Virginia (pinnace) - First Ship Built in America

First Ship Built in America

The pinnace makes an appearance early in the European exploration of North America.

The Popham Colony was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. It was also known as the Sagadahoc Colony, taking its name from the Abanaki word for the confluence of a river and the sea. At this time, all of eastern North America from Spanish Florida to New France (in Canada) was called 'Virginia' by England. The territory originally chartered to the Virginia Company of Plymouth extended from present day Delaware to New France in the Canadian maritimes, 38°N to 45°N. Leaving Plymouth England on May 31, 1607, 120 colonists arrived at the mouth of the Sagadahoc River on August 13, 1607, aboard the Gift of God, and on August 16, 1607, aboard the Mary and John. Popham Colony leader George Popham was aboard the Gift of God, with Raleigh Gilbert second in command. Robert Davies was captain of the "Mary and John". The expedition had come to find gold, the Northwest Passage, a river passage to China, to fish and hunt Beaver for fur and to sell and prove that New World forests could build English ships. Construction of Fort Saint George was begun immediately. On December 1, 1607, about half the men returned to England with Captain James Davis aboard "The Gift of God", a journey that took 53 days. It was hoped that by drastically reducing the colony's population: a) available food would last throughout the brutally cold winter; and b) the difficulty of trading with hostile Abanaki neighbors would be negated. With one exception (Sir George Popham, leader of the colony died in February 1608), each of the colonists made it through the winter. A young, disinterested Raleigh Gilbert became the new governor. Captain James Davis, who commanded the short lived Fort St. George at the Popham Colony was to have a noteworthy career at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia.

The pinnace "Virginia" was the first ship of noteworthy size for which solid evidence exists that she was built in America. She was a pinnace of the smaller type. Note that the shallop is mentioned as often as the pinnace in earliest records of water craft in the European colonies in North America but is rarely described as a 'ship'. The largest shallops might approach the smallest 'small' pinnaces in size, but average size was much smaller and places the shallop within the category 'boat'.

Because plans of early 17th century British or American sailing vessels have not yet been found, reconstructing Virginia of Sagadahoc was a challenge. Nonetheless, there is historical information about the 'small' pinnace design that can be utilized, and from which a reasonable plan can be extrapolated. The choice to build a 'small' pinnace for the Popham Colony was a good one. Able to support at least three different rigs, the 'small' pinnace was very versatile and could be assigned to offshore fishing, the North Atlantic fishing grounds, or readied for a trans-Atlantic journey to England with equal ease.