North West America was built at
Nootka Sound,
Vancouver Island, in 1788 from materials brought from Asia aboard
Felice Adventurer, captain
John Meares, and
Iphigenia Nubiana, captain
William Douglas. These ships had sailed from
Macau in January 1788. Meares, who had cruised the Northwest Coast for furs in 1786 and 1787, intended to establish a permanent fur trading post at Nootka Sound. For that purpose he brought materials for building the vessel as well as a house. To assist with construction 50 Chinese men were hired and sailed with the expedition. They became the first Chinese known to have visited the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. Meares had chosen not to pay for licenses from the
East India Company and
South Sea Company, which were legally required of British merchants working in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Instead he tried to conceal the illegal activity by using the flag of
Portugal and sailing under the titular Portuguese command of Francisco José Viana, who pretended to be the captain of
Iphigenia. After being built and launched,
North West America also flew the Portuguese flag.
North West America was launched on 20 September 1788. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. Command was given to
Robert Funter. Soon after the launch, Meares sailed
Felice back to Macau. On 27 October 1788
Iphigenia and
North West America were towed out of Nootka Sound by
John Kendrick's longboats. They then sailed to the
Hawaiian Islands where they spent the winter. They arrived at
Maui on 6 December 1788, then sailed to the island of
Hawaii and anchored in
Kealakekua Bay. Other than
Queen Charlotte, under Captain
George Dixon, and
King George, under
Nathaniel Portlock,
Iphigenia and
North West America were the first European ships to visit Kealakekua Bay since Captain
James Cook was killed there in 1779. On 10 December the future king of the
Hawaiian Kingdom,
Kamehameha I visited the two vessels. Over the winter of 1788–1789 Douglas and Funter sailed
Iphigenia and
North West America from island to island. In March, 1789, Douglas was ready to sail back to the Pacific Northwest coast. On 17 March 1789 Douglas and Funter left the Hawaiian Islands for Nootka Sound, where they hoped to meet Meares in another ship. Douglas arrived at Nootka Sound on 20 April 1789 and anchored near the
Nuu-chah-nulth village of
Yuquot. Funter took
North West America on a fur trading cruise along the Pacific Northwest Coast before sailing to Nootka Sound, arriving there on 24 April 1789.
North West America was then hauled up on the beach for repairs.
Iphigenia was also in need of repairs. Meanwhile, in Macau Meares and his business partners had decided to merge their company with their former rival, the
King George's Sound Company, owned by the
Richard Cadman Etches and his brothers in London. The merged company was called by various names such as "The Associated Merchants of London and India", "The United Company of British Merchants Trading to the North West Coast of America", "The South Sea Company of London", or simply "the united Company". Because the Etches brothers had proper licenses with the East India Company and South Sea Company, the several company ships that sailed to Nootka Sound in 1789 flew the British flag. The company's 1789 expedition and all its ships were put under the command of
James Colnett, including
Iphigenia and
North West America. Until they learned about the new situation, Douglas and Funter continued to fly Portuguese flags and pretended to be under the command of the Portuguese captain Viana. ==Nootka Incident==