HMS Dolphin was a 24-gun
sixth-rateSixth-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
frigateA frigate is a warship. The term has been used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and manoeuvrability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
. Launched in 1751, she was used as a survey ship from 1764 and made two
circumnavigationTo circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. More recently, the term has also been used to cover aerial round-the-world flights.- World circumnavigation :...
s of the world under the successive commands of
John ByronVice-Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was an English vice-admiral. Byron was the sixth child of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron of Rochdale , and the third child William Byron had with his second wife Hon. Frances Berkeley...
and
Samuel WallisSamuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice. She remained in service until she was broken up in 1777.
Not long after her commissioning, the hostilities of the
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War lasted between 1754 and 1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Prussia and Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony...
had escalated and spread to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, and in May of 1756 Britain declared war on
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
of the
Ancien RégimeAncien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social, and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
.
HMS Dolphin was a 24-gun
sixth-rateSixth-rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
frigateA frigate is a warship. The term has been used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and manoeuvrability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
. Launched in 1751, she was used as a survey ship from 1764 and made two
circumnavigationTo circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. More recently, the term has also been used to cover aerial round-the-world flights.- World circumnavigation :...
s of the world under the successive commands of
John ByronVice-Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was an English vice-admiral. Byron was the sixth child of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron of Rochdale , and the third child William Byron had with his second wife Hon. Frances Berkeley...
and
Samuel WallisSamuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice. She remained in service until she was broken up in 1777.
Early service
Not long after her commissioning, the hostilities of the
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War lasted between 1754 and 1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Prussia and Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony...
had escalated and spread to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, and in May of 1756 Britain declared war on
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
of the
Ancien RégimeAncien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social, and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
. Dolphin was pressed into service throughout the conflict, and was present at the
Battle of MinorcaThe Battle of Minorca was a naval battle between French and British fleets, leading to the court-martial and execution of the British commander. It was the opening sea battle of the Seven Years' War in the European theatre. Shortly after Great Britain declared war on the House of Bourbon, their...
in 1756 when a fleet under Admiral
John ByngAdmiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer who was court-martialled and executed for failing to "do his utmost" during the Battle of Minorca, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War.- Early life and career :...
failed to protect a local garrison after losing an engagement with a French squadron (as a result of which Byng was later
court-martialA court-martial is a military court. These military courts can determine punishments for members of the military subject to military law who are found guilty or may dismiss the charges based on the evidence and the case presented. Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in...
led and shot).
First circumnavigation
With Britain's successful conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, her attentions turned towards consolidating her gains and continuing to expand her trade and influence at the expense of the other competing European powers. The
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
was beginning to be opened up by exploratory European vessels, and interest had developed in this route as an alternate to reach the East Indies. This interest was compounded by theories put forward which suggested that a large, hitherto-unknown continental landmass (Terra Australis Incognita) must exist at southern
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
s to "counterbalance" the northern hemisphere's landmasses.
No longer in a state of war, the
AdmiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty.In...
had more funds, ships and men at her disposal to devote to exploratory ventures. Accordingly, an expedition was soon formed with instructions to investigate and establish a South Atlantic base from which Britain could keep an eye on voyages bound for the Pacific. Another purpose was to generally explore for unknown lands which could then be claimed and exploited by the Crown, and to reach the
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
if necessary. The Dolphin
was selected as lead vessel for this voyage, and she was to be accompanied by the sloopA sloop is a sailboat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter. A sloop's fore-triangle is smaller than a cutter's, and unlike a cutter, a sloop usually bends only one headsail, though this distinction is not definitive; some sloops such as the...
HMS Tamar
and the supply ship Florida
.
Her captain was CommodoreCommodore is a military rank used in many navies for officers whose position exceeds that of a navy captain, but is less than that of a rear admiral...
John ByronVice-Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was an English vice-admiral. Byron was the sixth child of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron of Rochdale , and the third child William Byron had with his second wife Hon. Frances Berkeley...
, a 42 year-old veteran of the sea, younger brother to the profligate William Byron, 5th Baron ByronWilliam Byron, 5th Baron Byron, , also known as "the Wicked Lord" and "the Devil Byron", was the poet Lord Byron's great uncle. He was the son of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron and his wife Hon. Frances Berkeley, a descendant of John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton.Lord Byron inherited...
.
Dolphin's
first circumnavigation was the fastest circumnavigation to that date, and the first to take less than two years.
Second circumnavigation
Dolphin's
second circumnavigation was under the command of Samuel WallisSamuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
, who sailed in 1766 accompanied with Philip CarteretPhilip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in the Royal Navy's circumnavigation expedition of 1766....
in HMS Swallow
. Carteret had served on Byron's circumnavigation. The then master's mateMaster's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master...
, John GoreCaptain John Gore was an American sailor who circumnavigated the globe four times with the Royal Navy in the 18th century and accompanied Captain James Cook in his discoveries in the Pacific Ocean.-History:...
, was among a number of crew from Byron's circumnavigation who crewed with Wallis. Dolphin's
master on this voyage, George Robertson, subsequently wrote a book The discovery of Tahiti; a journal of the second voyage of H.M.S. Dolphin round the world under the command of Captain Wallis, R.N., in the years 1766, 1767, and 1768, written by her master.
External links