Why did the Lords of the Admiralty still promote the son of a farmhand, James Cook, to the officers? Detailed answer

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Why did the Lords of the Admiralty still promote the son of a farmhand, James Cook, to the officers? Detailed answer

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Why did the Lords of the Admiralty still promote the son of a farmhand, James Cook, to an officer?

Alistair MacLean, one of the biographers of the great navigator James Cook (1728-1779), puts it this way.

In the middle of the XVIII century, many scientists were convinced that in the southern hemisphere there was a giant continent encircling the globe. By this they had in mind not Antarctica, but a temperate continent, which, as they assumed, should occupy the entire South Pacific Ocean and extend all the way to South America and New Zealand.

The Lords of the English Admiralty decided to send an expedition to search for this continent. Hiding its intentions from rivals, the main of which were French sailors, officially the Admiralty only provided one of its ships to a group of astronomers of the Royal Society. Scientists were going to go to the Pacific Ocean to observe the passage of Venus through the meridian (that is, between the Earth and the Sun) on June 3, 1769.

Considering the issue of choosing the leader of the planned expedition, the Admiralty came to the conclusion that James Cook was almost the only person capable of carrying it out. The expedition had to penetrate into unfamiliar waters, face the most unexpected weather conditions - such an enterprise could only be done by an outstanding navigator, which, no doubt, was Cook.

A sailor was required who could determine his location at any time - in terms of navigational skill, Cook had no equal. Finally, a person was needed who was qualified enough to lead the expedition of the Royal Society - Cook was also suitable for this role, because he was a capable astronomer and a few years earlier, while in Canada, had made successful observations of the passage of Venus (on behalf of the same Royal Society) .

By this time, Cook was already 40 years old, since 1764 he commanded a schooner, but remained only a non-commissioned officer. Even realizing that in the person of Cook they have the greatest navigator, navigator and cartographer, the Lords of the Admiralty did not want to issue an officer's patent to a man who came from a despicable merchant fleet, began his service on a warship as an ordinary sailor, was poor and obscure.

However, it was impossible to send a warship around the world under the command of a non-commissioned officer. First, it would call into question the competence and ability of those who held officer ranks. Secondly, it would look ridiculous in the works of future historians. That is the only reason why the lords of the Admiralty promoted the great navigator to lieutenant.

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

Why is it colder in the mountains than in the lowlands, although they are closer to the sun?

The sun heats the earth's air indirectly. Its radiation passes through the layers of the atmosphere and is absorbed by land and water on the surface of the planet, and only then the air receives thermal energy from them. Therefore, although the mountains are closer to the sun, they are colder than on the plains, since on average, for each kilometer of elevation, the temperature decreases by 6 ° C due to the adiabatic expansion of air. But even at the highest altitudes, valleys can be found, which, due to the special relief and the reflection of the sun's rays from the snow, can heat up well. For example, in the so-called Western Circus, which is located on one of the routes to the peak of Everest at an altitude of more than 6 meters, on sunny, calm days, the temperature can rise to 000 ° C.

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