Lady Washington

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Career	65px
Name:	Lady Washington (replica)
Operator:	Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority
Builder:	Ray Wallace, Aberdeen, WA
Laid down:	1987
Launched:	March 7, 1989
Homeport:	Aberdeen, WA
Honors and awards:	Washington tall ship ambassador Washington State Ship
General characteristics
Class and type:	Brig
Tons burthen:	178 tons
Length:	68 ft (21 m) (LOD) 58 ft (18 m) (waterline) 112 ft (34 m) (sparred)
Height:	90 ft (27 m) (Rig height)
Draft:	11 ft (3 m)
Sail plan:	Brig 4,400 sq ft (410 m2)
Notes:	Douglas fir hull

Lady Washington is the name of two small wooden merchant sailing vessels, the original which sailed for about 10 years in the 18th century, and a somewhat updated modern replica created in 1989. The replica has appeared in numerous films and television shows, as various other real or fictional ships.

Lady Washington (18th century original)

The original Lady Washington (or more commonly, Washington) was a 90-ton merchant sloop. As part of the Columbia Expedition, she left Boston Harbor on October 1, 1787. She sailed around Cape Horn and participated in the Maritime Fur Trade with the coastal Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest and in tea and porcelain across the Pacific in China.

Named in honor of Martha Washington, she was captained originally by Robert Gray, and later by John Kendrick, former captain of her larger sailing partner, the Columbia Rediviva (Kendrick insisted he and Gray switch vessels mid-journey). Under the command of Kendrick, she was refitted as a brig (she was formerly a sloop).

She became the first American vessel to reach Japan in an unsuccessful attempt to move some unsold pelts. Lady Washington remained in the Pacific trade and eventually foundered in the Philippines in 1797.

Lady Washington (20th century replica)

File:Lady Washington replica.jpg

The Lady Washington at Port of Edmonds

A ship replica of the Lady Washington was built in Aberdeen, Washington, USA in time for the 1989 Washington State Centennial celebrations. Aberdeen is located on Grays Harbor, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean named for Robert Gray, the man who discovered the harbor as Master of the Columbia.

Named "Washington State's Tall Ship Ambassador", as well as the State Ship, the new Lady Washington has already made plenty of her own history. Operated by a professional and volunteer crew under the auspices of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, she sails up and down the Pacific coast reaching out to sailors and lubbers of all ages through the romance of the sea in the hope they take a little of her history back with them.

Today she sails regularly in pair with the Hawaiian Chieftain, educating students in the history of merchant trading, life of common sailors, and responsibilities of the ship's officers.

Film, television, and video game appearances

Recently, she has appeared in various films, portraying the HMS Interceptor in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the brig Enterprise in Star Trek Generations . She also provided the basis for the RLS Legacy in the Disney animated feature Treasure Planet.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Lady Washington

• Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, Lady Washington's operating organization
• Maritime Heritage Network, an online directory of maritime history resources in the Pacific Northwest