---
title: "European and American voyages of scientific exploration"
chunk: 3/11
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:39:10.846547+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Captain: Thomas Adams (?–1770)
Also aboard: Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and Constantine Phipps.

==== 1766–69: La Boudeuse and L'Étoile ====

Ordered by Louis XV, it was the first trip around the world initiated by the French. The discovery and description of Tahiti by Louis Antoine de Bougainville in his trip influenced several Enlightenment philosophers including Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78). The expedition was organised by Louis Antoine de Bougainville and received the support of such prominent figures of the time as Charles de Brosses (1709–77), Comte de Buffon (1707–88), Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698–1759) and Jérôme Lalande (1732–1807).
The expedition aimed to discover new territories available for settlement, to open a new route to reach China, to found new outlets for the French East India Company and, finally, discover acclimatable spices for the Isle de France (now Mauritius).

Captains: Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811) Chief of expedition, Nicolas Pierre Duclos-Guyot (Captain of La Boudeuse), François Chenard de la Giraudais (1727–1775) (Captain of L'Étoile)
Naturalists: Philibert Commerçon (1727–73), Jeanne Baré (1740–1807)
Astronomer: Pierre-Antoine Véron (1736–70)
Cartographer: Charles Routier de Romainville (1742–92?)
Publication: Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Journey Around the World by the Commander of the La Boudeuse and L'Étoile, in 1766, 1767, 1768 and 1769" (Paris, 1771)

==== 1768–71: HMS Endeavour ====

An expedition to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun (in 1769) that included the discovery of new Islands, Tuamotu and Society Islands, the first circumnavigation of New Zealand and charting of the East coast of New Holland.

Captain: James Cook (1728–1779)
Naturalists: Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and Daniel Solander (1733–1782)
Astronomer: Charles Green (1735–1771)
Artist: Sydney Parkinson (1745–1771)
Publications: "A Journal of a voyage round the world [printed], in His Majesty's ship Endeavour, in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771… to which is added, a Concise vocabulary of the language of Otahitee" (London, 1771). The identity of the authors of this report remains controversial because different authors attribute it to Cook, to Banks, Solander as well as various officers having shared in the voyage. It is translated into French under the title of "Journal of a voyage around the world, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771; containing the various events of the voyage; with the relationship of the lands newly discovered in the méridional… hemisphere " (Paris, 1772).John Hawkesworth (c. 1715 – 1773) is commissioned by the Admiralty to make a synthesis of different shipments under the title "An Account of the Voyages undertaken… for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere and performed by Commodore Byrone John Byron, Captain Hallis, Captain Carteret and Captain Cook (from 1702 to 1771) drawn up from the Journals…" (London, three volumes, 1773).

==== 1771–72: Isle de France and Le Nécessaire ====
Expedition to harvest spices for production on Mauritius, to prevent the monopoly of their trade by the Dutch.

Captains: Chevalier de Coëtivi (Isle of France) and Mr. Cordé (Le Nécessaire)
Naturalist: Pierre Sonnerat (1748–1814)
Publication: P. Sonnerat, Trip to New Guinea, which is the description of places, the physical and moral observations, and details about the naturelle… history (Paris, 1776)

==== 1771–72: La Fortune and Le Gros-Ventre ====
Exploration of the southern Indian Ocean and the shipping routes to India.

Captains: Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec (1734–1797), Louis Aleno de St Aloüarn (1738–1772)

==== 1772: Sir Lawrence ====
An expedition in the brig Sir Lawrence exploring Iceland and the islands along the West coast of Scotland.

Captain: John Gore (1772–1836)
Naturalists: Joseph Banks (1743–1820) and Daniel Solander (1733–1782)

==== 1772–75: HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure ====

Cook's second voyage in Resolution and Adventure around the world. He again visited New Zealand, sailed near the Antarctic and discovered many islands in the Pacific. Swedish Sparrman embarked during a stopover at the Cape.

Captains: James Cook (1728–1779) (Resolution) expedition leader, Charles Clerke and Tobias Furneaux (1735–1781) (Adventure)
Surgeon-naturalist: William Anderson (1750–1788)
Naturalists: Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–1798), Georg Forster (1754–1794) and Anders Sparrman (1748–1820)
Astronomers: William Wales (c. 1734 – 1798), William Bayly (1737–1810)
Aboard as crew member George Vancouver, also to become a famous Explorer
Publications: Cook's journals; also the two Forsters each released an account of this journey (Georg A Voyage Round the World (1777), Reinhold Observations Made during a Voyage round the World (1778)).

==== 1773: HMS Racehorse and HMS Carcass ====

A British expedition to explore the Arctic Sea. The two ships reached Svalbard before turning back because of the ice. The teenage Horatio Nelson was a midshipman aboard HMS Carcass.

Captain: Constantine John Phipps (1744–1792)
Surgeon-naturalist: Charles Irving, assisted by Olaudah Equiano
Astronomer: Israel Lyons (1739–1775)
Publication: C.J. Phipps (1774), A Voyage towards the north pole undertaken ....

==== 1773–74: Le Roland and L'Oiseau ====
Exploration of the southern Indian Ocean.

Captain: Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec (1734–1797)
Naturalist: Jean Guillaume Bruguière (1749 or 1750–1798)
Astronomer: Joseph Lepaute Dagelet

==== 1776–80: HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery ====

Cook's Third Voyage to find the Northwest Passage by crossing the Bering Strait. Cook was killed in the Hawaiian archipelago.

Captains: James Cook (1728–1779) (Resolution) and Charles Clerke (1741–1779) (Discovery)
Surgeon-naturalists: William Anderson (1750–1788) and William Ellis (1747–1810)
Astronomer: William Bayly (1737–1810), assistant astronomer Joseph Billings (1758–1806)
Illustrator: John Webber (1750–1793)
Crew members: George Vancouver (1757–1798) was to become a celebrated explorer himself and William Bligh (1754–1817) who would later command HMS Bounty, James King (1750–1784) was second lieutenant and shared astronomical duties with Cook on Resolution.

==== 1785–88: Boussole and Astrolabe ====

French King Louis XVI inspired by Cook's voyages mounted his own expedition under the direction of de Lapérouse. Cook's anti-scorbutic remedies to eradicate scurvy were applied successfully. Lamanon and twelve other members of the expedition were massacred by natives at Vanuatu where they were looking for water. The two ships disappeared in the Solomon Islands, at Vanikoro, during a violent storm.