''Godspeed'', under Captain

Bartholomew Gosnold Bartholomew Gosnold (1571 – 22 August 1607) was an English barrister, explorer and privateer who was instrumental in founding the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expeditio ...

, was one of the three ships (along with ''

Susan Constant ''Susan Constant'', possibly ''Sarah Constant'', captained by Christopher Newport, was the largest of three ships of the English Virginia Company (the others being ''Discovery'' and '' Godspeed'') on the 1606–1607 voyage that resulted in the fo ...

'' and ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discove ...

'') on the 1606–1607 voyage to the New World for the English

Virginia Company of London The London Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of London, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N. History Origins The territor ...

. The journey resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

History

The 40-ton ''Godspeed'' was a

fully rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three se ...

estimated to have been in length. As part of the original fleet to Virginia, leaving on December 20, 1606, she carried 39 passengers, all male, and 13 sailors. The route included a stop in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and, with better wind, would have taken about two months to traverse; instead, the voyage lasted 144 days. On June 22, 1607, Newport sailed back for London with ''

'' and ''Godspeed'' carrying a load of supposedly precious minerals, leaving behind the 104 colonists and ''

'' (to be used in exploring the area).

Replicas

In 1985, a replica of ''Godspeed'' (rigged as a baroque, only 48 feet on deck) sailed from London back to Virginia. She had a crew of 14 and stopped at many places that the original ''Godspeed'' visited, including the

and various places in the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...

, before sailing to Jamestown. The most recent replica was built at Rockport Marine in Rockport,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

, and completed in early 2006. Its length overall is , with the deck long, and the main mast tall, carrying of sail. Replicas of ''Godspeed'' and her sisters in the 1607 voyage, the larger ''

'' and the smaller ''

'', are docked in the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesap ...

Jamestown Settlement Jamestown Settlement is a living history museum operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, created in 1957 as Jamestown Festival Park for the 350th anniversary celebration. Today it includes a recreation of the original James Fort (c. 1607 to 1614 ...

(formerly Jamestown Festival Park), adjacent to the Jamestown National Historic Site.

Modern depictions

In May 2007, the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

issued the first 41 cent denomination first class stamp. The stamp had an image of ''Susan Constant'', ''Godspeed'', and ''Discovery''. ''Godspeed'' was also depicted on Virginia's coin of the 50 State Quarters, in celebration of the quadricentennial of Jamestown.

History

Replicas

Modern depictions

See also

References

Further reading