The original Lady Washington was a 90-ton merchant sloop. She sailed around Cape Horn and participated in the fur and pelt trade with the coastal Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest and in tea and porcelain across the Pacific in China.

She was captained originally by Robert Gray, and later by John Kendrick, former captain of her larger sailing partner, the Columbia Rediviva (Kendrick insisted he and Gray switch vessels mid-journey). Under the command of Kendrick, she was refitted as a brig (she was formerly a sloop).

She became the first American vessel to reach the island of Japan in an unsuccessful attempt to move some unsold pelts. The Lady remained in the Pacific trade and eventually foundered in the Philippines in 1798.

A replica of the Lady Washington was built in Aberdeen, Washington, USA in time for the 1989 Washington State Centennial celebrations. Aberdeen is located on Grays Harbor, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean named for Robert Gray, the man who discovered the harbor as Master of the Columbia.

Named "Washington State's Tall Ship Ambassador", as well as the State Ship, the new Lady Washington has already made plenty of her own history. Operated by a professional and volunteer crew under the auspices of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, she sails up and down the Pacific coast reaching out to sailors and lubbers of all ages through the romance of the sea in the hope they take a little of her history back with them.

Recently, she has appeared in various films, portraying the brig %28brig%29" target="_blank">Enterprise in _Star Trek Generations and the HMS Interceptor in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She also provided the basis for the RLS Legacy in the Disney animated feature Treasure Planet.

Today she sails regularly in pair with the "Hawaiian Chieftain", educating students in the history of merchant trading, life of common sailors, and responsibilities of the ship's officers.