View source for HMS Resolution (1771)

{{Short description|Sloop of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Drake|HMS Resolution}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=July 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 | image   = Hodges, Resolution and Adventure in Matavai Bay.jpg
 | image_caption = ''Resolution and Adventure with fishing craft in [[Matavai Bay]]'' by [[William Hodges]], painted 1776, shows the two ships at anchor in [[Tahiti]] in August 1773.
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 | hide_header         = 
 | country        = [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]
 | flag           = [[File:Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg|62px]]
 | name           = HMS ''Resolution''
 | ordered        = 
 | builder        = [[Fishburn's shipyard|Thomas Fishburn]], [[Whitby]]
 | laid_down      = 
 | launched       = 1770
 | acquired       = November 1771 as ''Marquis of Granby''<ref>Hough 1995, p. 219</ref>
 | commissioned   = 
 | decommissioned = 
 | in_service     = 
 | out_of_service = 
 | renamed        = *Renamed HMS ''Drake'' in November 1771
                    *Renamed HMS ''Resolution'' on 25 December 1771
 | struck         = 
 | reinstated     = 
 | honours        = 
 | captured       = 
 | fate           = Unknown, last sighted 5 June 1783. Fate disputed.
 | notes          = 
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 | hide_header       = 
 | header_caption    = 
 | class        = ex-mercantile [[Collier (ship)|collier]]
 | tons_burthen = 462 [[builder's old measurement|bm]]
 | length       = *{{cvt|110|ft|8|in|m}} overall
                  *{{cvt|93|ft|6|in|m}} keel
 | beam         = {{cvt|30|ft|6|in|m}}
 | draught      = {{cvt|13|ft|1|in|m}}
 | draft        = 
 | hold_depth   = 
 | propulsion   = Sails
 | complement   = 112, including 20 marines<ref>Beaglehole 1959, pp. 3–5</ref>
 | armament     = 
*12 × 6-pdrs
*12 × {{frac|1|2}}-pdr swivels
 | notes        = 
 }}
}}

'''HMS ''Resolution''''' was a [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] of the [[Royal Navy]], a converted merchant [[Collier (ship)|collier]] purchased by the Navy and adapted, in which Captain [[James Cook]] made his [[Second voyage of James Cook|second]] and [[Third voyage of James Cook|third]] voyages of exploration in the Pacific. She impressed him enough that he called her "the ship of my choice", and "the fittest for service of any I have seen".

==Purchase and refitting==

''Resolution'' began her career as the [[North Sea]] [[Collier (ship type)|collier]] ''Marquis of Granby'', launched at [[Whitby]] in 1770, and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1771 for £4,151 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|4151|1771|r=0}}}} today). She was originally registered as HMS ''Drake'', but fearing this would upset the Spanish, she was soon renamed ''Resolution'', on 25 December 1771. She was fitted out at [[Deptford]] with the most advanced navigational aids of the day, including an [[azimuth compass]] made by [[Henry Gregory (instrument maker)|Henry Gregory]], ice anchors, and the latest [[evaporator (marine)|apparatus]] for distilling small, supplemental amounts of fresh water from sea water.<ref>James Cook "The Journals" Penguin Classics, 1999, p. 460, Cook writes that it could produce 13 to 16 gallons of fresh water in 10 hours, meaning they needed to get most of their fresh water from land.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Log book of HMS 'Resolution' |url=http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RGO-00014-00058/15 |publisher=Cambridge Digital Library |access-date=23 July 2013 |archive-date=14 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014190810/http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RGO-00014-00058/15 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her armament consisted of twelve 6-pounder guns and 12 [[swivel gun]]s. At his own expense Cook had brass door-hinges installed in the great cabin. It was originally planned that the [[natural history|naturalist]] [[Joseph Banks]] and an appropriate entourage would sail with Cook, so a heightened waist, an additional upper deck and a raised [[poop deck]] were built to suit Banks. This refit cost £10,080.12.9d. 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]], at a further cost of £882.3.0d. Banks subsequently refused to travel under the resulting "adverse conditions" and [[Johann Reinhold Forster]] and his son, [[Georg Forster|George]], replaced him.

