Captain James Cook | British Navigator and Explorer Home: Library: Cook, James “I now once more hoisted English Coulers and in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third, took possession of the whole Eastern Coast [of New Holland] from the above Latitude down to this place by the name of New South Wales.” - JAMES COOK James Cook British Navigator and Explorer, 1728 - 1779 James Cook was born on October 27, 1728 in Marton, (near modern Middlesborough), Yorkshire, Britain. Cook commanded three voyages of discovery for Great Britain, and sailed around the world twice. He was the first British ship commander to circumnavigate the globe in a lone ship. Cook was also the first British commander to prevent the outbreak of scurvy by regulating his crew’s diet, serving them citrus fruit and sauerkraut to prevent the disease. He is considered one of the world’s greatest explorers. Cook was an apprentice to a shipping company at age 15, and joined the British Navy in 1755 at the age of 27.

In 1768, the British Admiralty appointed Cook, then a Lieutenant, to lead a scientific expedition that would sail to the island of Tahiti in the south Pacific to establish an astronomical observatory. Their mission was to measure an eclipse of the sun by Venus . The Admiralty selected Cook because of his proven skills as a navigator, and for his interest in astronomy. He set out on August 12, 1768 in His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour , arriving in Tahiti on April 13, 1769. On June 3, 1769, Cook successfully measured the time it took Venus to transit the sun, and by doing so obtained data that would help scientists to accurately determine the size of the solar system. Cook was also issued secret orders to seek the great southern continent (“Terres Australes Incognita” or unknown lands in the south) that geographers long believed kept the world in balance. In Cook’s day, the discovery of new lands often lead to great wealth for the nation claiming those lands. His orders were secret because the Admiralty did not want Britain’s international competitors to know about this aspect of Cook’s expedition.

Cook searched for Terres Australes to no avail, determining that no such great continent existed. In October 1769, he was the first European to land on New Zealand. The Islands were sighted previously by Dutch Captain Able Tasman in 1642, 127 years before Cook’s landing. New Zealand is named after the Dutch province of Zeelandt (meaning Sea Land). In 1770, Cook conducted a comprehensive survey of the eastern coast of New Holland (now Australia), the part of the continent the Dutch had not technically mapped. On August 22, 1770, he claimed those lands for Great Britain. The name “Australia” was not used until the early 1800s. On Cook’s second journey he sailed farther south than any other European. He circled Antarctica in his famous ship Resolution , but the ice surrounding the continent prevented the sighting of land. The existence of the Antarctica remained unproved until 1840. Upon his return to England in 1775, Cook was promoted to Captain and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In July of 1776, Cook set sail on his third voyage, again in Resolution . His mission was to look for a possible northern sea route between Europe and Asia. In 1778, Cook became the first know European to reach the Hawaiian Islands. Later in 1778, he sailed up the northwest coast of North America, and was the first European to land on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. He continued up the coast through the Bering Strait, and entered the Arctic Ocean. Great walls of ice blocked the expedition, so Cook headed back for the Hawaiian Islands. On February 14, 1779, Cook was stabbed to death by Hawaiian natives while investigating a theft of a boat by an islander. The expedition arrived back in England in October of 1780. If you are aware of books, movies, databases, web sites or other information sources about James Cook or related subjects, or if you would like to comment, please contact us . Resource Menu BBC - History - Captain James Cook z Portrait of Captain James Cook, by John Webber © Cook was an 18th century explorer and navigator whose achievements in mapping the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia radically changed western perceptions of world geography.

As one of the very few men in the 18th century navy to rise through the ranks, Cook was particularly sympathetic to the needs of ordinary sailors. James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in a small village near Middlesbrough in Yorkshire. His father was a farm worker. At the age of 17, Cook moved to the coast, settling in Whitby and finding work with a coal merchant. In 1755, Cook enlisted in the Royal Navy, serving in North America where he learnt to survey and chart coastal waters. In 1769, the planet Venus was due to pass in front of the Sun, a rare event visible only in the southern hemisphere. The British government decided to send an expedition to observe the phenomenon. A more secret motive was to search for the fabled southern continent. Cook was chosen as commander of the Whitby-built HMS Endeavour. Those on board included astronomer Charles Green and botanist Joseph Banks. Endeavour arrived in Tahiti in April 1769 where Green was able to observe the transit of Venus.

Endeavour continued on to New Zealand, and then sailed along the length of Australia's eastern coast, which had never before been seen by Europeans. Cook claimed it for Britain and named it New South Wales. Cook and his crew then returned home, arriving in July 1771. In 1772, not satisfied by his previous exploits, Cook set out on a second voyage to look for the southern continent. His two ships sailed close to the Antarctic coast but were forced to turn back by the cold. They then visited New Zealand and Tahiti, returning to England in 1775. Cook's third voyage was to find the North-West Passage that was believed to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Unable to find the fabled route, Cook took his two ships south and explored the island of Hawaii. Relations with the islanders were soured after the theft of a ship's boat. On 14 February Cook tried to take the local leader hostage. There was a scuffle and Cook was stabbed and killed.

The Geographic Adventures of Captain Cook - 1728-1779 Captain James Cook The Geographic Adventures of Captain Cook - 1728-1779 Detail of bronze statue Captain James Cook by sculptor Thomas Woolner 1879 in Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images By Matt Rosenberg Updated February 19, 2016. James Cook was born in 1728 in Marton, England. His father was a Scottish migrant farm worker who allowed James to apprentice on coal carrying boats at the age of eighteen. While working in the North Sea, Cook spent his free time learning math and navigation. This led to his appointment as mate. Searching for something more adventurous, in 1755 he volunteered for the British Royal Navy and took part in the Seven Years War and was an instrumental part of the surveying of the St. Lawrence River, which helped in the capture of Quebec from the French. Cook's First Voyage Following the war, Cook's skill at navigation and interest in astronomy made him the perfect candidate to lead an expedition planned by the Royal Society and Royal Navy to Tahiti to observe the infrequent passage of Venus across the face of the sun.

