Pinnace "Virginia" on Hunt's 1607 Map of Popham Colony. |
|
| Career (England/"Virginia") | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Virginia |
| Ordered: | Winter, 1609 |
| Builder: | Mr.Digby, James Davis |
| Laid down: | Winter, 1609 |
| Launched: | Spring, 1609 |
| In service: | Spring 1609 |
| Out of service: | ?Fall, 1610 |
| Homeport: | Popham Colony, then Jamestown, Virginia Colony |
| Fate: | unknown |
| Status: | ?wreck |
| General characteristics Small Pinnace | |
| Type: | pinnace |
| Displacement: | 30 tons |
| Length: | 56 ft (17 m) |
| Beam: | 15.5 ft (4.7 m) |
| Draft: | 6.5 ft (2.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | At least three rigs possible: a)square rigged main mast, gaff rigged second mast, square sail under bowsprit, topsail; b) fore and aft rigged with spirit mainsail; and/or c) aft rigged mizzen mast with lateen sail. |
| Speed: | ? 2-7 knots |
| Range: | offshore, ocean |
| Complement: | ?2 |
| Armament: | None |
| Armour: | None |
| Notes: | Virginia is a fine example of the 'small' pinnace design which could be fitted with a variety of rigs, and thereby had great flexibility as to designated tasks. |
The Virginia (also known as Virginia of Sagadahoc) was a pinnace built in 1607-08 by colonists at the Popham Colony. She was the first English-built ship in what is now Maine and possibly in all of the English-colonized areas of North America.
Little is known about the details of her architecture, but written accounts of the colony and historical records of similar ships suggest that Virginia was a pinnace that displaced about 30 tons and measured somewhat less than 50' (15m) long, with a beam of 14' 6" (4.42m). She had a flush main deck, drew about 6'6" (2m) fully loaded, and had a freeboard of less than 2' (0.6m).
A demonstration of the new colony's ability to build ships, Virginia was built at the mouth of the Kennebec River in what is now Phippsburg, Maine. The ship was a project of the Plymouth Company, branch of the proprietary Virginia Company, on land England claimed as belonging to the Virginia.
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The pinnace makes an appearance early in the European exploration of North America.
The Popham Colony was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. It was also known as the Sagadahoc Colony, taking its name from the Abanaki word for the confluence of a river and the sea. At this time, all of eastern North America from Spanish Florida to New France (in Canada) was called 'Virginia' by England. The territory originally chartered to the Virginia Company of Plymouth extended from present day Delaware to New France in the Canadian maritimes, 38°N to 45°N. Leaving Plymouth England on May 31, 1607, 120 colonists arrived at the mouth of the Sagadahoc River on August 13, 1607 aboard the Gift of God, and on August 16, 1607 aboard the Mary and John.[1][2] Popham Colony leader Sir George Popham was aboard the Gift of God, with Raleigh Gilbert second in command. Robert Davies was captain of the "Mary and John". The expedition had come to find gold, the Northwest Passage, a river passage to China, to fish and hunt Beaver for fur and to sell and prove that New World forests could build English ships. Construction of Fort Saint George was begun immediately. On December 1, 1607, about half the men returned to England with Captain James Davis aboard "The Gift of God", a journey that took 53 days. It was hoped that by drastically reducing the colony's population: a) available food would last throughout the brutally cold winter; and b) the difficulty of trading with hostile Abanaki neighbors would be negated. With one exception ( Sir George Popham, leader of the colony died in February 1608), each of the colonists made it through the winter. A young, disinterested Raleigh Gilbert became the new governor. Captain James Davis, who commanded the short lived Fort St. George at the Popham Colony was to have a noteworthy career at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia.</ref>
The pinnace "Virginia" was first ship of noteworthy size for which solid evidence exists that she was built in America was a pinnace of the smaller type.[3] Because plans of early 17th century British or American sailing vessels have not yet been found, reconstructing Virginia of Sagadahoc was a challenge. Nonetheless, there is historical information about the 'small' pinnace design that can be utilized, and from which a reasonable plan can be extrapolated. The choice to build a 'small' pinnace for the Popham Colony was a good one. Able to support at least three different rigs, the 'small' pinnace was very versatile and could be assigned to offshore fishing, the North Atlantic fishing grounds, or readied for a trans-Atlantic journey to England with equal ease.[4]
