H.M.S. Resolution (1770 - c. 1782)

Summary

H.M.S. Resolution was James Cook's flagship for his second and third exploring expeditions in the Pacific Ocean. A barque, launched in Whitby in 1770, she was initially the collier Marquis of Granby. In 1771 she was purchased by the Royal Navy for James Cook's 1772 - 1775 expedition. The refit instigated by Joseph Banks so that he might sail in her for this voyage proved unworkable, and his place as naturalist was taken by father and son Reinhold and George Forster. Also in Resolution for this expedition were William Anderson (assistant Surgeon) and William Wales (astronomer).
Accompanied by H.M.S. Adventure under command of Tobias Furneaux, the ships departed from Plymouth in July 1772. The route was to Cape Town and through Subantarctic waters to New Zealand. Between May and October 1773 the expedition explored in the south Pacific but the ships were separated in a storm. Adventure missed the designated meeting point in Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand, and returned to the United Kingdom. Cook continued his exploration of the southern Pacific, arriving at Spithead in July 1775. Twice during this voyage Resolution crossed the Antarctic Circle (something not previously accomplished by a European vessel) and completed a circumnavigation of Antarctica.
Cook's third Pacific voyage departed from Plymouth in July 1776. This time Resolution was accompanied by H.M.S. Discovery under command of Charles Clerke. William Anderson again sailed with Cook, as Surgeon and Naturalist. Astronomer William Bayly and Midshipman George Vancouver were in Discovery. Having revisited New Zealand and island groups in the south Pacific, this expedition spent nearly two years exploring in the north Pacific. Unfortunately this expedition suffered from the loss of several senior naval officers, including Cook who was killed in the Sandwich Islands in February 1779. The ships reached Stromness in the Orkney Islands in August 1780. Resolution was then converted to a transport ship and sailed for the East Indies. She disappeared some time after July 1782.

Details

Chronology

13 July 1772

Event - Departed from Plymouth, United Kingdom

17 May 1773

Event - Rendezvoused with Adventure in Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand

July 1775

Event - Arrived in Spithead, United Kingdom

14 February 1779

Event - Death of James Cook, Sandwich Islands

August 1780

Event - Arrived in Stromness, Orkney Islands

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Aughton, Peter, Resolution: the Story of Captain Cook's Second Voyage of Discovery (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004), 189 pp. Details
• 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
• Forster, George, A voyage round the world in His Britannic Majesty's sloop Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5, 2 vols (London: B. White, T. Cadell & P. Elmsly, 1777). Details

Edited Books

• Hoare, Michael E. ed., The 'Resolution' Journal of Johann Reinhold Forster, 1772-1775, 4 vols (London: Hakluyt Society, 1982), 873 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
• Snell, W. E., 'Captain Cook's surgeons', Medical History, 7 (1963), 43 - 55. Details
• Thomas, Nicholas and Berghof, Oliver, assisted by Newell, Jennifer. eds, A Voyage Round the World, by George Forster, 2 vols (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000). Details