Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia, has embarked on a multiyear restoration of the Susan Constant, flagship of the official fleet of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

After 33 years of maritime education, the “floating classroom” traveled on June 17th to the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut to begin work over the next two years to preserve it for future generations. 

The $4.7 million undertaking to repair and restore the wooden, 120-ton cargo vessel, was approved this spring by the Virginia General Assembly, and a fundraising effort is underway to support maritime education while the ship is away. 

Since its commissioning on April 25, 1991, the Susan Constant has welcomed an estimated 19 million visitors – schoolchildren, presidents and even royalty – over the past three decades to climb aboard the re-creation of the merchant ship. From the main deck, ’tween deck and peering into its hold, guests learn about the 17th-century technology used to sail and navigate the square-rigged ship across the ocean during the 1607 voyage to Jamestown.

In Jamestown Settlement’s 67-year history, there have been two generations of the Susan Constant, one built in Norfolk in 1957 and the other, built at Jamestown Settlement in 1990, is still in use today. The Susan Constant, along with re-creations of the Godspeed and the Discovery, were designated as the “official fleet of the Commonwealth” by the Virginia General Assembly in 2001.

For more information about the Susan Constant restoration, read the Voyage to Restoration news release.