There is a very small 17th century sketch of a pinnace on J. Hunt's October 8, 1607 map of Fort St. George at the Popham Colony in southern Maine - see the Info Box in this article.[5] This boat is thought to be the 30 ton pinnace Virginia that was built in 1607–1608 at the Popham colony on the Sagadahoc River (now Kennebec River) in southern Maine. Assuredly, lofting was done by 'eye'. Assembly was done under the guidance of shipwright Mr. Digby; and James Davis (mariner), Master of the "Gift of God".[6]
Virginia would have been about 56' feet long with a beam of 15'5", a flush main deck that drew approximately 6'5" fully loaded, a free board of less than 2 feet, and weight of approximately 30 tons. Sketches of the replica's hull design and framing are online at the Maine First Ship website.[7] For ocean voyages, the Virginia would likely have been rigged with a square-rigged main mast, a much smaller second mast that was gaff rigged, and a small square sail under the bowsprit. The main mast on many pinnaces would have been large enough to carry a small topsail. Plans for Virginia that include a plausible rigging are available from the Maine Maritime Museum.[8] For coastal work, Virginia would have used a fore and aft rig with a spirit mainsail and one headsail.[9] How the coastal rigging would have been changed for a cross-Atlantic voyage is not yet fully understood. In John Walker's drawing of the Virginia when rigged for a trans Atlantic voyage, an aft-rigged mizzen mast carries a sail that resembles a lateen sail more closely than a spanker.
A non-profit organization, Maine' First Ship - Reconstruct "Virginia" has been formed to build a reconstruction of Virginia on the grounds of the Bath Freight Shed in Bath, Maine. The organization educates people about Maine's role in early American and European history], the 400-year tradition of shipbuilding, and archeology.
A four-year building project of the "Virginia" began in July 2011 with two shipwrights, a teacher, a media specialist, fourteen high school students and many adult volunteers. The keel was laid on July 3, 2011.
This variety of rigs enabled the 'small' pinnaces of this era for several different assignments. They could be used as fishing boats, storage at anchor, tender to large ships or supply ships that were often towed to their destination by a larger ship.
By the spring of 1608, gold had not been found at the Popham Coloony and relations with the local Abenaki were poor, although the colonists did manage to obtain some furs and sasparilla. On October 17, 1608, the Popham Colony was abandoned. News of his elder brother's death prompted Raleigh Gilbert to return to England aboard the "Mary and John" to claim his inheritance. Captain James Davis and 45 colonists who had found the food situation and climate unbearable packed into the "Virginia" and also returned to England.[10][11][12]
Structurally sound, the Virginia had more work to do. The background to these next expeditions was the new Charter of the Virginia Company, drafted by Roger Bacon and signed by King James I of England on May 23, 1609. This Charter granted a vast extension of territory and expanded powers to the Virginia Company. Virginia was one of two pinnaces and nine ships in the fleet known as the Third Supply. With 5-600 people, the Third Supply left Falmouth, Cornwall, England on June 8, 1609 for the colony in Virginia by way of the Azores and Bermuda. The Virginia and one other pinnace were towed by the 300 ton flagship, Sea Venture which was the first single timbered, merchantman built in England, and also the first dedicated emigration ship.
After passing the Canary Islands, the fleet encountered a powerful 3-day hurricane [13] which did serious damage to two ships. The "Catch" went down with all aboard lost, and the Sea Venture was heavily damaged.[14] Sir George Somers and the Sea Venture had 'discovered' an uninhabited archipelago that would later be named the Somers Isles then Bermuda.[15] Meanwhile, Captain James Davis (mariner) guided the Virginia safely to Jamestown, arriving on October 3, 1609. This arrival was six weeks later than the other ships of the Third Supply that had not been 'captured' by the Bermuda hurricane of late July, 1609. The long travel time suggests that the Virginia may once again have been in tow behind a larger ship.