==Cook's second voyage==
{{main|Second voyage of James Cook}}
[[File:HodgesA View of Cape Stephens in Cook's Straits New Zealand with Waterspout 1776..jpg|thumb|''[[A View of Cape Stephens in Cook's Straits with Waterspout]]'' by [[William Hodges]]]]
''Resolution'' departed [[Sheerness]] on 21 June 1772, carrying 118&nbsp;people, including 20 volunteers who had sailed on Cook's first voyage in [[HM Bark Endeavour|HMS ''Endeavour'']] in 1768–1771,<ref name="Hough 1995, pp. 235–236">Hough 1995, pp. 235–236</ref> and two years of provisions.<ref>Beaglehole 1959, p. 15</ref>{{ref|provisions|[a]}} She joined [[HMS Adventure (1771)|HMS ''Adventure'']] at [[Plymouth]] and the two ships departed English waters on 13 July 1772.

''Resolution'''s first port of call was at [[Funchal]] in the [[Madeira Islands]], which she reached on 1 August. Cook gave high praise to her 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".<ref name="Hough239-241">Hough 1995, p. 239</ref> The ship was reprovisioned with fresh water, beef, fruit and onions, and after a further provisioning stop in the [[Cape Verde Islands]] two weeks later, set sail due south toward the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. Several of the crew had brought monkeys aboard as pets, but Cook had them thrown overboard to prevent their droppings from fouling the ship.<ref name="Hough239-241"/>

On his first voyage Cook had calculated [[longitude]] by the usual method of [[lunar distance (navigation)|lunars]], but on her second voyage the [[Board of Longitude]] sent a highly qualified astronomer, [[William Wales (astronomer)|William Wales]], with Cook and entrusted him with a new [[marine chronometer]], the [[Larcum Kendall#K1|K1]],
recently completed by [[Larcum Kendall]], together with three chronometers made by [[John Arnold (watchmaker)|John Arnold]]. Kendall's K1 was remarkably accurate and was to prove to be most efficient in determining longitude on board ''Resolution''.

On 17 January 1773, ''Resolution'' was the first ship to cross the [[Antarctic Circle]] and crossed twice more on the voyage. The third crossing, on 3 February 1774, was the most southerly penetration, reaching latitude 71°10′&nbsp;South at longitude 106°54′&nbsp;West. ''Resolution'' thus proved [[Alexander Dalrymple]]'s ''[[Terra Australis|Terra Australis Incognita]]'' to be a myth.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wales |first=William |title=Log book of HMS 'Resolution' |url=http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RGO-00014-00058 |publisher=Cambridge Digital Library |access-date=28 May 2013 |archive-date=26 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526055639/http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RGO-00014-00058 |url-status=live}}</ref> She returned to Britain in 1775 and was then [[paid off]].

==Cook's third voyage==
{{main|Third voyage of James Cook}}
She was recommissioned in February 1776 for Cook's third voyage, which began on 12 July 1776, departing from [[Plymouth]], England, during which ''Resolution'' crossed the [[Arctic Circle]] on 17 August 1778, and again crossed it on 19 July 1779, under the command of [[Charles Clerke]] after [[Death of James Cook|Cook's death]] in [[Hawaii]]. She arrived back in Britain on 4 October 1780.

==Later service and loss==
In 1780, ''Resolution'' was converted into an armed transport and sailed for the [[East Indies]] in March 1781. [[French ship Sphinx (1776)|''Sphinx'']] and [[French ship Annibal (1778)|''Annibal'']] of [[Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez|Suffren]]'s (French) squadron captured ''Resolution'' on 9 June 1782. In early July 1782, during the run-up of the [[Battle of Negapatam (1782)|Battle of Negapatam]], Suffren sent ''Resolution'' to [[Manila]] to purchase spare [[Spar (sailing)|spars]], food and ammunition to resupply his fleet.<ref name=cunat164>Cunat, p. 164</ref> She then sailed on 22 July 1782 and was never seen again.

