Virginia (pinnace) - Patience and Deliverance in Bermuda

Patience and Deliverance in Bermuda

The second and third pinnaces built in the English colonies followed closely upon the construction of the "Virginia" at the Popham Colony in New England. Two pinnaces were built in Bermuda from local Bermuda cedar, which was a wood especially prized by regional ship builders because it was as strong as oak, yet lighter. This misnamed juniper species could be worked with immediately after felling, and it has high resistance to rot and wood worms. Materials salvaged from the beached wreck of the Sea Venture, the ill-fated flag ship of the Third Supply on its way to the Jamestown Colony, were also used. Patience and Deliverance were constructed between late fall 1609 and early spring 1610 under the guidance of the Virginia Company Admiral, Sir George Somers, Sir Thomas Gates and James Davis (mariner), captain of the "Gift of God" who possessed considerable ship building knowledge. This close dating estimate establishes that these two ships were the second constructions of pinnaces in the New World English colonies. Ships of the Third Supply that escaped the terrible 3 day Bermuda hurricane brought few provisions to the Jamestown Colony as most supplies had been on the flagship Sea Venture. Under the command of the experienced and trusted Christopher Newport, who had been the captain of the Sea Venture, Patience and Deliverance set sail for Virginia on May 11, 1610, and arrived at the Jamestown settlement on May 23, 1610, a journey of less than two weeks. Meanwhile in the fall of 1610, Sir George Somers returned to Bermuda with the pinnace Patience to obtain wild pig and food that had been stockpiled for the Jamestown Colony by the passengers of the Sea Venture during their months on Bermuda. Unfortunately, Sir George died in Bermuda from a "surfeit of pork". The Patience captained by his nephew Mathew Somers returned to Lyme Regis in Dorset, England. Aboard the flagship Sea Venture had been the expedition's specialist in growing tobacco. John Rolfe lost his wife and young son while the Third Supply reorganized in Bermuda. Rolfe made his way to Virginia with 142 survivors aboard the Patience and Deliverance. Finally, Christopher Newport and a pinnace had delivered the salvation of the Jamestown Colony in what would be his last trip to the colony.