BOOTHBAY HARBOR, (AP) – A replica of the smallest of the three ships that transported the founders of the first permanent English settlement in the New World will be launched Monday at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard.

The christening of the 50-foot Discovery comes less than nine months after completion of a sister ship, the 65-foot Godspeed, at Rockport Marine, about 25 miles up the coast.

The Discovery will sail next month to the Jamestown Settlement living history museum in Virginia, where it will join the two other ships, the Godspeed and the Susan Constant, in celebrations of next year’s 400th anniversary of the settlers’ arrival.

Monday’s launching will include the christening by Navy Capt. Sally MacElreath, remarks by Discovery’s designer and the acknowledgment of people who worked on the $1.7 million project.

Because there are no known illustrations or blueprints of Discovery or its sister ships, researchers have had to base the designs on those of ships from the early 17th century and on documentation of the passenger and cargo tonnage they had aboard. Rather than replicas, the ships are sometimes called representative vessels or recreations.

The three ships carried a total of 105 passengers, one of whom died during the crossing in 1607, and 38 crew members.

The crew returned to England aboard Godspeed and Susan Constant, but Discovery remained in Virginia for exploration purposes because its smaller size allowed it to sail in shallower waters.

The new Discovery is Jamestown’s third recreation to bear that name. The first, along with replicas of the two other ships, was built in the 1950s when the museum opened; new versions of Discovery and Godspeed appeared in the early 1980s.

The Discovery that the new ship replaces is now in London, moored on West India Quay at the Museum in Docklands. But the old Godspeed, renamed Elizabeth, remains at Jamestown, where it is taking on the role of a 40-ton trading vessel that made a number of voyages ferrying cargo and supplies between the new colony and England.

“We’ve given it a new name and a new story,” said Eric Speth, maritime program manager at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, who serves as captain of the replica ships.

The latest Discovery and Godspeed, along with the 15-year-old Susan Constant, were built from tropical hardwoods that are more likely to resist deterioration in a Virginia climate that combines hot, moist summers and cold, dry winters.

“The boats they are replacing were not as well built and they were built with woods that are not rot resistant,” said David Stimson, general manager of Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. “This vessel should be fine as long as they take care of it. Fifty years from now, I suspect she’ll still be in good shape.”

Stimson said his biggest challenge was to secure an adequate supply of South American hardwoods, such as wana, angelique and silverballi, that met quality standards for the project. The wood is ungraded when it arrives at the yard, forcing the crew to sift through it to find acceptable pieces.

“The tropical hardwoods aren’t that rare, but when you have to grade it yourself and have lots of blemishes to get around, you buy a lot more than what you need,” he said. Some remnants will be used for future projects, he said, while “the really bad stuff heats our homes.”

Construction of the two-masted vessel, square-rigged on the main and fore-and-aft on the mizzen, involved a total of 25 people at various stages.

“It’s just gone too smoothly,” said Stimson, noting that the crew was able to avoid the usual crunch of 90-hour workweeks as the contract deadline approached.

Weather permitting, Stimson and a four- to eight-member crew expect to leave early next month to deliver the ship to Jamestown.

The vessel, he noted, isn’t heated for a winter sail, “but I’ve got something up my sleeve.” He hopes to hook up a small coal burning stove for the trip that should take five or six days if the weather cooperates.

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On the Net:

Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation: http://www.historyisfun.org

Boothbay Harbor Shipyard: http://www.boothbayharborshipyard.com

AP-ES-12-10-06 1315EST

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