Precise measurements of this event were needed worldwide in order to determine the accurate distance between the earth and sun . Cook set sail from England in August, 1768 on the Endeavor. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge His first stop was Rio de Janeiro , then the Endeavor proceeded west to Tahiti where camp was established and the transit of Venus was measured. After the stop in Tahiti, Cook had orders to explore and claim possessions for Britain. He charted New Zealand and the east coast of Australia (known as New Holland at the time). From there he proceeded to the East Indies (Indonesia) and across the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. It was an easy voyage between Africa and home; arriving in July, 1771. Cook's Second Voyage The Royal Navy promoted James Cook to Captain following his return and had a new mission for him, to find Terra Australis Incognita, the unknown southern land. In the 18th century, it was believed that there was much more land south of the equator than had already been discovered.

Cook's first voyage did not disprove claims of a huge landmass near the South Pole between New Zealand and South America . Two ships, the Resolution and the Adventure left in July, 1772 and headed to Cape Town just in time for the southern summer. Captain James Cook proceeded south from Africa and turned around after encountering large amounts of floating pack ice (he came within 75 miles of Antarctica). He then sailed to New Zealand for the winter and in summer proceeded south again past the Antarctic Circle (66.5° South). By circumnavigating the southern waters around Antarctica, he indisputably determined that there was no habitable southern continent. During this voyage he also discovered several island chains in the Pacific Ocean . After Captain Cook arrived back in Britain in July, 1775, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and received their highest honor for his geographic exploration. Soon Cook's skills would again be put to use. Cook's Third Voyage The Navy wanted Cook to determine if there was a Northwest Passage , a mythical waterway which would allow sailing between Europe and Asia across the top of North America.

Cook set out in July of 1776 and rounded the southern tip of Africa and headed east across the Indian Ocean . He passed between the North and South islands of New Zealand (through Cook Strait) and towards the coast of North America. He sailed along the coast of what would become Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska and proceeded through the Bering Straight. His navigation of the Bering Sea was halted by the impassible Arctic ice. Upon yet again discovering that something did not exist, he continued his voyage. Captain James Cook's last stop was in February, 1779 at the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) where he was killed in a fight with islanders over the theft of a boat. Cook's explorations dramatically increased European knowledge of the world. As a ship captain and skilled cartographer , he filled in many gaps on world maps. His contributions to eighteenth century science helped propel further exploration and discovery for many generations. 10 Famous Captains | Yesterday's Blog | Yesterday Channel > 10 Famous Captains 10 Famous Captains See our rundown of the top 10 greatest admirals, pirates and captains who steered their beloved vessels into the halls of fame.

A reconstruction of the Golden Hinde galleon that Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world between 1577 and 1580. Drake (1542 - 1596) Revered as a hero in the fight against the Spanish Armada in 1588, Sir Francis Drake (pictured above) epitomises the self-made Elizabethan privateer, rapacious in the hunt for treasure but daring and visionary in exploration. Drake and his crew are also remembered as the first Englishmen to circumnavigate the globe over a three-year period, claiming a portion of California for Elizabeth along the way. His attack on Cadiz and his devastating raids on the Spanish Main earned him fear and respect of the Spaniards, who called him El Draque, "The Dragon". Drake died at sea on his final voyage, off the coast of Panama, in Nombre de Dios Bay. His body was placed inside a lead casket that was slipped overboard, to rest forever amongst the waves he loved so dearly.

Ralegh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, as well as an explorer Ralegh (1554 - 1618) During his own lifetime, Sir Walter Ralegh was one of the best-known men in England. He was a courtier, politician seaman, explorer, philosopher and poet. His name is often spelt ' Raleigh ', but he seems never to have used this version himself. Ralegh used his considerable wealth to build a warship that he named the Ark Ralegh, which he later gave to the Queen who changed the name to the Ark Royal. This ship became the flagship of the English fleet which ultimately fought against the Spanish Armada. During his life he financed and later led expeditions to the Americas and is given credit for being the first to introduce both tobacco and potatoes to Britain, although this is probably incorrect. In later years he fell out of favour with the Queen and was imprisoned in the Tower on more than one occasion. After her death he was arrested for treason and executed. The hanging of William Kidd illustrated in The Pirates Own book by Charles Ellms Kidd (c.

1645 - 1701) One of the most well known pirates of all times, ironically Captain William Kidd was originally employed to rid the seas of pirates! Kidd started out as a successful privateer who was asked by the King to captain a powerful ship and capture all French ships and the pirates of Madagascar. Bizarrely, Kidd recruited a gang of cutthroats and sailed for Madagascar. Following an attempted mutiny by the crew Kidd began plundering ships of all kinds along India's Malabar coast. Over the next few years Kidd amassed a staggering wealth of booty but a great deal of this swag belonged to the powerful British East India Company and he was ultimately arrested in New York and shipped to England. Executed on May 23rd 1701, his body was dipped in tar and hung by chains along the Thames River, serving as a warning to all would-be pirates for years to come. Portrait of Welsh pirate Captain Henry Morgan. Morgan (1635 - 1688) Captain Henry Morgan was a Welsh buccaneer who famously plundered Spain's Caribbean colonies during the late 17th century.

