There will always be those who courageously sail the ocean of life to discover and explore new paths, because the human spirit is restless and always strives for higher and better. “To go as far as possible for a man to go. Reach further than any man before me…”, these are the words of Captain Cook.
After the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1521, a race began among the Spaniards, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English to discover new lands believed to be mines of unimaginable wealth. Three names are crucial for maritime discoveries in the Pacific Ocean: Magellan, who showed the way, Tasman, who established the existence of New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania, and Cook, who accurately recorded the discoveries of previous explorers and added many of his own.
Captain Cook was born in the village of Marton, in the county of Yorkshire, on October 27, 1728, as one of seven children. His parents were uneducated but hardworking, honest, and modest people who strove for a better life.
But that’s how to raise your children as well. At the age of seventeen, James becomes a trading assistant in a nearby town. After a year and a half spent in the store, he gets a job at the shipping company Walker and sets off to sea as a coal ship boy, on a ship of five hundred tons. By then, he had already grown into a strong, broad-shouldered young man. Reserved, silent, and humble, but reliable and precise in following orders, at the age of twenty-three, he was promoted to an officer in the merchant navy. While working for the Walkers, Cook dedicated himself to learning with great diligence, primarily mathematics and maritime navigation. He perfected navigation on voyages along the treacherous shores of the North Sea, which claimed a high toll in ships and lives every year.
After eight years at sea, he was offered a position as a captain on a three-masted sailing ship. It was a great recognition that opened up prospects for advancement, but instead of accepting it, Cook applied to the Royal Navy, where he started as a senior sailor. B He was convinced that the Royal Navy could offer him much more than trading. And indeed, the Royal Navy will change his life.
The colonial war breaking out between England and France in North America in 1756 was a long-awaited opportunity for Cook. At that time, advancing in the navy was not easy, but Great Britain was lacking experienced sailors due to the war. The knowledge of navigation and cartography that Cook had acquired over the past years, tirelessly learning in the damp and uncomfortable cabin of a collier, paid off.
His first major task was to explore and map long sections of the St. Lawrence River as part of the attack on Quebec. His exceptional knowledge of cartographic skills earned him the title of chief cartographer.
Soon after the end of the war, he returns to London and gets married. He will have six children, all of whom will end tragically.
Some time later, he is again hired to reconstruct and re-mark the shores of Newfoundland as a respected cartographer and skilled mathematician. He harmonized maps and conducted various mathematical and astronomical research, thereby becoming an increasingly influential name in navigation circles.
Royal Expeditions
The announcement by astronomers that a rare astronomical event – the transit of Venus across the Sun – would occur on June 3, 1769, was the reason for the Royal Society to send an expedition to the Pacific Ocean, where this phenomenon could be best observed. However, there was another motive that prompted the Royal Society: the exploration of the Pacific Ocean and the search for the great southern continent known as Terra Australis incognita by medieval cartographers, mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
The question arose as to who would lead the expedition. As the Royal Society was familiar with Cook’s cartographic work, his excellent navigational skills, and his interest in astronomy, James Cook was a logical choice. It also worked in his favor that he had already sailed across the Atlantic several times on a small ship without experiencing any incidents. The only misfortune.
Cook was forty years old at that time and it was an opportunity he had been waiting for his whole life. On his first “royal” journey, he set sail in August 1768 from Plymouth. There were a total of 94 people on board a ship called the Endeavour: sailors and officers, servants, botanists, astronomers, and artists.
The experience gained from sailing on colliers allowed him to assess that a ship of this type would be most suitable for this kind of voyage. These ships of Norwegian or Danish origin were extremely sturdy, had large cargo space and shallow draught. They were very slow, but could carry a large amount of food necessary for long journeys. However, the quantity of food was not the problem at the time, but rather its quality and storage conditions. As scurvy, the main cause of illness and death during long voyages, occurred due to a lack of vitamin C in the diet, Cook paid special attention to supplying food rich in this precious vitamin. He stocked the ship with supplies of sauerkraut, canned soup, and malt were reduced. In addition, the crew had to adhere to high hygiene standards. Thanks to Cook’s masterful command, they arrived safely and on time in Tahiti. The astronomers conducted their observations, botanist Joseph Banks and his assistants collected data on the local flora, while Cook himself sailed around the entire island in a small boat and accurately charted it, as well as the other islands in the Society Islands group. After that, he set out in search of the mythical “South Land”. He sailed to 40° south latitude but dared not go further due to the presence of icebergs. Afterward, he headed west in search of the coasts of New Zealand, which no one had reached since Tasman. New Zealand impressed Cook: pleasant climate, beautiful landscapes, perfect bays, and fish-filled shores left him convinced that everything needed for a quality life for Europeans would grow and thrive there. The journey continued northward along the unknown eastern coastline. the coast of Australia. In doing so, he discovers a suitable bay for anchoring and drops anchor for the crew to rest. They find a multitude of unknown plants in the bay, so they name it Botany Bay. Upon returning to England, he recommends it to the authorities for the establishment of a colony. The first settlers will consist of 800 convicts and 300 soldiers.
