In July 1609, the Sea Venture, flagship of the Third Supply fleet bound for Jamestown, was caught in a hurricane. To save the sinking vessel, Admiral Sir George Somers intentionally grounded the ship on the reefs surrounding Bermuda. All 150 passengers and crew survived, finding themselves stranded on a lush, uninhabited island abundant with wild pigs, food, and timber.
While the castaways spent ten months building two new vessels to complete their journey to Virginia, their prolonged stay transformed royal maritime law. Under the original 1606 and 1609 royal charters granted to the Virginia Company by King James I, the company's domain only extended to lands between certain latitudes and within 100 miles of the American mainland's coastline. Bermuda sat roughly 600 miles offshore, far beyond the legal boundary specified in the charter.
Recognizing the agricultural and strategic value of the island, Somers and company leaders lobbied the Crown to secure control over it. King James I granted a Third Virginia Charter in 1612, which formally expanded the company's boundaries to include islands lying up to 300 leagues from the coast, specifically capturing Bermuda. Shortly thereafter, the Somers Isles Company, later known as the Bermuda Company, was established in 1615 to govern the island separately.
The accidental survival of the Sea Venture castaways not only inspired Shakespeare's play The Tempest, but also fundamentally reshaped English colonial governance by proving that ocean islands outside continental limits were prime real estate for corporate charters.