The abandoned brig Resolven
HMS Mallard, a Royal Navy ship, found the brig Resolven abandoned off Newfoundland in August 1884, her lifeboat gone and her crew never seen again.
Wikipedia gives 29 August 1884 as the day the merchant brig Resolven was found abandoned, between Baccalieu Island and Catalina, Newfoundland. Author Will Wain places it off Trinity Bay and gives only August 1884. HMS Mallard of the Royal Navy sighted the brig, which gave no answer to signals, and Navy sailors boarded her.
Wikipedia says they found a serviceable vessel. A broken yard was the only damage beyond superficial marks. A fire burned in the galley, lamps were lit, and a large iceberg lay nearby. Wales Online reports that the cabin table was laden with food. The ship's lifeboat was gone. The last entry in her logbook dated from within about six hours of the sighting.
Wikipedia records that nobody who had been aboard Resolven was ever seen or heard from again. Will Wain says the brig was salvaged.
"Upon boarding Resolven, HMS Mallard's sailors found an intact and serviceable vessel with no evidence as to why the ship would have been abandoned. The last entry in her logbook was within just six hours of her being sighted.[2] Other than a broken yard, she had suffered only superficial damage. The ship's lifeboat was missing, but with no indication as to why. The galley fire was alight and the lamps were burning. A large iceberg was sighted nearby."
- Could the 131-year-old mystery of the Welsh Marie Celeste about to be solved?, Wales Online (Nathan Bevan, 2015)
- Resolven (ship) (lead), Wikipedia
- The Welsh Ghost Ship Resolven, Will Wain (author site)