North West America

rdf:langString North West America

rdf:langString North West America

rdf:langString Santa Gertrudis la Magna and, later, Santa Saturnina

rdf:langString By Spanish Navy, 1789

rdf:langString Great Britain

rdf:langString Spain

rdf:langString North West America

rdf:langString Santa Gertrudis la Magna and, later, Santa Saturnina

rdf:langString Sails and 8 oars

rdf:langString About 30–50 tons

rdf:langString North West America was a British merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 it was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José Martínez of Spain during the Nootka Crisis, after which it became part of the Spanish Navy and was renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna and later Santa Saturnina. The vessel also played an important role in both British and Spanish exploration of the Pacific Northwest, especially the Strait of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands, and the Strait of Georgia. Under the Spanish commander José María Narváez Santa Saturnina was the first European vessel to find and explore the Strait of Georgia and the area that is the city of Vancouver today. The vessel was a schooner, or goleta in Spanish. Its exact size is not known. John Meares wrote that North West America was about 40 to 50 tons (bm). Robert Haswell of Columbia Rediviva, who watched the vessel launched, estimated it at about 30 tons. The vessel may have been enlarged when it was renamed Santa Saturnina, at which point it acquired the nickname La Orcasitas. The Santa Saturnina was about 33 feet (10 m) long on the keel, of shallow draft, and had eight oars.

rdf:langString title