- Speedwell (ship)
The "Speedwell" was a 60-ton
ship , the smaller of the two ships (along with "Mayflower ") intended to carry thePilgrim Fathers toNorth America . A vessel of the same name and size traveled to theNew World seventeen years prior as the flagship of the first expedition ofMartin Pring .The Speedwell was built in
1577 , under the name "Swiftsure", as part of English preparations for war againstSpain . She participated in the fight against theSpanish Armada , and during the Earl of Essex'1596 Azores expedition she served as the ship of his second in command, SirGilly Merick . After hostilities with Spain ended, she was decommissioned in1605 , rebuilt, and renamed the "Speedwell".The
Leiden Separatists bought the ship "Speedwell" inHolland , and boarded it atDelfshaven . They then sailed toSouthampton ,England to meet the "Mayflower", which had been chartered by the merchant investors. In Southampton they joined with other Separatists and the additional colonists hired by the investors.The two ships began the voyage on
August 5 ,1620 , but the "Speedwell" was leaky and returned to Dartmouth to be refitted at great expense and time. On the second attempt, "Mayflower" and "Speedwell" sailed about 100 leagues beyondLand's End inCornwall , but the "Speedwell" was again found to be leaky. Both vessels returned toPlymouth where the "Speedwell" was sold.It would later be revealed that there was in fact nothing wrong with the ship. The crew had sabotaged it in order to escape the year long commitment of their contract.
Eleven people from the "Speedwell" boarded the "Mayflower", leaving 20 people to return to
London (includingRobert Cushman ) while a combined company of 103 continued the voyage. For a third time, the "Mayflower" headed for theNew World . She left Plymouth onSeptember 6 ,1620 and enteredCape Cod Harbor onNovember 11 , 1620. The "Fortune" eventually followed, arriving atPlymouth Colony one year later onNovember 9 ,1621 .In 1656 the "Speedwell" made a voyage from England to
Boston , carrying a party ofQuakers includingChristopher Holder and John Copeland. Arriving inMassachusetts Bay Colony under the Governorship ofJohn Endecott , they were deported for religious reasons and obliged to return to Britain. In the following year another party, including six of the "Speedwell" company, returned viaRhode Island aboard the "Woodhouse": one of them became one of theBoston martyrs , judicially executed by Endecott.At least two subsequent ships of the
Royal Navy bore the same name, aship of the line during theNapoleonic Wars and a modernnuclear submarine .References
*"Indian Battles: with Incidents in the Early History of New England". 1859. By Rev. Henry White. New York: D.W. Evans & Co. 677 Broadway.
*cite book|last=Whalen|first=Richard F.|title=Truro: The Story of a Cape Cod Town|year=2002|publisher=Xlibris|location=Philadelphia|id=ISBN 1-4010-5146-4
*cite book
url=http://narcissus.umd.edu:8080/eada/html/display.jsp?docs=bradford_history.xml&action=show
last=Bradford
first=William
title=Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646
editor=William T. Davis
year=1908
publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons
location=New York
chapter=8
accessdate=2006-05-27
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