Written by Dr. George Cook, Excerpt from Bermuda 2009 Website

The wreck of Sea Venture and the subsequent rescue of the Jamestown colony is one of the great maritime epics of the western world. Thus began 400 years of continuous habitation of these small, isolated islands and Bermuda's crucial role in the creation of what became her great neighbour, the United States of America.

The Virginia Company's third "supply" to their struggling Jamestown colony departed from Plymouth on 2 June, 1609. Dispersed by a hurricane, the fleet's flagship, Sea Venture, ran aground on Bermuda's eastern reefs on 28 July.

All 150 passengers and crew - and the dog - safely landed on the beach at "gates his Bay". Patience and Deliverance resumed the interrupted voyage on 10 May, 1610. Their arrival at Jamestown on 24 May was met with scenes of death and misery. The Bermuda-built ships literally saved the Virginia colony from extinction.

William Strachey (and Silvester Jourdain) wrote a dramatic account of these events. Most critically, they were interpreted as acts of God: indeed, the successful English colonization of America was God's will.

Thereafter, 60 English colonists arrived in Bermuda in 1612 to consolidate this island colony. Jamestown survived to become a profitable plantation colony based on tobacco cultivation.

Since then, Bermuda has played a critical role in the history of the United States of America and their relations with the British Empire, through a revolutionary war of independence, a civil war, the two world wars, and a "cold war" to the present day.

For the full story, visit our website at www.bermuda2009.bm