Operating with the unofficial support of the English government, he undermined Spanish authority in the West Indies. Selected commander of the buccaneers in 1668, Morgan quickly captured Puerto Príncipe in Cuba and in 1670 armed with 36 ships and nearly 2,000 buccaneers,he captured Panamá, one of the chief cities of Spain's American empire. Morgan defeated a large Spanish force and burnt the city to the ground. On his return he deserted his followers and legged it with most of the booty. Despite being arrested in 1672, in 1674 King Charles II knighted Morgan and he became deputy governor of Jamaica, where he lived until his death. An exaggerated account of Morgan's exploits, written by one of his crew, created his popular reputation as a bloodthirsty pirate. Captain Blackbeard painted for a Bahamas stamp. Blackbeard (c. 1690 - 1718) Edward "Blackbeard" Teach was undoubtedly was one the most feared and most despised pirates of all time.

Although his exact origins are unknown, Teach did begin his pirating career sometime after 1713, as a crewmember aboard a Jamaican sloop commanded by the pirate Benjamin Hornigold. By 1717 Hornigold and Teach were sailing in alliance, and in November they captured a 26 gun French vessel called the Concorde; her armament was increased to 40 guns, and she was re-named the Queen Anne's Revenge. By the spring of 1718 Blackbeard was in command of four pirate ships, and well over 300 men. Teach met his end when a fleet of Royal Navy ships surprised Blackbeard at Ocracoke Inlet in 1718. As a show of victory, the Royal Navy captain decapitated Teach and hung his head on the ships rigging. Although Blackbeard's 'career' lasted only a few years, his fearsome reputation has long outlived him. Bartholomew Roberts with his ship and captured merchant ships. A copper engraving from A History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson c. 1724 Roberts (c.

1680 - 1722) Nicknamed 'Black Barty', Captain Bartholomew Roberts was the pirate captain of a succession of ships - including the Royal Rover, Fortune, Royal Fortune, and Good Fortune - who burned and plundered ships from the coasts of West Africa to the coasts of Brazil and the Caribbean and as far north as Newfoundland. Despite taking to piracy late - after the age of 37 - he quickly rose to captaincy, and his conquests are said to have included more than 400 vessels. He even designed a flag for himself, portraying a giant figure of himself standing, sword in hand, astride two skulls labelled A.B.H. ('a Barbadian's head') and A.M.H. ('a Martinican's head'). Black Barty was finally killed by grapeshot in battle with a pursuing British warship off the Guinea coast of Africa. Captain Cook was killed in a fight with Hawaiians during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779. Cook (1728 - 1779) James Cook was born in a small village in Yorkshire and learnt his trade in small sailing ships.

He later served with the Royal Navy and in 1768 won the appointment of commander of the Endeavour. In the following year Cook was sent on a mission in the Pacific to allow astronomers to record the transit of the planet Venus as it passed in front of the Sun, a rare event that was used to measure the distance of the Sun from the Earth. After calling in on Tahiti to witness this, Cook and his crew charted New Zealand and sailed the east coast of Australia. Cook was a practical seaman, but on his third journey to the Pacific, in command of the Resolution, he did not deal so well with the Hawaiians he encountered and was murdered after the kidnapping of a Hawaiian King and the death of one of their chiefs. Lord Nelson lost an arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife and lost sight in one eye in Corsica. Nelson (1758 - 1805) Born in Norfolk, Horatio Nelson was the sixth of 11 children. He joined the Navy at age 12, and became a captain at age 20. During this time he saw service in the West Indies, Baltic and Canada.

When Britain entered the French Revolutionary Wars it was at the battle of Calvi when he lost the sight in his right eye, and he would later lose his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797. Nelson notoriously fell for Lady Emma Hamilton and although they remained married to others, they had a child, imaginatively called Horatia, in 1801. A legendary strategist, it is perhaps ironic that he never lived to see his greatest victory at Trafalgar; struck by a French sniper's bullet, he died on the first day of battle. Jim, Long John Silver and his Parrot by N.C. Wyeth (1882–1945). Silver (unknown) One of the most famous pirates is a work of fiction. In Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Treasure Island, the character 'Long' John Silver was born. Stevenson describes him thus: "his left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch...hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham".

In the novel Silver was hired by the Squire to be the cook on the Hispaniola. He turns out not to be a cook but a dastardly pirate who is also hunting for Captain Flint's treasure. At the end of the novel Silver manages to hobble off with some of the booty and is never seen again. A sympathetic character, Silver explains his motivation quite eloquently: "being a pirate is all well and good...but once I lost me leg it was never the same. I needed the treasure for me and the wife to get our retirement home in Eastbourne". To boldly go where no man has gone before. Kirk (2233 - 2293/2371) While on the topic of fictional captains... As much as any other figure in history, the tall tales about James Tiberius Kirk's exploits over a 40-year career are second to none. Kirk's renown began by becoming the youngest captain in Starfleet to date at 34 and the first captain to bring his starship back relatively intact after a five-year mission to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Having gained a reputation as a maverick who bucked the system, he famously hung out with a very angry doctor, an unconvincing Scotsman and a bloke with no sense of humour whatsoever. Having been promoted to Admiral, he famously returned to his beloved vessel the Enterprise to complete a few more missions in time for a cup of milky tea and an afternoon nap. Sadly, he perished helping new Captain Jean-Luc Picard save Veridian III from a lunatic known as Dr. Tolian Soran and he is buried in a plain grave on the rocky planet. Admiral Kirk, we salute you! Want More? Sign up to the Yesterday newsletter for more interesting articles and all the latest on our shows... Email Sign up By signing up to our newsletter you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions and confirm you are over 18. Previous newsletters can be viewed within the newsletter archive . HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA Enjoy the Famous Daily Three voyages of Captain Cook: 1768-1779 The voyages of James Cook are the first examples of exploration undertaken on scientific principles.

