Santa Saturnina
The Santa Saturnina was a comparatively small sloop, at roughly 12 m long and 3.5 m wide.1 It was built in Nootka Sound in 1790.2 Scott notes that the Santa Saturnina was constructed from pieces of the Santa Gertrudis la Magna, thought to be the first European-built ship in the Pacific Northwest.3
In 1791, under the command of José María Narváez, the Santa Saturnina explored Barkley Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Haro Strait, and sailed within sight of Desolation Sound and Nanaimo Harbour.4
The Santa Saturnina draws its name from the German martyr St Saturnina, patron saint of farmers and wine merchants.5
  • 1. John Crosse, "The Spanish Discovery of the Gulf of Georgia" British Columbia Historical News, 25 (1991-92) 30-32.
  • 2. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 524.
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. Ibid.
  • 5. Ibid.
Mentions of this vessel in the documents