On 5 June 1783, Suffren wrote that ''Resolution'' had last been seen in the [[Sunda Strait]], and that he suspected she had either foundered or fallen into the hands of the English. An item from the Melbourne ''Argus'', 25 February 1879, said that she ended her days as a Portuguese coal-hulk at [[Rio de Janeiro]], but this has never been confirmed. [[George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway|Viscount Galway]], a [[Governor-General of New Zealand]], owned a ship's figurehead described as that of ''Resolution'', but a photograph of it does not agree with the figurehead depicted in Holman's famous [[watercolour]] of her.

Alternatively, in 1789 she may have been renamed ''Général Conway'', in November 1790 ''Amis Réunis'', and in 1792 ''Liberté''.<ref>Demerliac (1996), p. 104, no. 725.</ref> Martin Dugard's biography of Cook, ''Farther Than Any Man'', published in 2001, states: "Her fate, by some cruel twist of historical irony, is as incredible as [[HMS Endeavour|''Endeavour'']]{{'}}s – she ''[Resolution]'' was sold to the French, rechristened ''La Liberté'', and transformed into a [[whaler]], then ended her days [[Decomposition|rotting]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport Harbor]]. She settled to the bottom just a mile from ''Endeavour''." (p.&nbsp;281, Epilogue)

In 1881 the British Consul in [[Alexandria]], looking from the [[Ras El Tin Palace]], pointed out a ship in the harbour he identified as the ''Resolution'', to William N. Armstrong, attendant to Hawaiian King [[David Kalākaua]] during his trip around the world.<ref>William N Armstrong: ''[https://archive.org/details/aroundworldwith00armsgoog Around the world with a king]''. New York 1904, pp. 193, 194, 196</ref>

==See also==
*[[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]

==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
{{note|provisions|[a]}}Provisions loaded at the outset of the voyage included 60,000 pounds of [[hardtack]], 7,637 pieces of salted beef and 14,200 pieces of pork, 1,900 pounds of suet, 3,102 pounds of raisins, 300 gallons of oatmeal, 210 gallons of olive oil and 2,000 pounds of sugar. [[Antiscorbutic]] supplies comprised 640 gallons of malt, 20,000 pounds of sauerkraut, 4000 pounds of salted cabbage, 400 pounds of mustard and 30 gallons of carrot marmalade. Alcohol supplies included 19 tons of beer and 642 gallons of wine.<ref name="Hough 1995, pp. 235–236"/><ref>Beaglehole 1959, p.13</ref><br/>
{{refend}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |title=The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery II, vol. I: The Voyage of the Resolution and Adventure 1772–1775 |editor-last=Beaglehole |editor-first=J.C. |editor-link=John Cawte Beaglehole |year=1959 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |oclc=299995193}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dugard |first1=Martin |author1-link=Martin Dugard (author) |title=Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook |date=2001 |publisher=[[Washington Square Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7434-0069-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Hough |first=Richard |title=Captain James Cook |year=1995 |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |isbn=978-0340825563}}
* {{cite book |last1=Paine |first1=Lincoln P. |title=Ships of the World: an Historical Encyclopedia |date=1997 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-395-71556-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Winfield |first1=Rif |title=British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |date=2007 |publisher=[[Seaforth Publishing]] |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1861762955}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110927004121/http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/data/corral/ships/resolution.html Digitised copies of the original logs of HMS ''Resolution''], [http://badc.nerc.ac.uk British Atmospheric Data Centre]/[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] as part of the CORRAL project
*[http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RGO-00014-00058/1 Digitised logbook kept by William Wales], an astronomer, during the 1772–1775 voyage
*[http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu73.htm The ''Resolution''] (Captain Cook Society)

{{Captain James Cook}}
{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resolution, HMS}}
[[Category:Exploration ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sloops of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:James Cook|HMS Resolution]]
[[Category:Coal hulks]]
[[Category:1770 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Whitby]]
[[Category:Age of Discovery ships]]
[[Category:History of Antarctica]]
[[Category:18th century in Antarctica]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:Whaling ships]]