His first expedition, sailing in the Endeavour from Plymouth in 1768, has a scientific task as its central mission. It is known to the astronomers of the day that in June 1769 the planet Venus will pass directly between the earth and the sun. An international effort is made to time the precise details of this transit, as seen from different parts of the world, in the hope of calculating the earth's distance from the sun. Cook first mission is to sail to Tahiti, set up a telescope for this purpose and take the necessary readings. Cook's second purpose is exploration. He is to continue the search for the supposed southern land, Terra Australis , and he is to chart the coast of the known territory of New Zealand . He has among his passengers scientists of another discipline. The botanists Joseph Banks and his Swedish colleague Daniel Solander are eager to collect specimens of Pacific flora. Cook observes the transit of Venus in the summer of 1769 and then spends the next eighteen months charting the entire coast of New Zealand's two main islands and the east coast of Australia. The Endeavour is back in Britain in July 1771.

The original astronomical purpose proves the least significant part of the voyage (the data proves inadequate for the intended purpose). But Cook's charting of these important coast lines is carried out to a scientific standard previously unattempted. As the first Europeans to visit Australia's congenial eastern coast, the reports of Cook and his distinguished passengers are also instrumental in encouraging the notion of forming British settlements . The prospect of visitors: 18th century By the mid-18th century the inhabitants of Australia probably number about 300,000, spread thinly across the entire continent in an interconnecting pattern of tribal territories. In 1770 newcomers from Europe begin visiting the most temperate and habitable region of the continent, the east coast. Captain Cook , arriving in that year, is the first. In the early 1770s French explorers land on Tasmania. From 1788 Europeans begin to settle. The original Australians acquire the name by which they have subsequently been known - the Aborigines. Their lives are not about to improve.

Proposals for a penal colony: 1779-1786 In 1779 Joseph Banks appears before a committee of the House of Commons in Westminster and suggests that the eastern coast of Australia, which he has visited with Captain Cook nine years earlier, would be an excellent destination for convicted felons transported from Britain. The landscape and the climate are such that a penal colony could survive. Transportation is a political issue of some urgency. In 18th-century England, with a vast divide between rich and poor, the laws protecting property are draconian. Theft on even a quite trivial level is a capital offence. Yet although such laws remain on the statute book, they are widely recognized as being unjust. More than half those condemned to death have their sentences commuted to imprisonment, and the trend is accelerated after a law of 1768 specifically grants judges this option of leniency. As a result Britain's prisons are bursting at the seams. The preferred solution is transportation abroad. The American colonies are ideal for the purpose, and many criminals are shipped there to work as indentured servants and labourers. But after the American Revolution in 1776 this outlet is no longer available.

Australia, as Banks points out, seems a viable alternative. In 1786 parliament resolves to establish a penal colony. Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet: 1787-1788 Arthur Phillip, a naval captain, is given command of the first fleet transporting convicts to Australia. He is also to be governor of the colony of New South Wales. The fleet which sails from Portsmouth in May 1787 consists of eleven ships carrying some 750 convicts (nearly 200 of them women), 400 sailors and 200 marines to keep discipline. By October they are at the Cape of Good Hope , their last contact with civilization. Here they take on board a large number of animals of various kinds for the proposed settlement. On 20 January 1788 they reach their intended destination, Botany Bay. It has been given this enticing name by Cook and Banks , but those expected to settle here find it barren and unprepossessing. On January 21 Phillip sails a few miles north and finds the great natural harbour of Port Jackson. Here he selects an inlet with a good water supply as the site for the new colony.

He names the place Sydney Cove in honour of the home secretary, Viscount Sydney. A prefabricated house of wood and canvas, designed in London for the governor, is erected at the centre of the settlement. Tents are put up for the marines and the convicts, with a separate encampment a little distance away for the women - who are kept on the ships until everything is ready. On February 6 they disembark. After a pep talk from the governor and a religious service there are festivities of celebration. One of the difficulties of this particular colony immdiately becomes apparent. At the inaugural party some of the convicts are caught stealing food. They are flogged, and one of them is banished to a rock in the harbour on a diet of bread and water. The harsh reality is that this community, lacking agricultural skills and accustomed to living by theft, is ill equipped to till the virgin soil and produce food to sustain the colony. By the end of the year the situation seems desperate. It is compounded by deteriorating relations with the native Australians, the Aborigines . Friendly at first, their attitude to the newcomers changes once it seems evident that they intend to stay.

The Second and Third Fleets: 1790-1792 Somehow, under Phillip's leadership, the colony survives the first two desperate years - extending the land under cultivation, building houses and even establishing a second settlement at Parramatta. A turning point comes in June 1790, though it hardly seems so at the time. Three ships, known now as the Second Fleet, arrive in the cove with their human cargo in an appalling state. More than 1000 convicts began the journey outwards from England; only 750 now reach Australia; 500 of these need nursing back to health before they can play their part. However this second fleet also brings a new contingent of great signficance in the early fortunes of the colony. A regiment known as the New South Wales Corps has been formed in London to police and guard the colony. Its officers and their families are on board these ships. These men intend to make a prosperous new life for themselves, and they will prove ruthless in pursuit of their interests. They establish a trading monopoly (with the exclusive right to board visiting ships, buying the cargo for resale on land) and they shamelessly exploit the free labour of the convicts.

Their actions bring frequent conflict with successive governors. But sheep farming, bringing New South Wales its early prosperity, is developed entirely by this group, Australia's first gentry. By the end of 1792, when Phillip sails home after nearly five years as governor, the colony seems well established. It numbers now about 1000 free citizens and twice as many convicts. Families arriving of their own free will are automatically allocated land and convict labour to work it. Comfortable brick houses are being built. The Third Fleet has arrived, bringing out more officers' wives. Social life is developing, with boating parties, picnics and music. The place begins to seem, like the American colonies before it, a convincing outpost of Britain. Soon exploration is being being undertaken along Australia's coastline to discover what other places may be most suitable for settlement. Famous explorer Captain Cook's ship may have been found in Newport, Rhode Island | Public Radio International Famous explorer Captain Cook's ship may have been found in Newport, Rhode Island A replica of Captain Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, sailing off the coast of New Zealand in 1995.

