Brig.
L/B/D:
45.8 × 11.8 × 4.6 (14m × 3.6m × 1.4m). Tons:
33 toneladas. Hull:
wood. Comp.:
20. Arm.:
4 arrobas. Built:
San Blas de California, Mexico; 1791.
In 1791, following his voyage of exploration in the corvettes
Descubierta and Atrevida, Don Alejandro Malaspina dispatched his hydrographer, Frigate Captain Dionisio Alcalá Galiano, on a voyage to the Pacific Northwest. His primary objective was to sail through the Strait of Juan de Fuca "to decide once and for all the excessively confused and complicated questions" of whether a Northwest Passage existed from Hudson Bay in the east to somewhere near Vancouver on the west coast. This last Spanish voyage of discovery in the Pacific sailed from Acapulco on March 8, 1792, and the expedition arrived at the Spanish settlement at Nootka on May 12. In early June, Sutil and Mexicana entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and proceeded north through the islands of the Strait of Georgia. Near the Fraser River, the Spanish encountered Captain George Vancouver's
HMS Discovery and Chatham with whom they exchanged information about their respective discoveries. Continuing around Vancouver Island, Galiano sailed west into Queen Charlotte Strait and back to Nootka, where the Spanish caught up with Vancouver's ships before returning to San Blas on November 25. Although the Galiano expedition was less significant than its immediate predecessor, because Malaspina was in disgrace, it received greater publicity.
Kendrick, Voyage of "Sutil" and "Mexicana," 1792.
