Cook in Antarctica drawn by William Hodges. The ships left the Cape on 22 November 1772 and headed for the area of the South Atlantic where the French navigator Bouvet claimed to have spotted land that he named Cape Circoncision.

Jan 27, 2025 · James Cook was a British naval captain, navigator, and explorer who sailed the seaways and coasts of Canada and conducted three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean (1768–71, 1772–75, and 1776–79), ranging from the Antarctic ice fields to the Bering Strait and from the coasts of North America to Australia and New Zealand.

Cook’s two ships had lost touch in a storm off New Zealand’s Cape Palliser, but Cook turned the Resolution south in November 1773. On 20 December he crossed the Antarctic Circle at about longitude 148°W. He had seen the first iceberg, but continued eastward through heavy ice.

In January 1773, Cook became the first person known to cross the Antarctic Circle before pack ice and fog blocked his way and forced him back north. The two ships became separated but Cook sailed on, returning south and then east through more ice and fog.

On November 23, 1772, Cook sailed out of Cape Town heading into the unknown waters to the south. On December 11 the crew of the ADVENTURE thought they found it. What they actually sighted was an iceberg and by the following day they …

Within a month (August 1771), Cook had been promoted to captain and asked to take another voyage to the Pacific in search of that elusive Southern Continent, an idea still kept on life-support by its champion Dalrymple and others in positions of authority.

Between January 1773 and January 1774 Cook's ships entered the Antarctic circle several times, but because of the intense cold were forced to turn back only 121 km from Antarctica's coast.

Jan 22, 2024 · Captain James Cook’s third and final voyage in the far south, beginning at the start of February 1774, marked a significant milestone in polar exploration. This expedition, crossing the Antarctic Circle, was notable for its venture into truly uncharted territories.

As a result, only a few years after his first voyage around the world, Captain James Cook was commissioned to sail towards the south pole and determine whether another southern continent existed. James Cook commanded HMS Resolution (462 tons) and Tobias Furneaux HMS Adventure (340tons) - both ships were modified North Sea colliers.

Although most famous for his earlier voyage and the ‘discovery’ of Australia, Captain James Cook’s second voyage would travel further south than anyone before him. Given two ships, Resolution and Adventure, he and his crew set sail for the Antarctic in July 1772.