The replica was built in Australia in 1994, where Cook is a national hero. Credit: Reuters Captain James Cook is the Christopher Columbus of Australasia. His voyages of discovery in the 18th Century opened the way for the colonization of the South Seas by Europeans. Player utilities PRI.org <iframe frameborder="0" src="" height="75" width="100%"></iframe> And now Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, may have been found — but not where we might have expected. Marine archaeologists in Rhode Island say there’s an 80 to 100 percent chance they’ve located the wreck, on the ocean floor at the entrance to Newport Harbor. But how did the ship that discovered Botany Bay end up at the bottom of Narragansett Bay? The Endeavour was a ship of the British Royal Navy. Captain Cook sailed with her from England in 1768. His original mission was to sail to Tahiti in the South Pacific, with a team of scientists, to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the sun. It was hoped this astronomical reading would provide vital information for science and navigation.

His other goal was to search for the Terra Australis Incognita — the "unknown southern land." Scientists and philosophers in Europe had assumed since ancient times that there must be a land mass on the other side of the world, to give the planet balance. Cook’s orders can be paraphrased as “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Or, at least, no Englishman. In the 1960s, Cook’s exploits inspired a team of TV writers working on a new series called Star Trek. James Cook: James Kirk. Endeavour: Enterprise. Cook even had a science officer: botanist Joseph Banks. In the 1980s, NASA named a space shuttle the Endeavour — spelt the British way — in honor of Cook. There had been vague sightings of Australia and New Zealand by European sailors before Cook, but no scientific exploration. Cook was the first Westerner to discover the full extent of New Zealand and also the first to discover the east coast of Australia; naming Botany Bay, the future site of Sydney. He also found the Great Barrier Reef by literally running into it.

He also discovered "new life and new civilizations." His science officer documented the marvelous diversity of species of animals and plants in these places, all new to Europeans. And Cook also met whole new cultures of people too. Indigenous peoples had of course been living happily in these places for thousands of years without any help from Europeans. Their descendants do not look on Cook favorably. As the Columbus of Australia and New Zealand, Cook is seen as both hero and villain. Much like Columbus, he was long revered among whites for opening the continent to Europeans. But he is also vilified by indigenous rights advocates, because of the genocide that followed discovery. Cook was also a pioneer of a different kind, in that he believed in using vegetables rich in vitamin-C to combat scurvy – the ancient scourge of sailors. He astonished the nautical world by not losing a single man to scurvy on his three-year voyage. The Endeavour was a type of small ship called a bark. It was launched in England in 1764 as a private merchant ship and was originally called the Earl of Pembroke.

It was purchased by the British Royal Navy in 1768 for Cook’s expedition, and afterwards it remained in the Royal Navy till sold in 1775, just as the American Revolution was breaking out. The Navy reacquired the ship as a transport vessel, and renamed it the Lord Sandwich (sometimes referred to as Lord Sandwich 2 since there was already a vessel of that name in the service). It was used to bring troops and supplies to the US from Britain. For example, it brought 200 Hessian troops to New York in 1776. In 1778, the ship happened to be in Newport, Rhode Island, which was then under British occupation. That was the year that France entered the war on the side of the revolting colonists. A large French expedition sailed in over the horizon, catching the Brits by surprise. As an emergency measure, the British commanders in Newport decided to sink a bunch of transport ships in the entrances to the harbour, to prevent the French warships from sailing in. It worked. The French hesitated, and then a massive storm came up and dispersed their fleet, putting a period to their invasion.

But the British transport ships, including the Lord Sandwich (fromerly known as the Endeavour) could not be salvaged and remain to this day at the bottom of the harbor. From archival research, marine archaeologists know that the Endeavour was sunk in a group of five ships. They now believe that this group of scuttled ships has been located. As for Captain Cook, he made two more voyages of discovery in the South Atlantic and the Pacific. In Hawaii, in 1779, a squabble over a boat led to violence with the inhabitants. Cook and several Marines were killed. While you are here... The work we do has never been more important — whether it’s because of “news” that might not be news at all or healing the deep divides in our country. Now more than ever, we need conversation, perspective and diverse voices. Will you support PRI in our efforts to create a more informed empathetic world? BBC - History - British History in depth: Captain Cook: Explorer, Navigator and Pioneer Print this page The early years The three major voyages of discovery of Captain James Cook provided his European masters with unprecedented information about the Pacific Ocean, and about those who lived on its islands and shores.

His achievements were the more remarkable because of his humble origins in an agricultural labouring family, from Marton, North Yorkshire. ... he intended to go not only 'farther than any man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go'. Cook first went to sea at the age of 18. He spent ten years working in the coal trade of the east coast of England - with its shoreline of treacherous, shifting shoals, uncharted shallows, and difficult harbours. In 1755 he joined the Royal Navy, and within two years passed his master's examination to qualify for the navigation and handling of a royal ship. He gained surveying experience in North American waters during the Seven Years War - as Britain and France fought for supremacy in North America - and spent the first years of peace between 1763 and 1767 charting the fog-shrouded coastline of Newfoundland. During those years he gained a practical training in mathematics and astronomy, and steadily accumulated the technical skills needed to make an effective explorer.

