Last known US slave ship the Clotilda should stay under water, say experts

The wreck of the last known US slave ship should remain under water as a memorial, a task force of historians and archaeologists has said.

The Clotilda was rediscovered in 2019 in the Mobile river, Alabama, 159 years after it was intentionally sunk in 1860 to hide evidence it had been used to smuggle 110 captives from Africa.

A 500-page report has concluded that the wreck is too damaged and corroded to be removed and should remain in place as a memorial.

The task force headed by the Alabama Historical Commission said keeping it in the river was the most “scientifically responsible and least damaging” plan.

The investigation found the ship had corrosion, wood damage and other physical problems due to vandalism and severe weather, among other things.

State Archaeologist Stacye Hathorn said that while the Clotilda “retains significant archaeological integrity”, its structure was “severely compromised” by its sinking and “subsequent impacts, both natural and human”.

The report recommended to cover exposed pieces of the wreck with sediment to create a near-zero oxygen environment, instead of attempting to excavate the ship and risking deterioration.

The US banned the importation of slaves in 1808, and slavery itself was abolished in 1865.

Survivors of the Clotilda were freed after the American Civil War and 32 of them bought land in a town near where the ship was found that eventually became known as Africatown. Some descendants of Clotilda survivors still live in the town.

Descendants have been a major part of conversations about how to move forward following the discovery of the ship.

The Clotilda Descendants Association said talk of raising the ship was a distraction from the “110 survivors aboard Clotilda and the horrendous crime committed”.

But the group stood by the task force’s recommendation for an in-place preservation.

“It really is about the people and not that ship,” Patricia Frazier, a descendant of a passenger who travelled aboard the Clotilda, told WKRG.

“It’s a real significant story, and I think that people really should think in terms of trying to do enough of something to help preserve this community and, like I said, memorialize that ship.”