Sea Venture - Definition and Overview

The Sea Venture was a 17th century ship which may have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest.

It was part of an eight ship fleet which set sail for Jamestowne, Virginia as part of the Third Supply, a 500-to-600 person fleet reinforcing the colony that year, and the first such effort to become truly successful. The Sea Venture itself did not make the entire journey, but ran into rocks near Bermuda (which they "discovered", first mention being a pamphlet to get back to England from Jamestown referring to it as "Barmudas"). The crew struggled to keep it afloat for days, then eventually ended up stranded on the shore of Bermuda itself.

Its passengers, including all of the colony's leaders (Governor Thomas West, Admiral George Somers, the ship's captain Christopher Newport, and Captain Samuel Jordan), chose to stay and build two new ships from its remains.

Example Usage of Venture