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Captain James Cook - the famous English navigator, was born in the village of Marton-in-Cleveland in the North Riding of Yorkshire on October 27, 1728. A self-educated son of a farm laborer, at the age of eighteen he took his first voyage as an apprentice aboard the collier Freelove. He learned seamanship and navigation working in the coal trade, the so-called "nursery of seamen." In 1755 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman aboard the 60-gun ship Eagle and was sent to the American coast. While charting the coast of Newfoundland Cook mastered the skills, which would earn him his fame later in life.Edmund Halley, an astronomer, predicted that on June 3, 1769, the planet Venus would cross in front of the sun. When this happened the distance from the Sun to the Earth could be calculated by timing the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun. The Royal Geographic Society had proposed that observers should be sent to an island in the Pacific Ocean for further study and better calculation of this distance. James Cook was put forward by the Royal Geographic Society and accepted by the Admiralty to command the mission. Cook led the expedition with his new ship, the Endeavour. Endeavour left Plymouth on 25 August 1768, called at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro and, after rounding Cape Horn, reached Tahiti on 10 April 1769. The transit of Venus was duly recorded on 3 June 1769 and Cook soon began the second part of the voyage. He searched for, and proved, that there was no continent to the south and west of Tahiti, discovered the east coast of New Zealand and charted its coasts, discovered the strait which separates the both islands and named it Cook's Strait, also discovered and charted the east coast of Australia and declared the continent as an English property. In 1771 he returned to England. As the first voyage didn't prove the existence of the Southern Continent, a second voyage was planned, to find or disprove the existence of the Continent, Terra australis incognita, and make whatever other discoveries were to be had South Pacific. The ships Resolution and Adventure left Plymouth on July 13, 1772. The second voyage serves to demonstrate the caliber of seaman that Cook was. The voyage lasted three years and eighteen days- 112 officers and men aboard the wooden ship sailing into the stormiest seas on earth; through uncharted, pack ice filled southern latitudes as high as 71?. Heading south, the two ships met a fierce storm and were separated from each other. Nevertheless, Cook kept sailing south on November 27. He again reached the ice pack in mid-December, and continued his search for a way through to the south. Cook now thought for sure that this ice-mass went south all the way to the Pole, or maybe it joined some piece of land unfound by Europeans. He discovered many of the Tuamoutu Islands, Society Islands, Tonga, and Fiji Islands until reaching what he named the New Hebrides (Vanuatu). From here he sailed south and found New Caledonia. He returned to Plymouth in July 1775. In the summer of 1776 Cook sailed again in the well-traveled Resolution. A new sister ship, the Discovery, and its captain, Clerke, were to look for the approach from the East. Cook made his usual stop at New Zealand and confirmed the location of his Kerguelen Island while there. From Tahiti he sailed north, discovering the Cook Islands. He discovered Christmas Island and some of the smaller Hawaiian Islands. He eventually rounded the tip of the Alaskan Peninsula, through the Bering Strait and into the Arctic Ocean where he was met at every turn by ice. After spending as much time as possible with the ice, Cook turned southward at 70 degrees 44 minutes north to replenish and repair for the next spring. Cook named the islands they would be staying at in honor of one of his friends, John Montague, the Earl of Sandwich. He came back to Kealakekua Bay to repair the ship. Upon his out of season return there seems to have been a shift in the behavior of the Hawaiians- incidents of mischief and theft became much worse than before. A cutter was stolen and Cook went to the island to take it back. But one of the marines fired and accidentally killed the High Chef, so the Hawaiians rose to attack. Cook and four marines were dead, February 14, 1779. © 2003 by HotelsOffer.com All rights reserved. You can use and copy any information from this page, but the reference to our website is mandatory. |
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