboat was missing. The ship log's last entry, November 25, 1872, placed it position 400 miles away from when it was found and noted nothing unusual.

Many items were missing, including the captain's navigational equipment. There were no signs of a hurried evacuation. Upon learning all this, the Captain of the Dei Gratia decided to salvage the ship for profit instead of mounting a search for the crew of the Mary Celeste. They split the crew between the two ships and hauled with them to Gibraltar for salvage hearings.

An investigation of the ship discovered cuts on the bough and possible traces of blood on multiple places of the blood. It was concluded that the ship did not encounter bad weather. It was concluded that the ship hadn't run aground or suffered a collision. The salvage hearing reported that attorney general believed that the crew hand gotten at the alcohol, murdered the captain and his family and had abandoned the ship. He believed that the captain and the crew of the Dei Gratia were lying and found the Mary Celeste east of where they claimed.

This conclusion wasn't accepted by all. Later analysis proved the stains were not blood. A member of the US Navy who examined the ship believed the cuts were natural. They believed that something had happened to the crew to led them to leave.

Multiple theories exist as to the nature of the evacuation of the crew and to their ultimate fate. The prevailing theory is that the crew believed the ship was at danger of explosion due to fumes from the alcohol. They had intended to be dragged along in the life boat but were lost at sea. It was not unheard of alcohol-caused explosions of ships in the past.

This explanation is not without critics, with some citing the danger of being attached to a ship they believe would explode and others pointing out that a burning ship in the water is still safer than a life boat.

Other, more natural explanations, exist. And iceberg could have floated down, though that would be further south than usual. Others think they were at risk of running aground in calm wind. However, many of the sails were furled, which would be unlikely if they were trying to catch wind. Others believe the Mary Celeste encountered a seaquake.

Beyond these explanations, some theorists believe the disappearance was human in nature. Newspapers at the time reported the Mary Celeste was over insured and that the disappearance was part of an insurance scam. In 1931, another newspaper suggested the Dei Gratia had magically overtaken the Mary Celeste after leaving 8 days later and had lured the crew on to their ship to murder them and claim the ship has salvage. In some versions of the story, Spoony and the crew were in on the scam, discounting the son who was left behind.

Least likely of all the theories are the following. First, pirates could have set upon them and the then neglected to steal any valuables and food on board. Second is the theory that Briggs went mad and killed everybody on board before killing himself. Both ignore the fact that there were no signs of violence on the ship.

Cristina's theory, following the explanation of the first mate of the Dei Gratia, is that Spoony believed that ship was taking on too much water and thought the ship was sinking, leading them to evacuate only to be lost at sea.

The Mary Celeste became legendary when Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a story inspired by the case and people believed it was the truth.

Trivia

 * First mention of the Voynich Manuscript.
 * The last of the pre-recorded episodes.