caption branch death_date death_place birth_date placeofburial rank image article_title name
nathaniel portlock royal navy 12 september 1817 greenwich c. 1749 greenwich captain nathaniel portlock.jpg nathaniel portlock
 nathaniel portlock
nathaniel portlock

nathaniel portlock -lrb- c. 1748 -- 12 september 1817 -rrb- was a british ship 's captain , maritime fur trader , and author .
he entered the royal navy in 1772 as an able seaman , serving in .
in 1776 he joined as master 's mate and served on the third pacific voyage of james cook .
during the expedition , in august 1779 , he was transferred to the .
he passed his lieutenant 's examination on 7 september 1780 , then served on in the channel fleet .
on cook 's third voyage , furs obtained in present day british columbia and alaska sold for good prices when the expedition called at macao .
in 1785 richard cadman etches and partners , including portlock and george dixon formed a partnership , commonly called the king george 's sound company , to develop the fur trade .
dixon had also served on `` resolution '' in the pacific ocean under cook .
in september 1785 portlock and dixon sailed from england .
portlock was in command of the larger vessel , the 320 ton -lrb- bom -rrb- `` king george '' , with a crew of 59 .
dixon 's was in command of the 200 ton -lrb- bom -rrb- `` queen charlotte '' , with a crew of 33 .
dixon and portlock sailed together for most of their three-year voyage .
they crossed the atlantic ocean , reaching the falkland islands in january 1786 , and transited cape horn to enter the pacific ocean .
they reached the hawaiian islands on 24 may and anchored in kealakekua bay -lrb- where cook had been killed in 1779 -rrb- , but did not go ashore .
they took on fresh food at other hawaiian islands and proceeded on to what is now alaska .
after two years of plying the waters , portlock and dixon departed north america , reaching macao in november 1788 .
on their return portlock and dixon published an account of the voyage , based in part on letters written by william beresford , the trader on the expedition .
returning to the royal navy in 1791 , portlock was appointed to command the brig , which accompanied bligh on his second voyage to transport breadfruit plants from tahiti to the west indies .
following his return to england in 1793 , portlock was promoted to commander and later commanded the sloop .
in 1799 he was promoted to captain , but does not appear to have had further employment at sea .
he died on 12 september 1817 in greenwich hospital .
his son , major-general joseph ellison portlock , was a british geologist and soldier .
portlock harbor , a bay on the west coast of alaska 's chichagof island , was named by portlock in 1789 , following a visit there in august 1787 .
portlock , a cannery settlement active in the early and middle 20th century , and portlock glacier , both on alaska 's kenai peninsula , were named in his honor .
