Cultural Object

H.M.S. Adventure (1770 - 1811)

Royal Navy

From
1770
To
1811
Functions
Maritime exploration and Ship
Alternative Names
  • Adventure, H.M.S. (Also known as)

Summary

H.M.S. Adventure was a barque built in Whitby in 1770 and operated as the collier Marquis of Rockingham. In 1771 she was purchased by the Royal Navy and renamed Adventure. She sailed under the command of Tobias Furneaux in 1772 in company with H.M.S. Resolution. The expedition was commanded by James Cook on his second voyage of exploration, this time in Subantarctic regions and the Pacific Ocean. William Bayly was appointed astronomer in Adventure. After sailing in Subantarctic waters, and crossing the Antarctic Circle for the first time in January 1773, the two ships headed for Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand. En route, Furneaux surveyed the east coast of Van Diemen's Land. Between May and October the expedition explored the south Pacific but the ships were separated in a storm. Adventure missed the designated meeting point in Queen Charlotte Sound. Furneaux decided to return to the United Kingdom, arriving at Deptford on 14 July 1774. Adventure was subsequently used as a store ship, and ultimately sold by the Navy in 1783. Retaining the name Adventure, she continued as a merchant ship and some-time whaler until she was wrecked in the Saint Lawrence River in 1811.

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Details

Chronology

13 July 1772
Event - Departed from Plymouth, United Kingdom
8 February 1773
Event - Became separated from H.M.S. Resolution in fog
17 May 1773
Event - Rendezvoused with Resolution in Queen Charlotte Sound
14 July 1774
Event - Arrived at Deptford, United Kingdom

Related Cultural Objects

Related People

Published resources

Books

  • Baines, Stephen, Captain Cook's merchant ships: Freelove, Three Brothers, Mary, Friendship, Endeavour, Adventure, Resolution and Discovery (Cheltenham, U.K.: The History Press, 2015), 344 pp. Details

See also

  • Brosse, Jacques; translated by Hochman, Stanley, Great voyages of exploration: the golden age of discovery in the Pacific (Lane Cove, N.S.W.: Doubleday Australia, 1983), 228 pp. Details
  • Cook, James; edited by Beaglehole, J. C., The Journals of Captain James Cook on his voyages of discovery, 4 vols (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1968). Details
  • Nelson, E. Charles, 'Natural History Observations and Collections Made During Furneaux's Visit to Tasmania (Van Dieman's Land) in 1773, with Special Reference to Botany', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 115 (1981), 77-84. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 26 May 2026

EOAS ID: biogs/P008051b.htm

This Edition: 2026 May - New Office
Chunnup - Gariwerd calendar - Winter: late May to end of July - season of cockatoos
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-chunnup-season-of-cockatoos

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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