Princess Royal ( sloop ) 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 the 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 , the " Princesa Real " was used during 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 ) . The " Princess Royal " was a sloop - rigged vessel of 65 tons burthen and a crew of about fifteen . It carried four one - pound cannon and eight swivel gun s , was long on the keel and on the beam . Lloyd ' s Register listed the " Princess Royal " in 1789 as being a sloop of 60 tons ( Old Measure ) , surveyed in Leith , Scotland in 1778 and resurveyed in 1786 ; Class A1 , Copper sheathed , single deck with beams ; draft of when laden ; owned by Etches & Co . British merchant vessel " Princess Royal " . From 1786 to 1788 the " Princess Royal " , under Charles Duncan , accompanied the much larger " Prince of Wales " , under James Colnett , on an expedition to acquire sea otter furs in the Pacific Northwest and sell them in China . The ships were owned by Richard Cadman Etches and Company , also known as King George ' s Sound Company . The company was exploring the possibilities of taking furs collected in the Pacific Northwest to China , a venture shown to be potentially profitable by James Cook . The two ships left England on 23 September 1786 , rounded Cape Horn , and reached the Pacific Northwest late in the summer of 1787 . After trading for furs with the indigenous peoples in the vicinity of the Queen Charlotte Islands , Aristazabal Island , and Banks Island , both ships sailed to the Hawaiian Islands where they spent the winter . While on the coast of present - day British Columbia they had a series of first contact encounters with some of the Kitkatla Tsimshian . In Hawaii the " Princess Royal " and the " Prince of Wales " were involved in several violent conflicts with the islanders , including one at Waimea Bay , during which between five and fourteen Hawaiians were killed . During the summer of 1788 the two returned to the Pacific Northwest to acquire more furs , this time operating separately . Charles Duncan sailed the " Princess Royal " first to Nootka Sound , then to the Queen Charlotte Islands . He then took the ship across Hecate Strait to conduct fur trading among the islands and inlets north of Princess Royal Island , passing through Principe Channel and into Douglas Channel . Although today the name " Princess Royal " applies to a single island , Duncan called the entire archipelago the Princess Royal ' s Islands . It included what is today called Banks Island , Pitt Island , Gil Island , Campania Island , Gribbell Island , Hawkesbury Island , and the Estevan Group , among others . In late June , 1788 , Duncan returned to the Queen Charlotte Islands , then proceeded south . He took the " Princess Royal " into the uncharted waters of Milbanke Sound and spent a few days trading with the Heiltsuk . Near Nootka Sound he encountered John Meares , from whom he learned that Colnett and the " Prince of Wales " had not arrived at Nootka . Therefore Duncan did not stop at Nootka Sound but instead took the " Princess Royal " south , trading in the vicinity of Clayoquot Sound and near the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca . On 17 August 1788 , Duncan left the Northwest , sailing the " Princess Royal " back to the Hawaiian Islands , where the " Prince of Wales " and the " Princess Royal " were reunited . The two then sailed to China , arriving in late November , 1788 . There they sold the fur skins acquired in the Pacific Northwest . The " Prince of Wales " returned to England via the Cape of Good Hope while the " Princess Royal " remained in the Pacific for another fur trading season . James Colnett also remained , and was given command of the " Argonaut " for another year of fur trading in the Pacific . Thomas Hudson was given command of the " Princess Royal " . While Duncan and Colnett were not the first Europeans to meet the Haida , their 1787 and 1788 accounts provide the first significant written description of them . There were three main encounters , including two at Rose Harbour in Houston Stewart Channel and one at Juan Perez Sound . The British described " Coyah " ( Xō ' ya , head of the Qai ' dju qē ' gawa - i Raven lineage ) as the principal chief of Houston Stewart Channel and the adjacent waters . In July 1788 both British ships witnessed and became involved in a conflict between two groups of Haida at Juan Perez Sound — a group from the south led by Xō ' ya and " Yuka " , and a group from the north called " Sangaskilah " by the British . Nootka incident . In the spring of 1789 the " Princess Royal " , under Thomas Hudson , along with " Iphigenia " ( William Douglas ) , " Argonaut " ( James Colnett ) , and " North West America " ( Robert Funter ) , all British fur trading vessels , arrived at Nootka Sound . Two American fur trading ships were already anchored in the sound , one of which was the " Columbia Rediviva " , and more arrived later , including the " Lady Washington " , under Robert Gray . Esteban José Martínez , in command of the new Spanish post at Nootka , asserted Spanish sovereignty . After a complicated series of events , Martínez ended up with three captured ships and their crews , the " Princess Royal " among them . Hudson had taken the " Princess Royal " into Nootka Sound earlier and had been allowed to leave on the condition he