Soon after, a plan for a second expedition appears, which, of course, was entrusted to Cook once again. This time, two ships were equipped: a larger one, the Resolution, under Cook’s command, and a smaller one, the Adventure, which served as an escort. The journey begins on July 13, 1772, after only one year spent at home. His goal was to continue the search for the Southern Land. Sailing from the Cape of Good Hope towards. In the south, after seventeen days, he saw ice floes in front of him that prevented further navigation by the vessels. He sent people in the boats to explore the route, but due to heavy fog and cold, the boat crews quickly returned to the ship. Both ships continued to sail in the Antarctic region for some time, trying to get as close as possible to the South Pole. However, after an unsuccessful search for land in the south, they finally set sail for New Zealand. They spent 117 days at sea and covered almost 11,000 miles before docking on the shores of New Zealand, without seeing any land. In his diary, Cook expresses great satisfaction that only one crew member died from scurvy.
Before leaving New Zealand, Cook unloaded several domestic animals there, planted grains and legumes, planted potatoes, and, according to local customs, donated axes and various tools to establish good relations with the indigenous population. They then sailed to Tahiti, and after visiting the Society Islands again, they sailed into the Southern Ice Sea. . Severe weather conditions and poor nutrition caused them a lot of worry. This led the determined Cook to temporarily give up on his intention and return to Tahiti, from where he set out on further voyages.
He discovers New Caledonia and the New Hebrides – a group of islands in the Coral Sea east of Australia. Then he returns to New Zealand once again to allow the crew to rest and replenish their supplies with fresh provisions. Finally, they arrive home in July 1775. Out of the 119 people who embarked on the journey with Cook, only four perished, which was quite a success considering that the average mortality rate on such voyages could be higher than thirty percent.
After returning from his second voyage in 1775, Cook becomes a member of the Royal Society. He is rewarded with a medal for his scientific achievements. He only stays at home for one year before deciding to embark on his third and final journey, from which he never returned. This time, as stated in his ship’s journal entry: “… it was necessary to…” He set off for the southern shores of the Pacific Ocean and then onwards to the North American and Asian coasts to explore the possibility of a northern passage to Europe. His journey began on July 12, 1776, and ended on February 14, 1779.
Namely, for trade with the East, ships had to take a long and circuitous route around Africa, so it was believed that Captain Cook could best solve this problem. He sailed again on the ship Resolution, and this time he was accompanied by the ship Discovery. The most important result of this third voyage was the discovery of the Sandwich Islands, later renamed the Hawaiian Islands. The crew received a warm and cheerful welcome there and stayed for several weeks to familiarize themselves with the local conditions and circumstances. After a week, they sailed north to discover whether there was a passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the north of the American continent. They circumnavigated the Alaska Peninsula, and on August 9, they reached the westernmost point of North America, Cape Prince of Wales, and thus the entrance to the Bering Strait. As the icebergs blocked the passage, Cook was forced to turn back and wait until winter passed. He returned to the Hawaiian Islands to take advantage of the time for more detailed studies, but this return was fatal. On February 14, 1779, a conflict broke out between the natives and the crew due to a theft. In this conflict, Cook was mortally wounded.
Captain King, who continued Cook’s diary after his death, wrote: “If it is true that soldiers and other crew members fired without his orders and that he, as some of the witnesses of the clash claim, wanted to prevent bloodshed, then he probably became a victim of his compassion. Thus, a great man who led our expedition died. If we consider the fame he gained with his extraordinary and successfully executed endeavors, it cannot be said that he died too soon. But I will not even attempt to depict the horror and universal astonishment that this unfortunate and completely unforeseen event caused among all of us.” The ships returned. On August 22, 1780, after more than four years, with flags at half-mast in England.
Throughout his expeditions, Cook accurately and vividly recorded his experiences and events, which are the main source of information about what he saw and experienced on his travels around the world. These ship logs also portray the author himself very well: his iron will and discipline, perseverance, care for others, generosity, and tolerance, not only towards his crew, but also towards the island nations he came into contact with.
Cook thoroughly explored the vast seas of half the globe and set new standards in long voyages, navigation, cartography, and exploration. It can be said that he peacefully changed the map of the world more than any other person in history.
In the end, Captain Cook is perhaps best described by the words of an English professor: “… Pay attention to the names of the ships he sailed on and perhaps you will understand the man…” The names of the ships were: “Endeavour”, “Determination,” “Endeavour,” “Adventure,” and “Discovery” are synonymous terms.