James Cook's Third Voyage: Discovery of Hawaii
- When
- 1778
- Where
- Hawaiian Islands (Sandwich Islands); Hawaiian group (Sandwich Islands); Maui, Hawaiian Islands
- Episodes
- 3
During his third voyage, Captain James Cook became the first recorded European to sight the Hawaiian Islands on 18 January 1778, naming the archipelago the Sandwich Islands, and returned to stop first in Maui in late November 1778. The encounters occurred with HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery during the search for the Northwest Passage.
Episodes
- First European sighting of the Hawaiian Islands
Cook's expedition became the first recorded Europeans to see the Hawaiian Islands on 18 January 1778, naming them the Sandwich Islands.
- Departure from the Sandwich Islands
On 2 February 1778, with little water secured and trading opportunities lost, Cook and Clerke left the Hawaiian group.
- Return to Hawaii and stop at Maui
Cook returned to the Hawaiian Islands in late November 1778, stopping first in Maui, during his second visit to the archipelago.
Background and detail
Background. Cook's third and final voyage (12 July 1776 – 4 October 1780) was a British attempt to discover the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific coast of North America. The ostensible purpose was returning Omai, a young man from Raiatea, to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as cover for the passage search. HMS Resolution, commanded by Cook, and HMS Discovery, commanded by Charles Clerke, departed Plymouth in 1776.
First European Sighting of the Hawaiian Islands. After stops at Kiritimati, the expedition became the first recorded Europeans to see the Hawaiian Islands on 18 January 1778. Cook named the archipelago the Sandwich Islands after the fourth Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty. By 2 February 1778, with little water secured and trading opportunities lost, Cook and Clerke left the Hawaiian group.
Return to Hawaii and Maui. By early September 1778 Cook was back in the Bering Sea heading to return to Hawaii. He returned to the Hawaiian Islands in late November 1778, stopping first in Maui. His arrival during this second visit in late 1778 partly shaped his status among Hawaiians as an akua.
People involved
- James Cook · Captain of HMS Resolution and leader of the expedition
- Charles Clerke · Commander of HMS Discovery
- Earl of Sandwich · Fourth Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, namesake of the Sandwich Islands
Sources
- James Cook Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
- Third voyage of James Cook Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
- Hawaii Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.