proceed to China . Instead , he collected more furs from the region and returned to Nootka Sound , expecting Martínez would no longer be there . Hudson did not intend to enter the sound but the " Princess Royal " was becalmed on an incoming tide . A Spanish longboat captured the ship and towed it in . During the capture of the " Princess Royal " the Nuu - chah - nulth ( " Nootka " ) Chief Callicum , the son of Chief Maquinna , was shot and killed . On 21 June 1789 , Martínez dispatched José María Narváez in the captured " North West America " , renamed " Santa Gertrudis la Magna " , to explore inlets to the south of Nootka Sound . By early July Narváez returned to Nootka , having sailed about into the Strait of Juan de Fuca , demonstrating that it was a very large inlet . After hearing Narváez ' s report , Martínez felt that the Strait of Juan de Fuca was the entrance of the legendary Northwest Passage and of extreme strategic importance . Therefore he placed Gonzalo López de Haro and Narváez in command of the " San Carlos " and the captured " Princess Royal " , renamed " Princesa Real " , and sent them to the Spanish naval base at San Blas with news about the strait . In October , Martínez completely evacuated Nootka Sound and returned to San Blas himself , with his prisoners and captured ships . The events at Nootka Sound during the summer of 1789 escalated into a major international crisis , called the Nootka Crisis , which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war . Peace was maintained through a series of agreements called the Nootka Conventions . It took several years for the terms to be fully agreed upon and carried out . Among other things , Spain agreed to restore the captured ships to their owners and pay them an indemnity . Spanish naval vessel , " Princesa Real " . In late 1789 , a Spanish force under Francisco de Eliza was sent to reoccupy Nootka Sound . The fleet included the captured " Princesa Real " , under the command of Manuel Quimper . Eliza arrived at Nootka on 4 April 1790 , and found no ships present . Under the terms of the first Nootka Convention , the " Princess Royal " was to be returned to the British at Nootka Sound , but as the port was deserted Eliza decided to make use of the vessel while waiting . He dispatched the " Princesa Real " under Quimper , with López de Haro and Juan Carrasco as pilots , to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca more fully . On the way Quimper stopped at Clayoquot Sound and met Wickaninnish and , a day later , Maquinna , whose son had been killed on board the " Princess Royal " the previous year . Quimper and Maquinna were able to begin the process of reconcillation between the Spanish and the Nuu - chah - nulth . In the summer of 1790 , Quimper , Haro , and Carrasco explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the " Princesa Real " , carefully charting harbors and performing acts of possession . Quimper made maps of Neah Bay ( called Bahía de Núñez Gaona ) and Esquimalt Harbour ( Puerto de Córdova ) . On 5 July 1790 , Carrasco sighted Admiralty Inlet , the entrance to Puget Sound . Thinking it likely to be a bay he named it Ensenada de Caamaño , after Jacinto Caamaño . Haro Strait ( Canal de López de Haro ) and Rosario Strait ( Boca de Fidalgo ) , both of which lead to the Strait of Georgia , were also sighted during the voyage , in addition to Deception Pass ( Boca de Flon ) , Mount Baker ( La Gran Montana Carmelo ) , Port Discovery ( Puerto de Quadra ) , Sooke Basin ( Puerta de Revilla Gigedo ) , Dungeness Spit , the San Juan Islands , Whidbey Island , Fidalgo Island , and others . Quimper realized that Haro Strait was a major channel worth exploring , but did not have the time . His orders were to return to Nootka by 15 August so that the " Princesa Real " could be returned to the British . Quimper got the ship within sight of Nootka Sound by 10 August , but due to contrary winds and fog he could not enter , despite repeated attempts . Instead , he sailed the " Princesa Real " south to Monterey , California , arriving on 1 September 1790 . By November the vessel was back at San Blas . Last voyage . In 1791 Quimper took the " Princesa Real " on another attempt to return it to the British . He sailed the vessel from San Blas to the Philippines , stopping at Hawaii on the way . Another Spanish captain would take the ship from the Philippines to China , as the Spanish and British governments had agreed that the ship would be returned to its owners in Macau . It turned out that James Colnett arrived in Hawaii in March 1791 , just as Quimper was arriving . The two met . Colnett demanded that the " Princess Royal " be turned over at once , while Quimper explained his orders were to take it to the Philippines . Colnett prepared to seize the ship by force . The quarrel was calmed by John Kendrick , Jr . , a former fur trader who had entered Spanish service and was on board the " Princess Royal " . Quimper slipped away at a convenient time and sailed to Manila , arriving in June . By the end of the year the " Princess Royal " had been taken to Macau , but the ship was in such poor condition upon arrival that the British agents refused to accept it . Eventually they agreed to accept a small payment in cash instead . Soon afterwards Macau was hit by a hurricane . The " Princess Royal " badly damaged and later sold for salvage .