During the 1770s, George Vancouver received his training as a seaman and a hydrographic
surveyor under the guidance of Captain
James Cook. After
Cook's final expedition returned in 1780, Vancouver spent the next decade serving on Royal
Navy ships in the
Caribbean. At the end of 1790, an influential patron arranged for Vancouver's appointment as
captain and commander of an expedition to the Northwest coast of North America to
settle the question of a Northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
After a one-year transit, the expedition reached the coast in 1792 and surveyed every
inlet between California and Alaska during three seasons, wintering in the Sandwich
Islands. The survey was carried out with remarkable accuracy. When Vancouver returned
to England in 1795, allegations of misconduct spread by dissatisfied crew members
with powerful connections dampened the recognition of his achievement. He retired
and prepared his journals for publication which appeared after his death.