The following years were to show that in addition he possessed those less tangible qualities, of leadership, determination and ambition, which made him the outstanding explorer of the 18th century. As he wrote, he intended to go not only 'farther than any man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go'. Top The first Pacific voyage Cook's first voyage (1768-71) was a collaborative venture under the auspices of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. The original intention was to organise a scientific voyage to observe the transit of the planet Venus from Tahiti, and this was supplemented by instructions to search for the great southern continent, Terra Australis Incognita, whose location had intrigued and baffled European navigators and projectors since the 16th century. Captain Cook's voyage around New Zealand and the east coast of Australia © With Lieutenant Cook (as he was at that time) sailed the botanist Joseph Banks, the astronomer Charles Green, and a small retinue of scientific assistants and artists. Cook's ship, the Endeavour, was a bluff-bowed Whitby collier chosen for her strength, shallow draught, and storage capacity.

Although the ship was to change, the type did not; the Resolution of the second and third voyages was of the same build, and even came from the same shipyard as the Endeavour, to whose qualities, wrote Cook, 'those on board owe their Preservation. Hence I was enabled to prosecute Discoveries in those Seas so much longer than any other Man ever did or could do.' ... Cook had put more than 5,000 miles of previously unknown coastline on the map. Cook sailed first to Tahiti to carry out those astronomical observations that were the initial reason for the voyage, before turning south where, his instructions told him, 'there is reason to imagine that a Continent or Land of great extent, may be found.' After reaching latitude 40°S, without sight of land, he sailed west to New Zealand, whose coasts he charted in a little over six months to show that they were not part of a southern continent. From there Cook pointed the Endeavour towards the unexplored eastern parts of New Holland (the name given by the Dutch to Australia in the 17th century). Cook sailed north along the shores of present-day New South Wales and Queensland, charting as he went.

After a hair-raising escape from the dangers of the Great Barrier Reef he reached the northern tip of Australia at Cape York, where he annexed the east coast on the grounds that it was terra nullius, no person's land. He then sailed through the Torres Strait, so settling the dispute as to whether New Holland and New Guinea were joined. With only one ship Cook had put more than 5,000 miles of previously unknown coastline on the map. The twin islands of New Zealand, the east coast of Australia and the Torres Strait had at last emerged from the mists of uncertainty. Top The second Pacific voyage Cook's second voyage (1772-75) was the logical complement to what had been explored, and left unexplored, on his first. Again there were scientists and artists on board, and for the first time chronometers, one of which was Kendall's copy of John Harrison's famous no. 4 marine chronometer. This superb instrument kept accurate time throughout the buffeting it endured on the long voyage, showing that a practical solution to the problem of determining longitude at sea had been found.

In his three years away, the newly-promoted Captain Cook disposed of the imagined southern continent, reached closer to the South Pole than any previous navigator, and touched on many lands - Tahiti and New Zealand again, and for the first time Easter Island, the Marquesas Islands, Tonga and the New Hebrides. ... on his two voyages he had laid down the essentials of the modern map of the South Pacific. Most of these places had been sighted by explorers on earlier expeditions, so that even by conventional definitions Cook did not 'discover' them for Europe. His contribution was to bring order to confusion, to replace vagueness and uncertainty with a scrupulous accuracy. He had, he explained, put an end to the search for the great southern continent, 'which has at time ingrossed the attention of some of the Maritime Powers for near two Centuries past and the Geographers of all ages.' But his achievement was more than this, for on his two voyages he had laid down the essentials of the modern map of the South Pacific. Top The third Pacific voyage On his return from his second voyage, Cook found that his fame had spread beyond naval circles.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and awarded its Copley Gold Medal, was painted by Nathaniel Dance, dined with James Boswell, and was described in the House of Lords as 'the first navigator in Europe'. Brief thoughts of retirement were replaced by a determination to return to the Pacific. Cook's third and final voyage (1776-80) had its own logic in that it took him to the North Pacific in an effort to solve a geographical mystery as old as the southern continent - the question of the existence of a navigable north west passage. ... in a single season Cook put the main outline of the coast of north west America on the maps ... As he approached the north west coast of America in 1778, Cook made the major discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, the northernmost outliers of Polynesia. He spent that summer in hazardous exploration along the American coast from Vancouver Island to the Bering Strait, searching in vain for the wide strait leading to an ice-free Arctic Ocean, as indicated on the speculative maps of the period.

Although he found no north west passage, in a single season Cook put the main outline of the coast of north west America on the maps, determined the shape of Alaska well beyond the Bering Strait, and closed the gap between the Spanish coastal probes from the south and those of the Russians from Kamchatka. Did one of Cook's temper tantrums seal his fate? © It was to be his last achievement, for the following winter he was killed on his return to the Hawaiian Islands. His death at Kealakekua Bay on 14 February 1779 has remained a source of scholarly controversy. During the weeks after his arrival Cook seems to have been regarded by the Hawaiians as the god Lono, bringer of light, peace and plenty, for he had arrived at the time of makahiki, Lono's festival. Cook continued to conform to the sacred calendar of the islanders by sailing away from Hawaii as makahiki came to an end. However, the Resolution got damaged at sea, so that Cook was forced to return to the bay to repair his ship out of the correct season, thus making himself a violator of sacred customs.

It was noted that there was an eerie atmosphere among the islanders following his return, and Cook's death after an argument on the beach was predictable if not preordained. Not all accept this interpretation. Some scholars see Cook's 'deification' as the product of a Western, imperialist tradition, and they explain his death as being the result of a row caused by one of his uncontrollable outbursts of temper, which had become increasingly noticeable during the voyage. Top Consequences The circumstances of Cook's death were a reminder that one of his tasks was 'to observe the Genius, Temper, Disposition and Number of the Natives'. This was easier said than done, for successive migrations across the Pacific had left societies organised in overlapping layers and groups, and the strained nature of the contact between Europeans and non-Europeans made understanding between them all the more difficult. ... the coming of venereal disease, alcohol and firearms brought a depressing train of consequences to the islands. Cook and his fellow navigators of the period were for the most part humane and moderate commanders. Even so, the Europeans were intruders, emerging by the score from their towering vessels, appearing and disappearing without warning, violating sacred sites.

