Godspeed (ship)

Replica of Godspeed in New York City in 2006
History
[1]England
Name	Godspeed
Namesake	Godspeed (English expression)
Owner	Virginia Company of London
In service	before 1607
Out of service	unknown (after 1607)
General characteristics
Tons burthen	40
Length	est. 68 ft (21 m)
Sail plan	fully rigged ship

Godspeed was one of the three ships on the 1606–1607 voyage to the New World for the English

She is Thy Ruler of the seas, with her mightyfulle velocitie moure veloce than the wynd, and mightyer than the rocke, she is, my Deare Godspeed

— Diary of Bartholomew Gosnold

As part of the original fleet to Virginia, leaving on December 20, 1606, she carried 39 passengers, all male, and 13 sailors. The route included stops in the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico and, with better wind, would have taken about two months to traverse; instead, the voyage lasted 144 days. On June 22, 1607, Newport sailed back for London with Susan Constant and Godspeed carrying a load of supposedly precious minerals, leaving behind the 104 colonists and Discovery (to be used in exploring the area).

Replicas

In 1985, a replica of Godspeed (rigged as a barque, only 48 feet on deck) sailed from London back to Virginia. She had a crew of 14 and stopped at many places that the original Godspeed visited, including the Canary Islands and various places in the Windward Islands, before sailing to Jamestown.

The most recent replica was built at Rockport Marine

Modern depictions

In May 2007, the

See also

• Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)

References

Further reading

Media related to Godspeed (ship) at Wikimedia Commons

• Price, David A. Love and Hate in Jamestown. Alfred A. Knopf (2003). Chapter 3.
• qsl.net for more information about the 1985 Voyage of Godspeed.
• rockportmarine.com for more information about the construction of the replica of Godspeed.
• molnarcraft.com plans of Godspeed.
• Jamestown-Yorktown Settlement website