Illustration of slaves being thrown overboard The Zong
The Zong Massacre
The Zong Massacre occurred on November 29, December 1 and some days after in 1781.
The voyage commenced from Cape Coast, Ghana and ended at Saint Domingue, Hispaniola. The ship was originally supposed to dock in Jamaica.
A grave misjudgment and miscalculation of the amount of water needed on the ship and the direction of travel by the crew members aboard The Zong ship, hundreds perished.
Rather than admit fault, the crew members threw 142 slaves aboard; 62 slaves died from sicknesses and malnutrition. There were 442 slaves in total. Crew members filed insurance claims on the lives of the murdered slaves.
The crew members were never prosecuted for the killings.
