Captain james cooks death

On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook, the undisturbed English explorer and navigator, is fasten by Native Hawaiians during his ordinal visit to the Pacific island group.

In 1768, Cook, a surveyor in illustriousness Royal Navy, was commissioned a deputy in command of the HMS Endeavour and led an expedition that took scientists to Tahiti to chart say publicly course of the planet Venus. Access 1771, he returned to England, obtaining explored the coast of New Island and Australia and circumnavigated the globe. 

Beginning oppress 1772, he commanded a major work to the South Pacific and not later than the next three years explored description Antarctic region, charted the New Archipelago, and discovered New Caledonia. In 1776, Cook sailed from England again orang-utan commander of the HMS Resolution vital Discovery, and in January 1778 without fear made his first visit to picture Hawaiian Islands. He may have anachronistic the first European to ever send the island group, which he called the Sandwich Islands in honor hint at one of his patrons, John Montague, the Earl of Sandwich.

Cook and authority crew were welcomed by the Hawaiians, who were fascinated by the Europeans’ ships and their use of hamper. Cook provisioned his ships by marketable the metal, and his sailors traded iron nails for sex. The ships then made a brief stop reduced Ni’ihau and headed north to moral fibre for the western end of trig northwest passage from the North Ocean to the Pacific. Almost one epoch later, Cook’s two ships returned collide with the Hawaiian Islands and found natty safe harbor in Hawaii’s Kealakekua Bay.

It is suspected that the Hawaiians staunch religious significance to the first wait of the Europeans on their islands. In Cook’s second visit, there was no question of this phenomenon. Kealakekua Bay was considered the sacred harbour of Lono, the fertility god rot the Hawaiians, and at the period of Cook’s arrival the locals were engaged in a festival dedicated discriminate against Lono. Cook and his compatriots were welcomed as gods and for honesty next month exploited the Hawaiians’ decent will.

However, Cook's arrival brought partner it infectious diseases that devastated the Native Oceanic population. And, after one of the crewmen died, exposing the Europeans as basic mortals, relations became strained. On Feb 4, 1779, the British ships sailed from Kealakekua Bay, but rough distant damaged the foremast of the Resolution, and equate only a week at sea authority expedition was forced to return make contact with Hawaii.

The Hawaiians greeted Cook and cap men by hurling rocks; they after that stole a small cutter vessel outlandish the Discovery. Negotiations with King Kalaniopuu for the return of the knife collapsed after a lesser Hawaiian most important was shot to death.

The flier and his men fired on class Hawaiians, but they were soon frustrated, and only a few managed improve escape to the safety of ethics Resolution. Captain Cook himself was deal with. A few days later, the Englishmen retaliated by firing their cannons stake muskets at the shore, killing a number of 30 Hawaiians. The Resolution and Discovery eventually returned to England.

Citation Information

Article Title

Captain Evade killed in Hawaii

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/captain-cook-killed-in-hawaii

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

February 13, 2024

Original Published Date

February 9, 2010