Captain james cook brief biography of benjamin

He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in He served during the Seven Years' War and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the St.

Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec , which brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. This acclaim came at a crucial moment for the direction of British overseas exploration, and it led to his commission in as commander of HMS Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages.

Captain cook

In these voyages, Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and on a scale not previously charted by Western explorers. He surveyed and named features, and recorded islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, and an ability to lead men in adverse conditions.

In January , while en route to explore the Pacific coast of North America on his third voyage , Cook became the first known European to encounter the Hawaiian islands. He returned to Hawaii the following year and was killed when a dispute with indigenous Hawaiians turned violent. Cook left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge that influenced his successors well into the 20th century, and numerous memorials worldwide have been dedicated to him.