White's ships landed at Roanoke on 22 July 1587. They did not find any of Grenville's men at the base of the old fort. All they found was one skeleton that might have been the body of one of the Englishmen. The commander of the fleet (group of ships), Simon Fernandez, would not let the colonists get back on the ships. He said they had to start the new colony on Roanoke Island. Nobody knows exactly why he did this.