''Squirrel'' was an exploration vessel launched in the 1570s and lost with all hands in 1583. In the 1570s ''Squirrel'' made a return voyage from England to

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sm ...

, piloted by Simon Fernandes. The voyage was considered remarkable given her small size and the dangers of sailing in largely uncharted waters. She was one of a small fleet of vessels under the command of Sir

Humphrey Gilbert Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America ...

, commissioned in 1579 by the lord deputy of Ireland, William Drury, to attack

James FitzMaurice FitzGerald James fitz Maurice FitzGerald (died 1579), called "fitz Maurice", was captain-general of Desmond while Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond, was detained in England by Queen Elizabeth after the Battle of Affane in 1565. He led the first ...

by sea and to intercept a fleet expected to arrive from Spain. The expedition was a failure with the fleet dispersed by heavy seas and forced to seek shelter at

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

. ''Squirrel'' was again under Gilbert's command in 1583 for a voyage to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and the eastern coast of North America. Departing England in June in company with four other vessels, she made an uneventful crossing of the Atlantic and reached the Newfoundland coast on 5 August. Gilbert went ashore at St John's to claim the area as England's first overseas colony under

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. Plans for a further expedition south along the American coastline were abandoned following a critical shortage of supplies, and Gilbert elected instead to return to England. ''Squirrel'' was selected as the flagship for this return voyage and was armed with some small cannon, in Gilbert's words "more to give a show f forcethan with judgement to foresee unto the safety of her and the men." On 9 September ''Squirrel'' had reached the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

off the European coast when she ran into a storm and was lost with all hands. News of her fate was carried to England by the crew of ''Golden Hind'', another vessel in Gilbert's fleet and the only one to survive the return voyage.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Squirrel 16th-century ships Exploration ships of England Individual sailing vessels Ships of the Royal Navy Ships of the English navy