Peter Mowell
Schooner · United States · Lost 1860 · The Bahamas
An American slave schooner wrecked on Lynyard Cay in 1860 carrying nearly 400 captive Africans, most of whom were freed under British law rather than sold into slavery.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in Maryland in 1855, the schooner Peter Mowell was engaged in the illegal transatlantic slave trade, carrying nearly 400 captive Africans from the west coast of Africa toward Cuba when she went ashore at Lynyard Cay in the Abaco Islands on 25 July 1860. Bahamian wreckers from Cherokee Sound helped bring survivors ashore, and because Britain had abolished the slave trade, almost all of the roughly 400 captives were freed rather than sold. The wreck site was rediscovered and archaeologically documented in 2012 using contemporary governor's records, and is part of the broader Bahamas Lost Ships Project's study of the region's slave-trade shipwrecks.
Vessel
- 1855
- Not established
- Maryland
- Wood (white oak, copper and iron fastened)
- 88 ft
- 22.5 ft
- 129
- Sail
- Not established
Loss
- July 25, 1860
- Grounding
- Lynyard Cay, Abaco Islands
- Atlantic approach to the Abaco Islands
- West coast of Africa → Cuba
- Approximately 400 captive enslaved Africans
- 400
- Approximately 390 of the roughly 400 captives aboard reached shore safely; precise total losses are not established in the sources reviewed.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Wreckage scattered on the rocks and shoreline, including ballast stones and concreted copper fastenings
- Not established
- 2012
- Documented under the Bahamas Lost Ships Project managed by Allen Exploration and the Bahamas Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation
Position
- Not established
- Approximate position
- Lynyard Cay, Abaco
General location known from 1860 governor's records and 2012 archaeological survey; precise modern coordinates not published.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Build details, dimensions, voyage, wreck narrative.
Survivor demographics, rescue by Cherokee Sound wreckers, 2012 archaeological expedition.
