Royal Navy
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On 7 June 1755 Cook volunteered to join the Royal Navy at Wapping, sensing an imminent war was approaching. His first posting was with HMS Eagle under Hugh Palliser, sailing with the ship in March of 1756 with the rank of boatswain. Within two years of joining the Royal Navy Cook passed his master's examinations at Trinity House, Deptford qualifying him to navigate and handle a ship of the King's fleet. He then joined the frigate HMS Solebay as master under Captain Robert Craig. He showed a talent for surveying and cartography and was responsible for mapping much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege, allowing General Wolfe to make his famous stealth attack on the Plains of Abraham.
Cook's surveying skills were put to good use in the 1760s, mapping the jagged coast of Newfoundland. Cook surveyed the northwest stretch in 1763 and 1764, the south coast between the Burin Peninsula and Cape Ray in 1765 and 1766, and the west coast in 1767. Cook’s five seasons in Newfoundland produced the first large-scale and accurate maps of the island’s coasts; they also gave Cook his mastery of practical surveying and brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society.
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