Discovery of 1800s whaling ship expected to offer insight into Black and Indigenous crew

This image taken by Noaa Ocean Exploration in shows what researchers believe to be the wreck of the Industry. Photograph: NOAA Ocean Exploration/AP

Scientists have announced the discovery of a 207-year-old whaling ship that sank in the Gulf of Mexico, revealing evidence about descendants of African enslaved people and Native Americans who served as essential crew members.

The 64-foot long, two-masted wooden ship was built in 1815 in Westport, Massachusetts, and was used to hunt whales from the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico, but sank during a storm on 26 May 1836, the New York Times reported.