The ''Mexicana'' was a
topsail
A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.
Square rig
On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...
(Spanish ''goleta'') built in 1791 by the
Spanish Navy at
San Blas,
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
. It was nearly identical to the ''
Sutil'', also built at San Blas later in 1791. Both vessels were built for exploring the newly discovered
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...
, carried out in 1792 under
Dionisio Alcalá Galiano, on the ''Sutil'', and
Cayetano Valdés y Flores, on the ''Mexicana''. During this voyage the two Spanish vessels encountered the two British vessels under
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...
, and ''
Chatham'', which were also engaged in exploring the Strait of Georgia. The two expeditions cooperated in surveying the complex channels between the Strait of Georgia and
Queen Charlotte Strait, in the process proving the insularity of
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...
. After this first voyage the ''Mexicana'' continued to serve the San Blas Naval Department, making various voyages to
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
and the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
coast.
Construction
To meet the need for additional ships following the 1789
Nootka Crisis,
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, commandant of the San Blas Naval Base, augmented his small fleet. Four new vessels built, the schooners ''Valdés'' and ''
Activa'', and the twin schooners ''Mexicana'' and ''Sutil''. Construction of the ''Mexicana'' began on 27 March 1791, under the direction of the shipyard ''constructor'' Manuel Bastarrachea and according to Bodega y Quadra's specifications. The ''Mexicana'' was launched on 21 May 1791.
The ''Mexicana'' was
long
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mensu ...
with a
beam of , a depth of hold of , and a
tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...
of 33 ''toneladas''. The vessel's
draft was , forward, and aft. The keel's length was .
Although the Spanish word ''goleta'' is usually translated as
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...
, the rigging of the ''Mexicana'' was changed a number of times, from a topsail schooner to a modified
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
and other variations. In addition to a set of
fore-and-aft
A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rigged mainly with sails set along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel.
Description
Fore-and-aft rigged sails include staysails, Bermuda rigged sails, gaf ...
sails the ''Mexicana'' carried main-mast and fore-mast
courses
Course may refer to:
Directions or navigation
* Course (navigation), the path of travel
* Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...
,
topsail
A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.
Square rig
On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
s, and
staysail
A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast.
Description
Most staysails are ...
s. The vessel also carried
spanker
Spanker can refer to:
* One who administers a spanking
* Spanker (horse), a famous 18th-century thoroughbred race horse
* Spanker, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* ''SS-17 Spanker'', the NATO reporting name for the MR-UR-100 Sotka intercont ...
,
jib, and flying jib sails.
[
]
Career
In late 1790 Alessandro Malaspina arrived in Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...
. He sailed to Alaska and Nootka Sound, then returned to Acapulco. On the return voyage he met Juan Carrasco and heard about the discovery of the Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...
in July 1791. Malaspina knew it was vital that another expedition be dispatched to explore the Strait of Georgia more fully. Malaspina's corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s, ''Descubierta'' and ''Atrevida'', were unsuitable and not available, since they were to sail to the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. Once back at Acapulco, Malaspina discovered that the Viceroy of New Spain, the Count of Revillagigedo, was already preparing to send another exploration voyage to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. He had assigned the newly finished ''Mexicana'', under Francisco Antonio Mourelle
Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa (July 17, 1750 – May 24, 1820) was a Spanish naval officer and explorer from Galicia serving the Spanish crown. He was born in 1750 at San Adrián de Corme (Corme Aldea, Ponteceso), near A Coruña, Gali ...
, to the task. Malaspina proposed sending the ''Sutil'' as well, which was under construction at San Blas, and also that instead of sending Mourelle two of his own officers, Galiano and Valdés, should be given the assignment.
On the suggestion of Malaspina, and acceptance of Viceroy Revillagigedo, Mourelle, who had been given command of the ''Mexicana'' was replaced with one of Malaspina's officers, Cayetano Valdés y Flores, while another, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano, was given command of the newly built ''Sutil''. Both were ''capitanes de fragata'' ( Frigate Captains). Galiano was given overall command of the expedition. Additional personnel from the Malaspina Expedition were assigned as well. Secundino Salamanca and Juan Vernacci were made second in command of each vessel. José Cardero was also detached and assigned to the ''Mexicana''. The ''Mexicana'' had a complement of 21, including two commissioned officers, one soldier, three petty officers and tradesmen, seven seaman gunners, six seamen, one servant, and the artist José Cardero.[
The ''Sutil'' and ''Mexicana'' were transferred to Acapulco in late December 1791 where they were fitted out for exploration under Malaspina's supervision. Both vessels handled poorly. There were many defects in their construction and both required strengthening. Carpenters made various fixes and alterations in Acapulco, but the vessels were still defective and further alterations later were made at Nootka Sound.]
They sailed from Acapulco on 8 March 1792 and arrived at the Spanish post at Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, on 12 May 1792. On April 14, far from land, the ''Mexicana'' broke its mainmast. A rough and partial repair was made at sea, allowing the expedition to continue. Both the ''Sutil'' and the ''Mexicana'' were refitted and repaired at Nootka with the help of Bodega y Quadra, who had been assigned commandant at Nootka. Among other things, the ''Mexicana'' was fitted with a new mainmast and foremast. To repair the vessels Bodega y Quadra had them hauled into a small cove the Spanish called Caleta de Santa Cruz or Campo Santo.
In early June the two vessels entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and made their way through the San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core ...
and into the Strait of Georgia. Near the mouth of the Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual ...
the Spaniards encountered the two ships of the Vancouver Expedition, which were also engaged in exploring the same area. The two expeditions shared information and sailed together for a while. They parted ways in the Discovery Islands and returned to Nootka Sound separately. Vancouver returned via Discovery Passage while Galiano and Valdés sailed via Cordero Channel. After arriving at Nootka Sound, the ''Sutil'' and ''Mexicana'' returned to San Blas, arriving there on 25 November 1792.[
Vancouver, who had plenty of opportunity to examine the ''Sutil'' and ''Mexicana'', wrote about them critically. He was "astonished" that such vessels "were employed to execute a service of such a nature". And that the vessels' "apartments just allowed room for sleeping places on each side, with a table in the intermediate place, at which four persons, with some difficulty, could sit, and were, in all other respects, the most ill calculated and unfit vessels which could possibly be imagined for such an expedition."][
After the voyage of Galiano and Valdés, both the ''Mexicana'' and ''Sutil'' continued to serve the San Blas Naval Department for some years. In 1793 the ''Mexicana'' sailed north to explore the ]Columbia River
The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
and determine whether its mouth would be a good place for a new Spanish base. Under Juan Martínez y Zayas, the ''Mexicana'' sailed first to Neah Bay on the south coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the ''Activa'' was supposed to rendezvous but failed to arrive. So the ''Mexicana'' went south to the mouth of the Columbia River and entered. Due to the dangerous bar it was determined an unsuitable place for a base.
The ''Sutil'' was at Nootka Sound in 1796. The ''Mexicana'' might have been at Nootka in 1797.[''The Nootka Connection'', p. 211]
See also
*List of historical ships in British Columbia
The following is a list of vessels notable in the history of the Canadian province of British Columbia, including Spanish, Russian, American and other military vessels and all commercial vessels on inland waters as well as on saltwater routes up t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mexicana
Age of Sail ships of Spain
Pre-Confederation British Columbia
History of Washington (state)
Ships of the Spanish Navy
Spanish history in the Pacific Northwest
1791 ships