Second Voyage of James Cook (1772–1775)

Conception

Upon the return of the Endeavour, after James Cook's first voyage the English public had showed intense curiosity about the findings from the Pacific. The success of Cook's first journey surpassed all earlier expeditions and brought back useful knowledge, as well as a proposal to resolve the question of a southern continent once and for all. The widespread attention and ongoing questions about geography and natural history helped ensure official support for another Pacific expedition. Thus the Admiralty quickly began preparing for another expedition, seeking an appropriate ship and planning the next steps.

Cook had a more significant role in organising his new expedition, than in 1768. The Navy Board consulted him on ship purchases and decided to acquire two vessels designed for the North Sea coal trade, named the Drake and the Raleigh, based on Cook's recommendation for an escort after previous experiences. The ships, weighing 450 tons and 336 tons respectively, were later renamed the Resolution and the Adventure to avoid diplomatic tensions with Spain at the suggestion of the Lord of the Admiralty. Additionally, Cook had more control over the choice of his crew this time, and he witnessed the rehire of a number of Endeavour crew members, most notably Richard Pickersgill as third lieutenant and Charles Clerke as second lieutenant of the Resolution.

Voyage

Cook's second voyage of discovery departed Plymouth Sound on Monday 13 July 1772. His first port of call was at Funchal in the Madeira Islands, which he reached on 1 August.

Shortly after leaving they experienced severe cold weather and Cook distributed warm fearnought clothing to each man as they sailed south into increasingly harsh conditions.

On 8 February, thick fog caused the ships Resolution and Adventure to become separated. Their agreed method for keeping contact was to fire guns at intervals, signalling each other whenever they changed course.

The Adventure was in such poor health that Furneaux had to request extra crew from the Resolution just to operate his ship. As they neared Tahiti, Cook estimated the shore to be about eight leagues away.

At Huahine, Cook was warmly received by the chief Ori, who had hosted him before. Trade with the islanders was brisk, and the ships were able to acquire a large number of hogs and other provisions.

On 8 October Cook set sail bound for New Zealand. After leaving Tongatapu, Cook faced immediate difficulties at sea. In unmooring, he lost an anchor when the cable broke, and another cable was badly damaged by the coral seabed.

By December, Cook and the crew of the Resolution were deep in the Southern Ocean, heading toward the Antarctic. On 7 December, they reached approximately 51°30' S, 180° longitude—almost exactly opposite London on the globe.

Heading north proved wise, as several crew members showed early symptoms of scurvy. Johann Forster pessimistically predicted many would die before reaching the tropics, but in fact, no one died and most recovered.

Homeward voyage

The Resolution departed for home on 10 November, moving through Cook Strait and rounding Cape Horn by the end of December 1774. Cook still needed to search the South Atlantic for the supposed Great Southern Continent, based on earlier charts by Dalrymple. He quickly determined that the Gulf of St Sebastian did not exist, sailing directly through its supposed location. Later, the crew sighted land in icy conditions and found not a continent, but an inhospitable island, named South Georgia by J. R. Forster. The only life there consisted of seals, penguins, birds, and sparse vegetation. They left South Georgia on 20 January 1775, venturing further into the southern waters and encountering more bleak islands, which Cook named after his officers. He described the coastline as extremely harsh. The ship crossed the Greenwich Meridian in February, still searching for Bouvet's land, but failed to find it due to inaccurate charts and concluded it was either nonexistent or just a small island.

On 16 March, the crew spotted two ships—the first since losing contact with the Adventure. They learned from these vessels that Furneaux's crew had suffered casualties in New Zealand, confirming rumours of a deadly attack by Maori. Cook, shocked and saddened, reserved judgement until he knew more. More ships appeared, allowing Cook to send a report to the Admiralty. By late March, the Resolution anchored at Cape Town for repairs. The ship was in poor condition after a long voyage.

Return home

Cook's reports upon his return home put to rest the popular myth of Terra Australis. Another accomplishment of the second voyage was the successful employment of the Larcum Kendall K1 chronometer, which enabled Cook to calculate his longitudinal position with much greater accuracy. Cook's log was full of praise for the watch which he used to make charts of the southern Pacific Ocean that were so remarkably accurate that copies of them were still in use in the mid-20th century.

Cook was promoted to the rank of captain and given an honorary retirement from the Royal Navy, as an officer in the Greenwich Hospital. His acceptance of the post was reluctant, insisting that he be allowed to quit the post if the opportunity for active duty presented itself. His fame now extended beyond the Admiralty and he was also made a Fellow of the Royal Society and awarded the Copley Gold Medal, painted by Nathaniel Dance-Holland, dined with James Boswell and described in the House of Lords as "the first navigator in Europe".

Publication of journals

On his return to England, Forster claimed that he had been granted exclusive publication rights to the history of the voyage by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Sandwich – a claim that Sandwich vehemently denied. Cook was writing his own account assisted by Dr John Douglas, Canon of Windsor. Eventually, Sandwich agreed that Forster and his son could add a scientific section to Cook's account of the voyage. This led to so much animosity between Forster and Sandwich that Sandwich banned him from writing or publishing anything about the voyage. To avoid the ban, Forster's son Georg wrote a report instead, titled A Voyage Round the World, which was published in 1777, six weeks before Cook's account appeared. Cook never read Forster's book because it was published after he left on his third voyage, from which he did not return. Some of the botanical results of the voyage were published by the Forsters as Characteres generum plantarum in 1776, with earlier 1775 copies given to King George III and to Carl Linnaeus.