James Cook: the Final Voyage

Cook's final voyage began on July 12, 1776. He was aboard the Resolution with a crew of 112. His sister ship was the Discovery with 70 men aboard. The purpose of his third voyage was to find the fabled Northwest Passage. Unlike other explorers who attempted to find this area of the world, Cook attempted a route from the Pacific side. Cook visited some of his favorite islands in the Pacific and made stops in New Zealand and Tahiti.

On January 18, 1778, Cook sighted the Hawaiian Islands for the first time. He named them the Sandwich Islands after his friend and patron, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. The natives rowed out to meet his ships and were very friendly. After discovering so many islands in the Pacific where the people had a common language and similar customs, Cook marveled at  how the Polynesian people had spread themselves from island to island. Europeans were not the only ocean-faring people. Indeed, the Polynesians had made their own explorations thousands of years before. The Hawaiians thought that Cook was a god and that his men were supernatural beings.

After two weeks of trading and good relations, the ships departed heading north. By March 7, Cook reached the coast of present-day Oregon and followed the coastline north to Alaska and west through the Bering Strait. By August, Cook concluded there was no Northwest Passage and decided to head for warmer waters for the winter.

By January 17, 1779, the two ships once again landed off the shores of the Hawaiian Islands. The Englishmen appeared to have worn out their welcome with the natives. Tensions were increasing as Captain Cook decided to depart the islands on February 4. As fate would have it, a storm broke the foremast of the Resolution and Cook was forced to return to the Hawaiian Islands on February 11 to make repairs. The natives were not happy to see the visitors once again. One of the ship's boats was stolen, and Cook took a Hawaiian chief as hostage until the boat was returned.

On February 14, Cook was heading back to his ship with his hostage when he and his men were surrounded by shouting, angry natives. As Cook signaled his boats off shore to come in to assist, he was stabbed in the back by one of the natives. As he fell, dozens of natives attacked his body with knives and clubs.

The contributions of James Cook were extraordinary. He was the first explorer to map the coastline of Australia. He charted much of the Pacific Ocean and discovered several island groups. He used a chronometer to chart his exact position on the globe. He was one of the first sea captains to discover the cure for scurvy. He sailed farther south than any other explorer before him, and he proved once and for all that there was no Northwest Passage.

See a map of James Cook's Voyages.

 First Voyage | Second Voyage | Terminology

Read more about the individual explorers:

Francis Drake | Christopher Newport | James Cook

Find out about their watercraft:

How They Got There | Once They Arrived

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English Exploration