AH-WR-1200

El Ángel (Site)

Brig · United Kingdom · Lost Early-to-mid 19th century, exact year not established · The Mexican Gulf Coast & Campeche

A 19th-century logwood trader lying in the reef lagoon of Chinchorro Bank, studied by INAH for its transitional wood-and-iron hull construction.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Discovered in the 1970s by a Chinchorro Bank fisherman, El Ángel is the site of a 19th-century sailing vessel that grounded while carrying a cargo of logwood, a dyewood then heavily traded from the Yucatán coast. Archaeometric study by INAH's underwater archaeology program identified mixed wood-and-iron hull construction with copper-alloy sheathing, and tentatively linked the wreck to an English brig named Jean. Treasure hunters disturbed the ballast in the 1980s before systematic archaeological documentation began in 2006.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Composite
Length: 105 ft
Beam: 32 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: Early-to-mid 19th century, exact year not established
Cause: Grounding
Location: South of Chinchorro Bank, Quintana Roo
Water: Caribbean Sea
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Logwood (palo de tinte) timber cargo, with iron containers and admiralty-pattern anchor recovered at the site
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: No casualty information is established in the sources reviewed.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 39 ft
Condition: Hull bottom structure partially preserved and buried under sediment aft; ballast mounds disturbed by treasure hunters in the 1980s.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1970s
Protection: Within the Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Southern Chinchorro Bank, Quintana Roo
Region: The Mexican Gulf Coast & Campeche

General location published (southern Chinchorro Bank reef lagoon) but a precise decimal position was not found in the sources reviewed.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (55/100)

The vessel's exact name, year of loss, and full identity remain provisional; researchers have proposed but not conclusively confirmed identification as the brig Jean.