'''Susan Constant''', at 120
tons, was the largest of three ships of the English Virginia Company that were led by Captain
Christopher Newport on the
1607 voyage that resulted in the founding of the first permanent
English settlement in
North America,
Jamestown, in the new Colony of
Virginia. On that voyage, she carried 71 colonists, all male.
[1]
Her keel length is estimated at 55.2
feet (16.8
meters) long. Her overall length from tip to stern is estimated at 116 feet.
She returned to England in May 1607. She served as a merchant ship through, at least,
1615. Her fate is not known.
Replicas of the ''Susan Constant'' and her sisters, the ''
Godspeed'' and the ''
Discovery'', are docked in the
James River at Jamestown Settlement (formerly
Jamestown Festival Park), adjacent to the Jamestown
National Historic Site.
The name ''Sarah Constant'' has been cited, and is shown as being the name noted on the earliest document
[2], leading to a belief that Samuel Purchas
[3] had the name wrong in his Pilgrims book
[4]. There is growing support for the name Sarah Constant
[5].
In May 2007, the
United States Postal Service issued the first 41 cent denomination first class stamp. The stamp had an image of the ''Susan Constant'', the ''Godspeed'', and the ''Discovery''.
See also
Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)
References
1. http://www.apva.org/history/orig.html
2. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0043-5597(193704)2%3A17%3A2%3C229%3ATSCATM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L
3. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0043-5597(193610)2%3A16%3A4%3C515%3ASVS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3
4. Samuel Purchas (1575?-1626): Purchas His Pilgrimes, In Five Books
5. http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=124435&ran=165659
Further reading
★ Brian Lavery, ''The Colonial Merchantman Susan Constant 1605'', Conway Maritime Press 1988
★ David A. Price, ''Love and Hate in Jamestown'', Alfred A. Knopf 2003 (chapter 2)