The name Discovery has long been used to name ships of exploration. The ship used in the 1607 founding of Jamestown (first permanent English settlement in what would become the United States) was the Discovery. That same ship was used by Henry Hudson (as in: Hudson River, Hudson's Bay) during his ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage in 1610-1611.James Cook explored the South Pacific (Hawaii, Australia...) in the late 1770's in the HMS Discovery and one of his mid-shipmen, George Vancouver, explored the Pacific Coast in a different HMS Discovery from 1791-1795. Vancouver Island and the cities of Vancouver (in Washington State and the Province of British Columbia) are named after him. more... See more text