AH-WR-1421

Guerrero

Slave Brig · Spain · Lost 1827 · The Florida Keys

A Havana-based pirate slave ship that wrecked on a Florida Keys reef in 1827 while fleeing a British anti-slavery patrol, drowning 41 captive Africans.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in Connecticut in 1813 as the American privateer James Monroe, the vessel passed through several names and owners before becoming the Havana pirate-slaver Guerrero under captain José Gómez. In December 1827, while carrying more than 500 illegally trafficked Africans toward Cuba, Guerrero was chased by the British anti-slavery patrol schooner HMS Nimble and ran onto a reef near Key Largo in the dark. Forty-one captives drowned in the wreck; most others were rescued, though Spanish crew members later seized wrecking vessels and carried hundreds of survivors into slavery in Cuba. The wreck's exact remains have never been conclusively confirmed despite decades of search.

Vessel

Built: 1813
Builder: Amasa Miller
Yard: New London, Connecticut
Material: Wood
Length: 110 ft
Beam: 27 ft
Tonnage: 323
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Havana-based pirate and slave trader José Gómez ('Guerrero')

Loss

Date: December 19, 1827
Cause: Grounding
Location: Reef near Key Largo, Florida
Water: Straits of Florida
Voyage: West Africa → Havana, Cuba
Cargo: 561 captive Africans
Aboard: 651
Lives lost: 41
Master: José Gómez

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Tentatively identified wreck site under long-term investigation; not conclusively confirmed
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2003-2005 magnetometer surveys; ongoing investigation since
Protection: Search area overlaps Biscayne National Park and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary waters