AH-WR-1206

El Pesquero (Site)

Sailing Ship · United Kingdom · Lost 18th century, precise year not established · The Mexican Gulf Coast & Campeche

An 18th-century English vessel wrecked off Champotón, studied by INAH for its cannon, hull remains, and reported use in transporting enslaved people.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Known as El Pesquero, this 18th-century English-flagged sailing vessel sank in a storm off Champotón on the Campeche coast. INAH underwater archaeologists recovered seven cannon in an early field season and, in later work, additional hull elements including an anchor, wooden keel, iron bars and bronze fastenings. Subsequent INAH reporting identified the vessel as having been used to transport enslaved people, though all twelve crew reportedly survived the sinking. It remains one of the earliest documented wreck sites along the Campeche coast.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: 18th century, precise year not established
Cause: Storm
Location: Off Champotón, Campeche
Water: Gulf of Mexico
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 12
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Hull remains include a wooden keel, an anchor, iron bars, bronze nails, and recovered artillery; site partially excavated over multiple INAH field seasons.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Underwater cultural heritage documented under INAH's Campeche underwater archaeology program

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Champotón, Campeche
Region: The Mexican Gulf Coast & Campeche

General location off Champotón is documented; a precise decimal position was not found in the sources reviewed.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Sparsely documented (50/100)

The vessel's name, exact year of loss, and precise national or commercial identity are not conclusively established in the sources reviewed.

La Jornada, reporting INAH findings
Site name, location off Champotón, recovered artifacts, and INAH lead researcher.
N+ (Grupo Multimedios), reporting later INAH findings
Later identification of the vessel's reported use in the transport of enslaved people and crew survival.
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Revista Arqueología
Confirmation of the 18th-century shipwreck site among Campeche's inventoried underwater archaeological contexts.