The Wreck of the "Sea Venture"

On July 28, a violent storm arose which separated the "Sea Venture" from the rest of the fleet was described by William Strachey, secretary to Lord De La Warr and passenger on the ship as a dreadful tempest and the tail of a West Indies hurricane which laster four days and nights. The storm drove the ship toward the dangerous and dreaded islands of Bermuda. Nearing the shore, the ship was caught between rocks as in a vise and held there while all the one hundred and fifty persons reached the shore in safety. As soon as they were conveniently settled, after the landing, the long boat was fitted up in the fashion of a pinnace with a little deck made of the hatches of the wrecked ship, so close that no water could enter, and with a crew of six sailors, using sails and oars, Thomas Whittingham, the cape merchant, and Henry Ravens, the master's mate, as pilot, the boat sailed for Virginia. It was hoped, when news reached Jamestown of the safe landing of the passengers from the wrecked "Sea Venture" on Bermuda, that a ship or pinnace from the fleet in Virginia would be sent to take them home, but the long boat was never heard from again. Note: The account of William Strachey led to the writing of "The Tempest" by Shakespeare.

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Index to Virginia Wills and Estates