Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa (July 17, 1750 – May 24, 1820) was a Spanish naval officer and explorer from Galicia serving the Spanish crown. He was born in 1750 at San Adrián de Corme (Corme Aldea, Ponteceso), near A Coruña,

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

1775 voyage

Mourelle served the Spanish navy in the Guyanas, Trinidad, and the Antilles before becoming stationed at New Spain's Pacific Ocean naval base at San Blas, Mexico in 1774. He joined the 1775 expedition of Bruno de Heceta and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, serving as Quadra's pilot on the schooner ''Sonora''. On July 29, at around 49 degrees north latitude, the ''Sonora'' became separated from Heceta's ship ''Santiago''. Heceta soon returned south while Quadra and Mourelle continued north, eventually reaching 58 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. They found and anchored in Bucareli Bay. Then they sailed south, arriving at

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

, on October 7, and San Blas on November 20, 1775. Mourelle's journal was somehow taken clandestinely to London, where it was translated and published. Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

made use of the information in Mourelle's journal during his travels in the Pacific Northwest.

1779 voyage

Mourelle again served as the pilot of Quadra, and second in command of the ship ''Favorita'', during the 1779 expedition commanded by

Ignacio de Arteaga Ignacio is a male Spanish and Galician name originating either from the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning born from the fire, of Etruscan origin, or from the Latin name "Ignatius" from the word "Ignis" meaning "fire". This was the name of sev ...

. Leaving San Blas on February 11, 1779, the expedition reached 61 degrees north and Hinchinbrook Island at the head of the Gulf of Alaska. From there they sailed southwest along the Kenai Peninsula. The ships returned to San Blas on November 21, 1779.

Later career

During his service at San Blas, Mourelle traveled extensively throughout the Pacific Ocean. From 1781-1781 on the ''La Princessa'', he attempted to find a southern route from the Philippines to Mexico, mapping 29 of the 50 islands in the Hermit Islands, Ninigo Islands and

Tench Island Tench Island, also known as Nusi Island, is a small (55 ha), low-lying (17 m maximum height above sea level), coral island in the St Matthias Islands group in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Administratively, it is part of N ...

in New Guinea, and

Ontong Java Ontong Java Atoll or Luangiua, (formerly ''Lord Howe Atoll'', not to be confused with Lord Howe Island) is one of the largest atolls on earth. Geographically it belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby Nukumanu Atol ...

in the same latitude as Solomon Islands. He visited Tonga and travelled through the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu). Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) identify Niutao as the island that Mourelle named on May 5, 1781, thus solving what Europeans had called ''The Mystery of Gran Cocal''. Due to contrary winds, he returned via Guam and took the northern route across the Pacific to Mexico. He was also familiar with the Philippines and

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Mourelle was to command the '' Mexicana'' for a 1792 voyage to explore the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

but Alessandro Malaspina had one of his own officers, Cayetano Valdés, placed in command of the ''Mexicana''. Dionisio Alcalá Galiano commanded the '' Sutil'', the twin companion of the ''Mexicana''. Mourelle was transferred to Spain in 1793. He was promoted to frigate captain in the same year as the

action of 19 January 1799 The action of 19 January 1799 was a minor naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars fought in waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, off Punta Europa. A Spanish squadron of 14 gunboats with a mistico as flagship, commanded by Francisco Mourel ...

where he took a leading role. He became ship's captain in 1806, and commodore in 1811. He commanded a squadron in 1818 that was to put down a rebellion in the Rio de la Plata, but the endeavor never got underway. Mourelle died on May 24, 1820, at the age of 69.

Legacy

Maurelle Island in the Discovery Islands of the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada, was named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mourelle, Francisco Antonio Explorers of British Columbia Spanish explorers of North America Explorers of New Guinea Spanish history in the Pacific Northwest Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 18th-century explorers 18th-century Spanish people 19th-century Spanish people 1750 births 1820 deaths Explorers of Alaska People from Bergantiños