The second voyage of James Cook, from 1772 to 1775, commissioned by the British government with advice from the Royal Society, was designed to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible to finally determine whether there was any great southern landmass, or Terra Australis. On his first voyage, Cook had demonstrated by circumnavigating New Zealand that it was not attached to a larger landmass to the south, and he charted almost the entire eastern coastline of mainland Australia, yet Terra Australis was believed to lie further south. Alexander Dalrymple and others of the Royal Society still believed that this massive southern continent should exist. After a delay brought about by the botanist Joseph Banks' ship modification requests, the ships Resolution and Adventure were fitted for the voyage and set sail for the Antarctic in July 1772.
On 17 January 1773, Resolution was the first ship to venture south of the Antarctic Circle, which she did twice more on this voyage. The final such crossing, on 3 February 1774, was to be the most southerly penetration, reaching latitude 71°10′ South at longitude 106°54′ West. Cook undertook a series of vast sweeps across the Pacific, finally proving there was no Terra Australis in temperate latitudes by sailing over most of its predicted locations.
In the course of the voyage he visited Easter Island, the Marquesas, Tahiti, the Society Islands, Niue, the Tonga Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Palmerston Island, South Sandwich Islands, and South Georgia, many of which he named in the process. Cook proved the Terra Australis Incognita to be a myth and predicted that an Antarctic land would be found beyond the ice barrier. On this voyage the Larcum Kendall K1 chronometer was successfully employed by William Wales to calculate longitude. Wales compiled a log book of the voyage, recording locations and conditions and the use and testing of various instruments, as well as making many observations of the people and places encountered on the voyage.
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. Thirteen sailors, six of whom had been promoted to petty officer grade, and three midshipmen, Isaac Smith, William Harvey, and Isaac Manley, had returned. Second Lieutenant John Edgcumbe, the senior marine, was an Endeavour veteran; oddly, Samuel Gibson, a former Tahiti deserter who was now promoted to corporal, was the other returning marine. Cook chose Joseph Gilbert, who had collaborated with him on the Newfoundland survey, to be the master of the Resolution.
Cook had little trouble selecting the remaining members of his crew. Following the Endeavour's journey, young men used whatever influence they could summon to demand berths alongside Cook. Robert Palliser Cooper, the first officer of the Resolution, was related to Sir Hugh Palliser, the navy comptroller and one of Cook's early backers. John Elliott, a thirteen-year-old midshipman, was also sent to the Resolution. James Burney, a twenty-one-year-old able seaman and eleven-year Navy veteran, was the son of Lord Sandwich's acquaintance and well-known musician and musical historian Charles Burney. Burney was "clever & excentric," according to Elliott. After a lengthy and successful naval career, Burney wrote a five-volume history of Pacific exploration. George Vancouver, a fourteen-year-old who Elliott characterised as a "quiet inoffensive young man," was one of the other able seamen. The Resolution was his first Navy assignment. With the exception of its captain, Tobias Furneaux, the capable and popular second lieutenant of the Dolphin under Samuel Wallis, the Adventure's crew was unfamiliar with Pacific expedition.
Cook was asked to test the Larcum Kendall K1 chronometer on this voyage. The Board of Longitude had asked Kendall to copy and develop John Harrison's fourth model of a clock (H4) useful for navigation at sea. The first model finished by Kendall in 1769 was an accurate copy of H4, cost £450, and is known today as K1. Although constructed like a watch, the chronometer had a diameter of 13 cm and weighed 1.45 kg. Three other clocks, constructed by John Arnold were carried but did not withstand the rigours of the journey. The performance of the clocks was recorded in the logbooks of astronomers William Wales and William Bayly, and as early as 1772 Wales had noted that the watch by Kendall was 'infinitely more to be depended on'.
Provisions loaded onto the vessels for the voyage included 59,531 pounds (27 t) of biscuit, 7,637 four-lb (approx 1.8 kg) pieces of salt beef, 14,214 two-lb (approx 1 kg) pieces of salt pork, 19 tuns (about 18,000 litres) of beer, 1,397 imperial gallons (6,350 L) of spirits 1,900 pounds (860 kg) of suet and 210 imp gal (950 L; 250 US gal) of 'Oyle Olive'. As anti-scorbutics they took nearly 20,000 pounds (9.1 t) of 'Sour Krout' and 30 imperial gallons (140 L) of 'Mermalade of Carrots'. Both ships carried livestock, including bullocks, sheep, goats (for milk), hogs and poultry (including geese). The crews had fishing gear (supplied by Onesimus Ustonson) and a water purification system designed by Charles Irving was carried for distilling sea-water or purifying foul fresh-water. Various pieces of hardware (such as knives and axes) and trinkets (beads, ribbons, medallions) to be used for barter or as gifts for the natives were also taken aboard.
