One-third of the official fleet of the commonwealth will be sailing north to deliver word of the 2019 Commemoration.
The Godspeed, a re-creation of one of the three ships that brought English settlers to Virginia in 1607, will sail to Baltimore and Alexandria in October to promote awareness of the 400th anniversary of formative events in American history, according to a press release from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
The 2019 Commemoration American Evolution is a sub-agency of the Foundation which aims to observe the 400th anniversary of events in Virginia.
The Foundation operates the Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
While in port, the Godspeed will host field trips and public tours, and also participate in festivals.
Guests who come aboard will learn about the 1619 events in Virginia that shaped the development of the U.S., including the first representative legislative assembly in the New World, the arrival of the first Africans to English colonies, the first official Thanksgiving and the arrival of large numbers women to the colony.
While the Godspeed is in northern Virginia and Maryland, her two sister ships — the Susan Constant and the Discovery — will remain at Jamestown Settlement for guests to board and explore.
The trio were named the official fleet of the commonwealth by the Virginia General Assembly.
Between Oct. 3 and 7 she will be docked next to the USS Constellation in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor as a part of Maryland Fleet Week and Air Show Baltimore.
She will then move to the City of Alexandria Marina from Oct. 12-16 for the Portside in Old Town Festival.
Godspeed previously visited Baltimore and Alexandria in 2006 in advance of the 400th anniversary of the first permanent settlement in the New World at Jamestown.
Correction: The article has been updated to reflect that events including the first representative legislative assembly occurred in 1619 rather than 1617.
