FAMOUS SEAFARERS AND EXPLORERS
Captain James Cook
Nationality: English. Born in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire Oct. 27, 1728,
Years of exploration: Cook is the odd one out as all the other seafarers on this project are in the Tudor period and Cook sailed in the reign of King George III.
He explored the coast of Canada and the St. Lawrence River 1759, 1763-67
He made three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean 1768-71; 1772-75; 1776-79
Countries discovered: He mapped Tahiti and New Zealand but he did not discover them. He landed on Australia and claimed it for Britain. All these countries had already been discovered by Dutch sailors in the 1600s, mainly Abel Tasman.
Captain Cook discovered New Caledonia and the South Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in the Pacific and South Georgia Island in the Atlantic. He mapped Easter Island, and the Marquesas and Tonga Islands.
He tried to find the Terra Australis or Antarctica but didn't sail far enough south.
Names of ships: HMS "Pembroke" and the schooner "Grenville" in 1759 and 1763-67.
A Whitby coal-hauling bark renamed HMS "Endeavour" in 1768-71.
The "Resolution" and the "Adventure" in 1772-75.
The "Resolution" and another Whitby ship, the "Discovery" in 1776-79.
Portrait of Cook:
Any other information: The water between the two islands of New Zealand is named after him - Cook Strait. His expeditions set a very high standard of survey work, map making, charting the seas, tides and currents, and other scientific research like watching Venus eclipsing the sun on his first Pacific voyage.
He made a detailed survey and a map of the east coast of Australia and he gave New South Wales and Botany Bay their names.
Cook also solved the problem of scurvy by ensuring cleanliness and proper ventilation in the crew's quarters and a diet that included cress, sauerkraut, and a kind of orange extract. In all his voyages none of his sailors died of scurvy and he was given a medal by the Royal Society, the gold Copley Medal, for a paper that he wrote on his work against scurvy.
He died on Feb. 14, 1779 in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, killed in a fight with islanders over a stolen boat.