It was originally planned that the naturalist Joseph Banks and what he considered to be an appropriate entourage would sail with Cook, so a heightened waist, an additional upper deck and a raised poop deck were built on Resolution to suit Banks. However, in sea trials the ship was found to be top-heavy, and under Admiralty instructions the offending structures were removed in a second refit at Sheerness. Banks subsequently refused to travel under the resulting "adverse conditions". Instead the position was taken by Johann Reinhold Forster and his son, Georg, who were taken on as Royal Society scientists for the voyage. Resolution carried a crew of 112; as senior lieutenants Robert Cooper and Charles Clerke and among the midshipmen George Vancouver and James Burney. The master was Joseph Gilbert and Isaac Smith, a relation of Cook's wife was also aboard. William Wales was the astronomer and William Hodges the artist. In all, there were 90 seamen and 18 royal marines as well as the supernumeraries.
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. Cook gave high praise to his ship's sailing qualities in a report to the Admiralty from Funchal Roads, writing that she "steers, works, sails well and is remarkably stiff and seems to promise to be a dry and very easy ship in the sea". After a short stay, Cook sailed for Porto Praya, San Tiago (Cape Verde Islands), arriving at 12 August. He collected water and enforced strict routines aboard the Resolution, such as pumping out the bilge with seawater, airing and drying bedding, washing clothes, and brewing Pelham's experimental beer. Furneaux did not require similar practices on the Adventure. The ships were compared for sailing ability, with the Resolution initially performing better, but later trials offered no clear advantage.
At Porto Praya, the water quality was acceptable, though not good. Livestock like bullocks could not be obtained, but hogs, goats, poultry, and fruit were plentiful. The Forsters collected botanical specimens, Cook and Wales surveyed the bay, and sailors purchased monkeys, which were soon thrown overboard due to the mess they caused. Five days after leaving Porto Praya, Henry Smock, a carpenter's mate, drowned while working over the side of the ship. About a week later, Cook learned from Furneaux that an Adventure midshipman had died, followed by another less than three weeks later, both apparently from fever. Dr James's Powders and Dr Norris's Drops were ineffective. Some ill crewmen recovered, but the early sickness raised questions, especially since the Resolution had no cases of illness, even after tropical rains.
On 8 September, the ships crossed the equator. The Resolution crew held celebratory events, but none took place on the Adventure for safety reasons. Cook continued with experiments, such as testing sea currents, measuring water temperature at depths with a thermometer, and comparing methods to obtain fresh water. Collecting rainwater worked better than distillation. Some sailors were sceptical of the experimental beer, preferring water. On 30 October, both ships anchored in Table Bay near Capetown. Officers noted the continued good health of the Resolution's crew, which they credited to Cook's strict cleanliness measures. The Adventure's crew was also generally well, apart from Lieutenant Shank's ongoing gout. In contrast, two newly arrived Dutch Indiamen had lost about two hundred men to scurvy.
Cook found the Cape a satisfactory port of call, though delays were common, particularly with baking bread and preparing spirits. The acting governor, Baron van Plettenburg, was helpful for supply the crew with fresh food while they enjoyed shore leave. Wales and Bayly conducted astronomical observations and checked chronometers. The Kendall chronometer on the Resolution was working well, but the Arnold instrument had problems after being jarred, and another on the Adventure stopped completely. While at the Cape, Cook heard vague reports of French voyages: Kerguelen's 1772 expedition to the south, and Marion du Fresne's mission to Tahiti, though he did not learn the commanders' names. He also learned that the Tahitian Ahutoru had died of smallpox. There were some changes among the officers. Lieutenant Shank of the Adventure left due to illness, replaced by Arthur Kempe, and James Burney was promoted to second lieutenant. When on shore Forster met Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman, who joined the expedition as an assistant naturalist at his own expense. Cook spent the remaining time at the Cape (late October) writing letters and reporting on the experimental beer and other matters to the Admiralty.
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. Cook was three weeks behind schedule, but this delay likely allowed the Antarctic pack ice more time to break up, enabling him to sail farther south. He was inexperienced with Antarctic ice navigation, as were most of his crew, and had to discard common beliefs, such as the idea that ice always indicated nearby land. The expedition also learned that the prevailing winds beyond 60° S were easterly, differing from earlier assumptions.
Antarctic Circle
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. By 10 December, at nearly latitude 51°, they sighted their first large iceberg and soon encountered many more. On 13 December, Cook recorded being in latitude 54°, about 118 leagues east of Bouvet's cape, before being stopped by the pack ice at 54°55' S. He noted whales, penguins, and other wildlife, and found that ice from the pack produced fresh water. On 14 December, the ships turned SSW, seeking open water, but soon were forced north and east again to avoid being trapped by ice. Thick fog and snow made navigation difficult, and on 17 December, Cook was again halted by heavy pack ice. By 18 December, the ships had sailed about ninety miles east along the ice edge. Cook speculated that land might exist behind the ice but could not confirm it, so he decided to run 30–40 leagues east before again trying to head south.