Princess Royal (1778 sloop)

History
Great Britain
Name	Princess Royal
Launched	1778
Captured	By Spanish Navy, 1789
Spain
Name	Princesa Real
Acquired	1789
Fate	Damaged by a hurricane at Macau, 1791. Sold for salvage.
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen	65 (bm)
Length	43 ft (13 m)
Beam	16 ft (4.9 m)
Sail plan	Sloop
Complement	15 crew
Armament	4 x 1 pound (0.5 kg) cannon + 8 swivel guns

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 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, Princesa Real carried out 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).