Susan Constant
Susan Constant, at 120 tons, was the largest of three ships of the English Virginia Company that were led by Captain Christopher Newport on the 1607 voyage that resulted in the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America, Jamestown, in the new Colony of Virginia. On that voyage, she carried 71 colonists, all male.[1]
Her keel length is estimated at 55.2 feet (16.8 meters). Her overall length from tip to stern is estimated at 116 feet.
She returned to England in May 1607. She served as a merchant ship through, at least, 1615. Her fate is not known.
Replicas of the Susan Constant and her sisters, the Godspeed and the Discovery, are docked in the James River at Jamestown Settlement (formerly Jamestown Festival Park), adjacent to Historic Jamestowne.
The name Sarah Constant has been cited, and is shown as being the name noted on the earliest document,[2] leading to a belief that Samuel Purchas[3] had the name wrong in his Pilgrims book.[4] There is growing support for the name Sarah Constant.[5] The article that cites the Sarah Constant is as goes:
He tolde me of three barques on route to the New Worlde, thouse whose names are, as he tolde me thereon, be consysted of "Godspeed", "Discoverie" or "Discovery", and one whose name splyte twice, I think ´was "Sarah Constant".- presumably written by Sir Walter Raleigh
In May 2007, the United States Postal Service issued the first 41 cent denomination first class stamp. The stamp had an image of the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery.
See also
- Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)
References
- ↑ APVA Preservation Virginia: Original Settlers
- ↑ JSTOR: “The Susan Constant and the Mayflower”, by Minnie G. Cook
- ↑ JSTOR: “Sarah versus Susan”, by Gregory Robinson, Robin R. Goodison
- ↑ Samuel Purchas (1575?-1626): Purchas His Pilgrimes, In Five Books
- ↑ “Decades of work will see a ship’s story honored today” | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
Further reading
- Brian Lavery, The Colonial Merchantman Susan Constant 1605, Conway Maritime Press 1988
- David A. Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown, Alfred A. Knopf 2003 (chapter 2)
