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#OTD James Cook entered the #RoyalNavy as an Able Seaman in HMS EAGLE.
Things You May Not Know About Captain James Cook
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
Things You May Not Know About Captain James Cook
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 (which back then, was considered as pretty old)
2) He was an expert mapmaker.
Cook first rose to prominence as a cartographer during the
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 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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
