Ship Model, <I>Susan Constant</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1998
label: Susan Constant departed London
content: 1606-12-20
label: Susan Constant arrived in Jamestown
content: 1607-04-26
label: life-size reproduction was built
content: 1991
label: manuscript transcribed discussing ship and voyage
content: 1625
name: label: captained the ship
content: Newport, Christopher
label: leased the ship
content: Dapper, Wheatley, Colthurst and Partners
label: transcribed a manuscript
content: Purchas, Samuel
label: maker
content: Chapman, John W.
notes: label: Description
content: On April 26, 1607, three passenger ships reached the shores of modern-day Virginia. The largest, named the <I>Susan Constant</I>, carried 54 members of a 105-man colonization mission. Arriving thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Mass., this group of Englishmen came in search of gold and glory in the New World under the direction of the Virginia Company. Their founding of Jamestown began a long and checkered chapter in American colonial history.
label: Description
content: Built in 1605 near London, and leased from Dapper, Wheatley, Colthurst and Partners, the <I>Susan Constant</I> was barely a year old when the Jamestown passengers spotted land near Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Under the command of Captain Christopher Newport, the journey from London to Virginia took approximately four and a half months. Following its departure on December 20, 1606, the <I>Susan Constant</I> spent six weeks floating idly in the English Channel, waiting for the right winds to carry the passengers to their new lives. Unlike the colonists, the <I>Susan Constant</I> did not stay in Virginia, but sailed back to England filled with timber.
label: Description
content: In the past, there has been some confusion over whether the ship’s name was <I>Susan</I> or <I>Sarah Constant</I>. According to a 1625 manuscript transcribed by Rev. Samuel Purchas, when discussing the journey of the Jamestown settlers, His Majesty King James I’s Council on Virginia referred to a ship named <I>Sarah Constant</I>. However, multiple accounts given by the original colonists, as well as the leasing companies, indentify the ship as <I>Susan Constant</I> or, more simply, <I>Susan</I>. No record of a <I>Sarah Constant</I> has ever been found in sources from the time period, and historians have since chalked the confusion up to a clerical error on the part of the Council.
label: Description
content: In 1991, the Commonwealth of Virginia financed a $2.14 million life-sized reproduction of the <I>Susan Constant</I>. The ship took a short tour of the Chesapeake Bay area in 2007 as part of Jamestown’s 400th Anniversary Celebration, and can now be seen in the Jamestown Settlement National Park.
label: Description
content: This model of the <I>Susan Constant</I> was given to the Smithsonian in 1998 as a gift from its builder, John W. Chapman.
place: label: Susan Constant sailed from
content: United Kingdom: England, London
label: Susan Constant sailed to
content: United States: Virginia, Jamestown Island, Jamestown
topic: label: related event
content: Colonization and Settlement
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Cultures & Communities
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of John W. Chapman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0227.01
label: accession number
content: 1998.0227
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0227.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Ship
label: Object Name
content: ship model
label: Object Name
content: model, ship
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 in x 14 1/2 in x 6 in; 38.1 cm x 36.83 cm x 15.24 cm