27 December 1794
São José slave ship wrecks at Camps Bay
On 27 December 1794, the Portuguese slave ship São José wrecked near Camps Bay while carrying more than 400 enslaved people from Mozambique to Brazil; about half died and survivors were sold at the Cape.
View in timelineOn 27 December 1794, the Portuguese slave ship São José wrecked near Camps Bay while sailing from Mozambique to Brazil with more than 400 enslaved people aboard. Rough seas and the wreck killed about half of the captives; survivors who reached shore were sold into slavery at the Cape. The wreck's ballast, timber and other remains later helped archaeologists identify the site and connect it to the Mozambique–Brazil slave route.
Significance
The wreck links the East African slave trade, the Cape's slave market and the Atlantic route to Brazil, and provides rare archaeological evidence of a slave ship whose human cargo suffered death, forced migration and resale.
Why it matters
The wreck connects the East African slave trade, the Cape's slave market and the Atlantic route to Brazil, while its archaeological remains preserve evidence of the people and material systems of the voyage.
Disputed interpretations
Sources vary on the exact number aboard and the death toll, commonly reporting nearly 500 or 512 captives and about 200 deaths.
Perspective notes
The surviving VOC report records the wreck administratively and counts people as cargo. Archaeology, museum interpretation and the known Mozambican origins of the captives restore attention to the people violently transported, while the names and individual histories of most remain unknown.