''La Unión'' was a

paddle-wheel steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

used from 1855 to 1861 to transport

Mayans The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical reg ...

enslaved during the War of the Castes from Mexico to Cuba. In September 1861, she sank near the port of

Sisal, Yucatán Sisal () is a seaport town in Hunucmá Municipality in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. It was the principal port of Yucatán during the henequen boom, later overshadowed when the more modern port of Progreso was built to the east. It lent its nam ...

, when her

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

exploded while she was on the way to Cuba. The shipwreck was found in 2017.

References

Further reading