An inescapable tension hung over the encounters, sometimes dissipated by individual contacts or trade, but often erupting into violence and death. Although the relationship between Polynesians and Europeans was not the one-sided affair of some portrayals, in the longer term the coming of venereal disease, alcohol and firearms brought a depressing train of consequences to the islands. Cook set new standards in the extent and accuracy of his surveys, but to see his voyages simply in terms of geographical knowledge would be to miss their broader significance. The observations of Cook and his colleagues played an important role in natural history, astronomy, oceanography, philology and much else. Above all, the voyages helped to give birth in the next century to the new disciplines of ethnology and anthropology. In practical ways, too, Cook set new standards, especially in terms of health. There were no recorded deaths from scurvy on any of his voyages, and few from natural causes generally - except during the Endeavour's disastrous stay at Batavia in 1770, when 30 members of the crew, who had been remarkably healthy until then, died of fever and dysentery.

Specialists have corrected the popular view that Cook discovered the cure for scurvy - rather he applied with unusual thoroughness all suggested remedies. He ensured cleanliness and ventilation in the crew's quarters, and insisted on an appropriate diet that included cress, sauerkraut, and a kind of orange extract. Even so, his epitaph in a medical journal claimed that Cook's success in keeping his crews alive 'added more to his fame, and is supposed to have given a more useful lesson to maritime nations, than all the discoveries he ever made'. James Cook - Military Leader, Explorer - Biography.com Famous People Who Died in United States Synopsis Born on October 27, 1728, in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England, James Cook was a naval captain, navigator and explorer who, in 1770, discovered and charted New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia on his ship HMB Endeavour. He later disproved the existence of Terra Australis, a fabled southern continent. Cook's voyages helped guide generations of explorers, and provided the first accurate map of the Pacific. He died on February 14, 1779, in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii.

Early Life and Career James Cook was born in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England, on October 27, 1728, the son of a Scottish farmhand. As a teenager, Cook did farming work alongside his father until, at the age of 18, he was offered an apprenticeship by a Quaker shipowner in a small seaside village near Whitby, England. The experience proved to be fortuitous for the future naval officer and explorer, bringing him in contact with both the ocean and ships along the port. Naval Officer, Navigator and Explorer Cook eventually joined the British Navy and, at age 29, was promoted to ship's master. During the Seven Years War (1756-63), he commanded a captured ship for the Royal Navy. In 1768, he took command of the first scientific expedition to the Pacific. In 1770, on his ship the HMB Endeavour, Cook discovered and charted New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia—since credited as one of the world's most dangerous areas to navigate. After his return to England, Cook was chosen to circumnavigate and explore Antarctica.

On this voyage, he charted present-day Tonga, Easter Island, New Caledonia, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia, and disproved the existence of Terra Australis, a fabled southern continent. (Cook named the Hawaiian Islands the Sandwich Islands after the Earl of Sandwich, also known as John Montagu.) Later Years and Legacy During all his voyages, James Cook successfully fought scurvy (a deadly disease caused by vitamin deficiency) by feeding his crew a diet that included watercress, sauerkraut and orange extract. He died in a skirmish with islanders during a winter layover in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, on February 14, 1779. Today, Cook's voyages are credited with helping to guide generations of explorers, as well as with providing the first accurate map of the Pacific, and many believe that he did more to fill the map of the world than any other explorer in history. Related Videos Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

Citation Information 10 Things You May Not Know About Captain James Cook - History in the Headlines 10 Things You May Not Know About Captain James Cook April 29, 2015 By Evan Andrews Share this: 10 Things You May Not Know About Captain James Cook Author 10 Things You May Not Know About Captain James Cook URL Google On April 29, 1770, the British HM Bark Endeavor became the first European vessel to reach the east coast of Australia after it landed at Botany Bay near modern day Sydney. At the helm was James Cook, a taciturn mariner who would go on to circumnavigate the globe twice and explore everything from the Bering Strait and the islands of the South Pacific to the treacherous ice floes surrounding Antarctica. Cook’s three voyages of discovery helped fill in many of the blank spots on Europeans’ world maps, but his mistreatment of natives in Hawaii eventually led to an untimely death. Two hundred forty-five years after he landed in Australia, learn 10 surprising facts about the explorer who vowed to sail “as far as I think it possible for man to go.” 1. Cook joined the Royal Navy relatively late in life.

Cook worked on a Yorkshire farm in his youth before winning an apprenticeship with a merchant sailing company at age 17. He cut his teeth as a mariner on shipping voyages in the choppy waters of North and Baltic Seas, and spent the next decade rising through the ranks and mastering the art of navigation. He was being groomed to become a captain, but in 1755, he shocked his superiors by quitting his merchant sailing career and enlisting in the British Royal Navy as a common seaman. Cook was 26—far older than most new recruits—yet it didn’t take long for the Navy to recognize his talent. He was promoted to ship’s master in only two years, and later became one of the first men in British naval history to rise through the enlisted ranks and take command of his own vessel. 2. He was an expert mapmaker. Cook first rose to prominence as a cartographer during the Seven Years’ War, when his detailed charts of the Saint Lawrence River helped the British pull off a surprise attack against French-held Quebec. In the early 1760s, he was given a ship and tasked with charting the island of Newfoundland off the coast of Canada.

