In 1609 a fleet of 9 ships owned by the Virginia Company of London set sail from Plymouth, England with fresh supplies and additional colonists for the new British settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. The fleet was commanded by Admiral Sir George Somers onboard the flagship, the Sea Venture. During a vicious storm the Sea Venture strayed from the fleet and floundered on Bermuda’s reefs. Somers managed to land all 150 crew and colonists onshore without the loss of a single life. The event marked the beginning of the colonisation of Bermuda.
