Heceta was given command of the "Santiago". Accompanying Heceta was the schooner "Sonora" (alias "Felicidad", also known as "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe") initially under the command of Juan Manuel de Ayala. The long "Sonora", with a crew of 16, was to perform coastal reconnaissance and mapping, and could make landfall in places the larger "Santiago" was unable to approach on its previous voyage. In this way the expedition could officially lay claim to the lands of northern New Spain it visited.