The map he produced was so accurate that it was still in use in the 20th century. Cook’s skill at charting the seas would later become a crucial tool in his explorer’s arsenal. He won command of his first round-the-world voyage in part because he could be trusted to navigate in uncharted territory and bring home precise maps of the lands he discovered. Cook landing at Botany Bay. 3. Cook’s first voyage included a secret mission from the British government. Cook’s career as an explorer began in August 1768, when he left England on HM Bark Endeavour with nearly 100 crewmen in tow. Their journey was ostensibly a scientific expedition—they were charged with sailing to Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus across the face of the sun—but it also had a hidden military agenda. Cook carried sealed orders instructing him to seek out the “Great Southern Continent,” an undiscovered landmass that was believed to lurk somewhere near the bottom of the globe. The explorer followed orders and sailed south to the 40th parallel, but found no evidence of the fabled continent. He then turned west and circled New Zealand, proving it was a pair of islands and not connected to a larger landmass.

Cook would later resume his search for the Southern Continent during his second circumnavigation of the globe in the early 1770s, and came tantalizingly close to sighting Antarctica before pack ice forced him to turn back. 4. His ship Endeavour nearly sank on the Great Barrier Reef. After landing in Australia during his first voyage, Cook pointed his ship north and headed for the Dutch seaport of Batavia. Because he was in unmapped territory, he had no idea he was sailing directly into the razor-sharp coral formations of the Great Barrier Reef. On June 11, 1770, his ship Endeavour slammed into a coral reef and began taking on water, endangering both his crew and his priceless charts of his Pacific discoveries. Cook’s men frantically pumped water out of the holds and threw cannons and other equipment overboard to lighten the ship’s weight. They even used an old sail to try and plug a hole in their hull. After more than 20 desperate hours, they finally stopped the leak and limped toward the Australian coast. It would take Cook nearly two months of repairs to make his ship seaworthy again. Painting showing Cook’s ships Resolution and Adventure in Tahiti. 5.

Cook helped pioneer new methods for warding off scurvy. In the 18th century, the specter of scurvy—a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C—loomed over every long distance sea voyage. Cook, however, managed to keep all three of his expeditions nearly scurvy-free. This was partially because of his obsession with procuring fresh food at each of his stops, but many have also credited his good fortune to an unlikely source: sauerkraut. While Cook didn’t know the cure or cause of scurvy, he did know that the nutrient-rich pickled cabbage seemed to keep the disease at bay, so he brought several tons of it on his voyages. His only problem was getting his crew to eat it. To trick them, Cook simply had sauerkraut “dressed every day” for the officers’ table. When the enlisted men saw their superiors eating it, they assumed it was a delicacy and requested some for themselves. 6. Even Britain’s enemies respected Cook. While Cook’s journeys took place during a time when Britain was variously at war with the United States, Spain and France, his reputation as a pioneering explorer allowed him to travel the seas with relative impunity.

In July 1772, a squadron of Spanish vessels briefly detained his ships, only to release them after they realized Cook in command. Likewise, when Cook’s third voyage set sail during the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin wrote a memo to colonial ship captains instructing them to treat the British vessels as “common friends to mankind” if they encountered them at sea. 7. He searched for the Northwest Passage. In 1776, a 47-year-old Cook set sail on his third voyage of discovery—this time a search for the elusive Northwest Passage in the Arctic. After traveling halfway around the world, he led the ships HMS Resolution and Discovery on a perilous survey of the upper coasts of western Canada and Alaska. Cook came within 50 miles of the western entrance to the passage, but his attempts to locate it were ultimately thwarted by freezing weather, violent currents and heavy ice floes in the Bering Sea. When the extreme conditions drove his crew to the brink of mutiny, Cook reluctantly turned south for the summer. He would die before he had a chance to resume his search. Painting depicting Cook's death in Hawaii. 8. Natives mistook him for a god when he landed in the Hawaiian Islands.

During Cook’s third voyage, he became the first European to set foot on Hawaii, which he called the “Sandwich Islands” after his patron the Earl of Sandwich. Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay celebrated Cook’s January 1779 landing with joyous celebrations, and for good reason: by some strange coincidence, the explorer’s arrival coincided with an annual festival honoring the Hawaiian fertility god Lono. Since the natives had never seen white men or massive sailing ships like Cook’s, they assumed he was their deity and lavished him with feasts and gifts. The Europeans responded by greedily stripping Kealakekua of food and supplies, but when one of Cook’s sailors died from a stroke, the natives realized the strangely dressed Europeans weren’t immortals after all. From then on, Cook’s relationship with the Hawaiians became increasingly strained. 9. He suffered a grisly death. While docked for repairs in Hawaii in February 1779, Cook became enraged after a group of natives stole a cutter ship from one of his boats. He went ashore and tried to take King Kalani‘ōpu‘u hostage, but the Hawaiians feared their leader would be killed and swarmed to his aid.

When Cook’s ship Discovery fired its cannons at another group of Hawaiians, the explorer panicked and discharged a rifle before fleeing to a waiting boat. He didn’t get far before he was pelted by stones and struck by a club. A Hawaiian warrior then brandished a knife—a gift from Cook—and plunged it into his back. Cook fell into the surf and was repeatedly stabbed and bashed with rocks. After he perished, the Hawaiians ritualistically prepared his corpse as they would that of a king. They preserved his hands in sea salt, then roasted the rest of his body in a pit before cleaning his bones. 10. NASA named spacecraft after his ships. Cook explored and mapped more territory than any navigator of his era, and his achievements later saw him honored by NASA. Cook’s HMS Discovery was one of several historical vessels that inspired the name of the third space shuttle, and NASA later named their final shuttle “Endeavour” after the ship he commanded on his first circumnavigation of the globe. When the shuttle Discovery made its final space flight in 2011, its crew carried a special medallion made by the Royal Society in honor of Cook. Tags

Question: What was the first name of the famous 18th century British sailor and explorer, Captain Cook?
Answer: JAMES