MiamiCubano
El Martillo (My Boxing Name)
Captain James Cook had set out on his first voyage in approximately 1768, after having been retained by the Royal Society of London for The Improvement of Natural Knowledge. He began by sailing from England, rounding Cape Horn and then traveling on to Tahiti in the South Pacific. He then sailed west, arriving in near the south-eastern coast of Australia on April 19, 1770. In doing so, he and his team became the first recorded Europeans to have reached the eastern coastline of the Australian continent. Even prior expeditions by Van Diemen and Abel Tasman failed to reach and/or discover it. After exploring more of Australia, Captain Cook and his team headed north where, on this day, June 11, 1770, the Endeavour ran aground on a shoal of a reef. Then unnamed, this reef became known as the Great Barrier Reef, at the time purportedly only known to Aborigines.
The startling discovery of the Great Barrier Reef came at a few minutes before 11pm, on June 11th, when the Endeavour stopped dead in her tracks after striking the south-eastern tip of the coral reef, holing her bow. Every crew member on hand rallied to her aid and every effort was made to refloat the damaged ship. Working through the night, all unnecessary objects were thrown overboard, including the ships guns and ballast, in an effort to lighten the ship's weight. After nearly 24 hours aground, Endeavour finally refloated at 10.20pm the following night.
The ship was badly damaged and his voyage was delayed almost seven weeks while repairs were carried out on the beach, near the docks of now, modern Cooktown, at the mouth of the Endeavour River (which was named by Cook). Once the repairs to the ship had been completed, their voyage continued, until finally returning to England, over a year later, by way of the Cape of Good Hope and Saint Helena on July 12, 1771.
The startling discovery of the Great Barrier Reef came at a few minutes before 11pm, on June 11th, when the Endeavour stopped dead in her tracks after striking the south-eastern tip of the coral reef, holing her bow. Every crew member on hand rallied to her aid and every effort was made to refloat the damaged ship. Working through the night, all unnecessary objects were thrown overboard, including the ships guns and ballast, in an effort to lighten the ship's weight. After nearly 24 hours aground, Endeavour finally refloated at 10.20pm the following night.
The ship was badly damaged and his voyage was delayed almost seven weeks while repairs were carried out on the beach, near the docks of now, modern Cooktown, at the mouth of the Endeavour River (which was named by Cook). Once the repairs to the ship had been completed, their voyage continued, until finally returning to England, over a year later, by way of the Cape of Good Hope and Saint Helena on July 12, 1771.