Zong
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Zong is the name of a ship owned by James Gregson and was involved in the African Slave Trade of the eighteenth Century.
The Zong left Africa on September 6, 1781 en route to England on the Middle Passage captained by Luke Collingwood. Their first destination was to be Jamaica and on November 27, 1781 they arrived at an island which they believed to be Jamaica. By November 29, 1781, because of overcrowding, malnutrition and disease seven of the crew and approximately 60 African Slaves had died. That day the Captain (Collingwood) decided to throw the remaining sick overboard. The reason was while in Africa they had packed more slaves than they had room for. Captain Collingwood also succumbed to illness before the voyage ended. When the ship arrived back in England the owner tried unsuccessfully for an insurance claim against lost cargo.
