Departure of James Cook's Second Voyage
- When
- 1772
- Where
- Plymouth Sound, departure port of Cook's second voyage; Admiralty decision preceding the voyage
- Episodes
- 2
James Cook's second voyage departed Plymouth Sound on 13 July 1772 aboard HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure, commissioned to circumnavigate as far south as possible and settle whether Terra Australis existed. A delay caused by Joseph Banks' modification requests preceded the sailing. The expedition ultimately ran until 1775, but its departure itself is the focus here.
Episodes
- Renaming of the vessels as Resolution and Adventure
The two ships, 450 and 336 tons, were renamed Resolution and Adventure on the Admiralty's suggestion to avoid diplomatic tension with Spain.
- Departure of the Resolution and Adventure from Plymouth
After a delay from Joseph Banks' modification requests, Cook's two ships sailed from Plymouth Sound on 13 July 1772, bound for the Antarctic.
Background and detail
Background. After returning from his first voyage, Cook had shown by circumnavigating New Zealand that it was not joined to a larger southern landmass, yet Terra Australis was still believed to lie farther south. The British government, advised by the Royal Society, commissioned a second voyage to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible and finally determine whether any great southern continent existed.
The Ships. The two vessels, of 450 and 336 tons respectively, were renamed Resolution and Adventure at the suggestion of a Lord of the Admiralty, avoiding diplomatic tension with Spain. The Adventure's company, apart from captain Tobias Furneaux, formerly second lieutenant of the Dolphin under Samuel Wallis, was unfamiliar with Pacific expedition work.
Departure from Plymouth. After a delay caused by botanist Joseph Banks' ship modification requests, the Resolution and Adventure were fitted for the voyage and set sail for the Antarctic in July 1772. Cook's second voyage of discovery departed Plymouth Sound on Monday 13 July 1772.
People involved
- James Cook · commander of the expedition aboard HMS Resolution
- Tobias Furneaux · captain of HMS Adventure
- Joseph Banks · botanist whose ship modification requests caused a delay before sailing
Sources
- Second voyage of James Cook Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-28
- HMS Resolution Wikipedia, revision of 2026-03-25
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.