HMS Discovery (1774)

HMS "Discovery" was the consort ship of James Cook's third expedition to the Pacific Ocean in 1776 - 1780. Like Cook's other ships, "Discovery" was a Whitby-built collier of 298 tons, originally named "Diligence" when she was built in 1774. Originally a brig, Cook had her changed to a full rigged ship. She was commanded by Charles Clerke, who had previously served on Cook's first two expeditions, and had a complement of 70. When Cook was killed in a skirmish with natives of Hawaii, Clerke transferred to expedition's flagship HMS "Resolution" and John Gore assumed command of "Discovery". She returned to Britain under the command of Lieutenant James King, arriving back on 4 October 1780

After returning to the Nore in 1780, "Discovery" was fitted out as a transport at Woolwich, serving as such between December 1780 and May 1781. She then became a dockyard craft at Woolwich, and was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in October 1797.

References

*Colledge
*Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792 (Seaforth Publishing, 2007).
*Beaglehole, J.C.: "The Life of Captain James Cook". ISBN 0-8047-0848-7.

External links

* [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_027200_hmsdiscover1.htm Ships of the World entry]