| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | North West America |
| Launched | 1788 |
| Captured | By Spanish Navy, 1789 |
.svg){kind=small} Spain | |
| Name | Santa Gertrudis la Magna and, later, Santa Saturnina |
| Acquired | 1789 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | About 30–50 tons (bm) |
| Length | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails and 8 oars |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
North West America was a British merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 it was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José Martínez of Spain during the Nootka Crisis, after which it became part of the Spanish Navy and was renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna and later Santa Saturnina.[2]
The vessel also played an important role in both British and Spanish exploration of the Pacific Northwest, especially the Strait of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands, and the Strait of Georgia. Under the Spanish commander José María Narváez Santa Saturnina was the first European vessel to find and explore the Strait of Georgia and the area that is the city of Vancouver today.
The vessel was a schooner, or goleta in Spanish.[3] Its exact size is not known. John Meares wrote that North West America was about 40 to 50 tons (bm). Robert Haswell of Columbia Rediviva, who watched the vessel launched, estimated it at about 30 tons.[2]
The vessel may have been enlarged when it was renamed Santa Saturnina, at which point it acquired the nickname La Orcasitas. The Santa Saturnina was about 33 feet (10 m) long on the keel, of shallow draft, and had eight oars.[1]
- ^ a b McDowell, Jim (1998). José Narváez: The Forgotten Explorer. Spokane, Washington: The Arthur H. Clark Company. pp. 50–60. ISBN 0-87062-265-X.
- ^ a b Pethick, Derek (1976). First Approaches to the Northwest Coast. J. J. Douglas. pp. 121–132, 143–145, 150–152, 198. ISBN 978-0-88894-056-8. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Pethick, Derek (1980). The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790-1795. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 97. ISBN 0-88894-279-6.