''Lady Washington'' is a ship name shared by at least four vessels. The original sailed during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and harassed British shipping. Another vessel was used as a merchant trading vessel in the Pacific. A somewhat updated modern replica was created in 1989. The replica has appeared in numerous films and television shows, standing in as other real or fictional ships.

''USS Lady Washington'' (US naval vessel)

The original '' USS Lady Washington'' was a

row galley A row galley was a term used by the early United States Navy for an armed watercraft that used oars rather than sails as a means of propulsion. During the age of sail, row galleys had the advantage of propulsion while sail boats might be stopped or ...

with a crew of 60-80 rowers. Commissioned by the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

in 1776 and named in honor of

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

, she was captained by Nailer Hatch. Her early history is documented in the ''Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War'' as well as other documents.

''Lady Washington'' (American merchant ship)

The ''Lady Washington'', commonly referred to simply as the ''Washington'', was originally a single-masted sloop of 90 tons burden. As part of the Columbia Expedition seeking valuable otter furs, she left Boston Harbor on October 1, 1787 under command of Robert Gray. She served as consort to the much larger '' Columbia Rediviva'' captained by the expedition’s leader John Kendrick. The two ships sailed around

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

(the first US-flagged ships to do so) and participated in the maritime fur trade with the coastal indigenous people of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. After landing near

Tillamook, Oregon The city of Tillamook ( ) serves as the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 5,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

in August, 1788, fur trade continued through the winter and spring on and in the vicinity of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

. In August, 1789, Captain Kendrick unexpectedly changed vessels with Gray, assuming command of the ''Washington''. Kendrick stayed on the coast until summer, 1790, at which time he sailed the ''Washington'' to

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

to sell his cargo of furs. While there, Kendrick used proceeds from the fur sales to refit the ''Lady Washington'' as a two-masted, square-rigged

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

(or

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

). In 1791 he sailed her back to Vancouver Island. John Meares claimed that she was the first non-native vessel to circumnavigate

. ''Lady Washington'' became the first American vessel to reach

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in an unsuccessful attempt to move some unsold

pelt A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

s. ''Lady Washington'' remained in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

trade and eventually foundered in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in 1797. She was lost at the mouth of the Mestizo River, near Vigan, northwest Luzon in July 1797.

''Lady Washington'' (20th-century replica)

A ship replica of ''Lady Washington'' was built in Aberdeen, Washington,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in time for the 1989 Washington State Centennial celebrations. Aberdeen is located on

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels flooded the ...

, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean named for Robert Gray, the man who entered the harbor under sail for the first time as master of ''Columbia''. The ship was designed by marine expert Ray Wallace and built by Richard Miles. Wallace is also known for designing the Sailing Ship ''Columbia'' in

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

alongside Admiral Joe Fowler. Named " Washington State's

Tall Ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigging, rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a r ...

Ambassador", as well as the State Ship, the new ''Lady Washington'' is operated by a professional and volunteer crew under the auspices of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority. She sails up and down the Pacific coast, educating students in the history of merchant trading, life of common sailors, and responsibilities of the ship's officers. The current replica's mainmast is rigged with a topgallant sail and topsail above a gaff mainsail, as based on the post-Macau refit configuration. Old World (UK/international) terminology refers to this

sail plan A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing c ...

, and New World (American) terminology refers to this as a

Film and television appearances

''Lady Washington'' has appeared and served as a set in various films and television series. * The

''Enterprise'', a namesake of the Starship ''Enterprise'', on the holodeck in '' Star Trek Generations''. * The ship used to transport Chinese immigrants to America in the IMAX film '' The Great American West'' * The reference ship for the animated ''RLS Legacy'' in the Disney film ''

Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction film, science fiction adventure film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and written by Musker, Clements and Rob Edwards (screenwriter), Rob Edwards. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' * HMS ''Interceptor'' in the film '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' * As ''

Queen Anne's Revenge ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was an early-18th-century ship, most famously used as a flagship by Edward Teach, better known by his nickname Blackbeard. The date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain, and there is no record of its action ...

'' in the miniseries ''

Blackbeard Edward Teach (or Thatch; – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he ma ...

'' * Captain Hook's ship ''Jolly Roger'' in ''Once Upon a Time'' * A recurring background piece in ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

'' * The ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' in "The Curse of the Earth Totem" episode of '' DC's Legends of Tomorrow'' * Appeared in S01 E04 of '' Prop Culture'' while talking about filming ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' Outside of film and television, the ship serves as the central visual element for the Christian music group For KING & COUNTRY in their music video " Burn the Ships". She also appeared in the music video for rapper Macklemore's " Can't Hold Us".

References

External links

Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority
''Lady Washington''s operating organization
Maritime Heritage Network
an online directory of maritime history resources in the