Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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 ...

, FRS, RN (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Cook made detailed maps of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

prior to making three voyages to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, during which he achieved the first recorded European discovery of eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and undertook the first circumnavigation of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. During his long career he served on a number of British ships.

Life

Cook served his early career in the merchant fleet mostly on colliers. The ships he sailed on were: * ''Freelove'' a collier where Cook served as an apprentice from 26 February 1746 to 22 April 1748. * ''Three Brothers'' he served as apprentice from 14 June 1748 to 8 December 1749. * ''Mary of Whitby'' where he was a seaman from 8 February 1750 to 5 December 1750. * ''Three sisters'' with the rank of seaman from 19 February 1751 to 30 July 1751. * ''Friendship'' serving as a seaman from 31 July 1751 to 14 June 1755.

Royal Navy career

In 1755 he joined the

, and served on: * ,Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. . * * Colledge, J. J. ; Warlow, Ben (2006) 969 Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.).

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

: Chatham Publishing. . OCLC 67375475.

Command career

All four ships were ex-colliers purchased by the Royal Navy as research vessels. * , the only vessel on Cook's First Voyage. Not a ship but a barque. His rank was

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. * Sailed on Cook's Second Voyage, captained by Tobias Furneaux. * The support vessel on the Third Voyage. The smallest of Cook's Pacific ships * Cook sailed in her twice, but with different escort vessels. His rank was

Life

Royal Navy career

Command career

References

Further reading