Third voyage of James Cook

Ostensibly James Cook's third and final voyage was to return Omai, a young man from Raiatea to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage. HMS Resolution, to be commanded by Cook, and HMS Discovery, commanded by Charles Clerke, were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth in 1776. The ships travelled to Cape Town by way of Tenerife then on to New Zealand.

Omai was returned to his homeland and the ships sailed onwards, discovering the Hawaiian Archipelago, before reaching the Pacific coast of North America. The two charted the west coast of the continent and passed through the Bering Strait when they were stopped by ice from sailing either east or west. The vessels returned to the Pacific and called briefly at the Aleutians before retiring towards Hawaii for the winter. When they approached Hawaii they were met with an unexpectedly warm welcome which became tumultuous as they finally landed at Kealakekua Bay, on 'Hawaii Island' during the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the Polynesian god Lono.

After a time during which Cook, and his crew were feted, the atmosphere changed and Cook moved away from the island to continue his quest of discovery. He soon suffered damage to his ship and had to turn back. On his return, conflict arose which resulted in Cook's death. Cook's remains were taken away by the Hawaiians but some were returned to be buried at sea by his crew. The command of the expedition was assumed by Charles Clerke who tried in vain to find the passage before his own death. Under the command of John Gore the crews returned to a subdued London in October 1780.

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Wikipedia