Princess Royal (sloop)

Princess Royal (sloop)

Princess Royal was a British merchant ship that sailed on fur trading ventures in the late 1780s, and was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José Martínez of Spain during the Nootka Crisis of 1789. Called the Princesa Real while under the Spanish Navy, the vessel was one of the important issues of negotiation during the first Nootka Convention and the difficulties in carrying out the agreements. The vessel also played an important role in both British and Spanish exploration of the Pacific Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands. In 1790, while under Spanish control, the Princesa Real was used during the first detailed examination of the Strait of Juan de Fuca by non-indigenous peoples, finding, among other places, the San Juan Islands, Haro Strait (the entrance to the Strait of Georgia), Esquimalt Harbour near present-day Victoria, British Columbia, and Admiralty Inlet (the entrance to Puget Sound).

The Princess Royal was a sloop-rigged vessel of 65 tons burthen and a crew of about fifteen. It carried four one-pound cannon and eight swivel guns, was 43 feet (13.11 m) long on the keel and 16 feet (4.88 m) on the beam. Lloyd's Register listed the Princess Royal in 1789 as being a sloop of 60 tons (Old Measure), surveyed in Leith, Scotland in 1778 and resurveyed in 1786; Class A1, Copper sheathed, single deck with beams; draft of 8 feet (2.4 m) when laden; owned by Etches & Co.