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its grand expectations. The members of the company worked feverishly to organize the fleet. First, nine ships and smaller boats were bought or leased to carry hundreds of settlers and the supplies they would need for their transatlantic journey and when they arrived in the colony.
    The flagship was the Sea Venture, a three-masted ship measuring 100 feet and rated at 250 tons. She would sail armed with twenty-four cannons, in case privateers found the fleet an attractive catch. She could carry some 150 closely packed passengers in her decks and tug a tiny ketch behind her. The vice admiral, the Diamond, was nearly as big, while the smaller rear admiral was the Falcon. Four smaller vessels— Blessing, Lion, Swallow, and Unity —were smaller ships that kept in the middle of the fleet. The Virginia was a pinnace that could be used for exploration.
    Captains and crews were found to sail the ships. The company selected Sir George Somers as the admiral of the fleet. Somers was nearing sixty years old, but no one could deny his illustrious résumé. He had fought the Spanish with Drake and Hawkins, making a fortune in the process. He was knighted and held a seat in Parliament. The Virginia Company listed him as one of its charter members in 1606. He now invested a small fortune of £300 in the company and was part owner of the Sea Venture and two of her companion ships.
    Many of Somers’s subordinate captains had been to Virginia before and were well known to the colonists. Christopher Newport served Somers as master of the Sea Venture and was the most experienced man in the fleet in crossing the Atlantic, which hehad accomplished numerous times since the forty-nine-year-old captain had hunted Spanish treasure ships with the sea dogs. Vice Admiral John Ratcliffe commanded the Diamond. He had captained the Discovery on the original Jamestown voyage and served as the colony’s president until he was deposed. His thoughts were not favorable toward John Smith as he prepared for the crossing. John Martin was also returning to Jamestown, this time as the commander of the Falcon. His ship’s master was the experienced Francis Nelson, who had arrived late on the Phoenix while sailing on the first relief expedition with Newport. Nelson understood the importance of this mission, considering the state of the colony the last time he was there.
    Mariners were not hard to recruit, especially since peace with Spain had given them less opportunity to work. They read broadsides and spoke with recruiters at seedy taverns about the voyage and negotiated their wages. Even though most were in their twenties, they were weathered and experienced old salts. Some had even been to Jamestown previously and based their decision on that trip. They were hired for their specific skills: carpenters, cooks, coopers, and ordinary sailors.
    Tons of beer, biscuits, salt pork and fish, peas, cheese, and butter was purchased. They were loaded into the holds of the ships at wharves along the Thames. The food would turn rancid and spoil during the voyage. Passengers and sailors would have to pick out worms or cut off mold. They also would suffer from scurvy.
    Sailors brought aboard pigs, chickens, and some other live animals, making a small racket aboard the Sea Venture and some of the larger ships. They would supply fresh meat for the passengers and crew during the voyage and populate the farms in the colony. The unfortunate consequence of ferrying the animals was the variety of smells that emanated from their pens, especially in the heat of the tropics.
    Large guns and a supply of shot were also loaded on the Sea Venture. Other weapons in the ships’ arsenals included matchlock pistols, swords, and daggers, in case the ships were boarded. The sailors laded the ship with the usual rigging, sails, and ropes. Navigational charts and instruments were brought aboard.
    This third supply mission was a highly organized venture, as were most overseas voyages. Merchants and