 Launch of the Adventure with Fort Defiance andColumbia in background. Painting by George Davidson, who served as an artist on theColumbia | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Adventure |
| Laid down | 1791 |
| Launched |
|
| Fate | Sold to Spain |
| Notes | First US ship built in the Pacific NW |
.svg) Spain | |
| Name | Orcacitas |
| Acquired | 1792 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | sloop |
| Tons burthen | 45 (bm) |
| Length | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Propulsion | sail |
| Complement | 12 |
Adventure was built by the crew of CaptainRobert Gray on his second voyage in themaritime fur trade to the Northwest Coast ofNorth America. The 45-tonsloop was built to allow the trading venture to access smaller inlets theColumbia could not reach. At the end of his second voyage Gray sold the ship to theSpanish Navy. It was renamedOrcacitas (also spelledOrcasitas orHorcasitas) and served the Naval Department ofSan Blas for some years.
The skeleton of the craft was brought with theColumbia when it sailed fromBoston in 1790.[1] AtClayoquot Sound the crew of theColumbia built the winter quarters that were namedFort Defiance and also began construction of theAdventure. The keel was laid on October 3, 1791, onMeares Island.[2] Over the winter the ship slowly began to take shape.[3] Then on February 23, 1792, the ship was launched, but not without first getting stuck halfway down the ramp.[4] Thus the first American built vessel on the Pacific was launched.[5] The first non-indigenous vessel built on thePacific Northwest coast was theNorth West America, constructed in 1788 by Chinese labourers employed by British captainJohn Meares.[6] Spain had been building ships on the Pacific coast of Mexico since the 16th century.
On Monday, April 2, 1792, theAdventure set sail for its maiden voyage.[7] The captain wasRobert Haswell, the First Mate of theColumbia.[8] Also assigned to the small ship wasAbraham Waters, who became the mate on theAdventure.[8] He had been Fourth Mate on theColumbia. Ten others were assigned, giving the ship a total crew of twelve men.[8]
Only a few weeks after departing from theColumbia, theAdventure rendezvoused on April 17 and transferred 500 skins to the larger ship before separating again.[9] After this the 45-ton ship sailed northward.[8] In July they reached as far north asSitka Sound inRussian-America.[10] After continued trading, including stops in theQueen Charlotte Islands, theAdventure and crew re-joined Gray and theColumbia near Port Montgomery on September 3, 1792.[11]
Shortly after his departure as commandant of Nootka Sound,Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra met Gray in theColumbia with theAdventure in company. The two captains had previously discussed the idea of selling theAdventure, and agreed to discuss it further atNeah Bay, a Spanish outpost in the process of being abandoned. They sailed in convoy to Neah Bay, arriving on September 26. In addition to theColumbia andAdventure, Neah Bay was occupied by the Spanish vesselsPrincesa,Activa, underSalvador Fidalgo and Bodega y Quadra, and the American vesselHope, under formerColumbia First MateJoseph Ingraham.[12] Bodega y Quadra and Gray soon agreed to a sale of theAdventure. The bill of sale, dated September 28, 1792, indicates the price was "Fifteen hundred Dollars in kind". The phrase "in kind" meant sea otter pelts. According to Captain Robert Haswell, 75 skins of superior quality were paid by Bodega.John Boit of theColumbia calculated the price as "72 prime Sea Otter Skins worth 55 Dollars each in Canton which is equall to 3960$, which at 50 per Cent advance at home is 7440 Spanish Piasters, which is a good price." Bodega renamed the sloopOrcacitas, one of the names of theCount of Revillagigedo,Viceroy of New Spain. Bodega did not need the vessel himself, but thought it would be useful to the Naval Department of San Blas. Command of theOrcacitas was given toGonzalo López de Haro, and it sailed in convoy with Bodega'sActiva to Monterey, California. They left Neah Bay on September 29.[13]