[16] Afterwards, the Virginia with Captain Davis returned safely to England. The last known voyage of the Virginia was in 1610 when she once again delivered settlers and supplies to the Jamestown Colony. There is no mention of the Virginia afterward in known historical records. [17][18][19]
The second and third pinnaces built in the English colonies followed closely upon the construction of the "Virginia" at the Popham Colony in New England. Two pinnaces were built in Bermuda from local Bermuda cedar, which was a wood especially prized by regional ship builders because it was as strong as oak, yet lighter. This misnamed juniper species could be worked with immediately after felling, and it has high resistance to rot and wood worms. Materials salvaged from the beached wreck of the Sea Venture, the ill-fated flag ship of the Third Supply on its way to the Jamestown Colony, were also used.[20] Patience and Deliverance were constructed between late fall 1609 and early spring 1610 under the guidance of the Virginia Company Admiral, Sir George Somers, Sir Thomas Gates and James Davis (mariner), captain of the "Gift of God" who possessed considerable ship building knowledge. This close dating estimate establishes that these two ships were the second constructions of pinnaces in the New World English colonies. Ships of the Third Supply that escaped the terrible 3 day Bermuda hurricane brought few provisions to the Jamestown Colony as most supplies had been on the flagship Sea Venture. Under the command of the experienced and trusted Christopher Newport, who had been the captain of the Sea Venture, Patience and Deliverance set sail for Virginia on May 11, 1610 and arrived at the Jamestown settlement on May 23, 1610, a journey of less than two weeks.[21] Meanwhile in the fall of 1610, Sir George Somers returned to Bermuda with the pinnace Patience to obtain wild pig and food that had been stockpiled for the Jamestown Colony by the passengers of the Sea Venture during their months on Bermuda. Unfortunately, Sir George died in Bermuda from a "surfeit of pork". The Patience captained by his nephew Mathew Somers returned to Lyme Regis in Dorset, England.[22] Aboard the flagship Sea Venture had been the expedition's specialist in growing tobacco. John Rolfe lost his wife and young son while the Third Supply reorganized in Bermuda. Rolfe made his way to Virginia with 142 survivors aboard the Patience and Deliverance. Finally, Christopher Newport and a pinnace had delivered the salvation of the Jamestown Colony in what would be his last trip to the colony.[23]
Identification of some pinnaces in contemporary historical documents is often difficult because there was no standardization of pinnace design, be the type 'small' or 'large'. Furthermore, several ship type and rig terms were used in the 17th century, but with very different definitions than applied today. Re-assessment of the design of some 17th century ships not designated 'pinnace sometimes uncovers the unexpected. For example, in the 17th century, brigantine referred to a two masted sailing ship that was square rigged on the foremast, and fore and aft rigged on the main mast. The designation 'brig' did not exist until the early 18th century by which time the pinnace had been well known for at least a century and a half. By the late 17th century, a brigantine in the Royal Navy was a small, square rigged, two masted ship, that could be rowed as well as sailed. 'Brig' referred to any ship that was square rigged on both masts. When 'brig' and 'brigantine' were too widely applied, other possibilities for ship types were obscured.[24] There is also the problem in sorting out what is meant by a 'barque' in the early 17th century. Note that the 'barque' or 'bark' rig as we understand it, was not known in the first half of the 17th century, and so exactly what is meant by a 'barque' is not clear. "When Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wrote of 'barques', he referred to ships that were both 'small' and 'large' and weighed 12 to 40 tons". thereby suggesting the two types of pinnace and their usual range in tonnage.[25]
A second pinnace 'type' was often much larger than the first, and frequently carried enough cannon to be considered an (armed) merchantman, and/or fast and maneuverable small war ship. "The pinnace is perhaps the most confusing of all the early seventeenth-century types of vessels. Pinnace was more of a use than a type name, for almost any vessel could have been a pinnace or tender to a larger one. Generally speaking, pinnaces were lightly built, single-decked, square-sterned vessels suitable for exploring, trading, and light naval duties. On equal lengths, pinnaces tended to be narrower than other types. Although primarily sailing vessels, many pinnaces carried sweeps for moving in calms or around harbors." The rigs of pinnaces included the single-masted fore-and-aft rig with staysail and sprit mainsail to the mizzenmast, and a square sprit-sail under the bowsprit. To confuse matters further, however, open square sterned pulling boats were called pinnaces at least as early as 1626.[25]
Often decked over, the 'small' pinnace was able to support a variety of rigs, each of which conferred maximum utility to specific missions be those fishing, cargo transport and storage, or open ocean voyaging. The mature 'small' pinnace design emerged as versatile with several different options and rigs possible. The expected popularity of the pinnace in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the first half of the 17th century is documented. By the 1630s, historical records mention many ships trading or fishing with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, some of which were also built in colony. Above all, the fishing trade had taken hold offshore New England and was immediately successful. The pinnace may have been the preferred, multi-use small ship of the first decades of English settlement in 'Virginia'.[26]