Editing Peter Puget (section)

==Lieutenant Puget and the ''Discovery''==
{{see also|Vancouver Expedition}}

Upon returning to Britain, Puget was assigned to [[HMS Discovery (1789)|HMS ''Discovery'']], temporarily as a [[master's mate]], and then commissioned as her 3rd lieutenant on 11 June 1790<ref name=discovery>{{cite web
|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mymhiwe:@field(DOCID+@lit(mymhiwef897p9m4div13))
|title=Muster Table of His Majesties Sloop The Discovery
|year=1791
|accessdate=15 December 2006
|publisher=Admiralty Records in the Public Record Office, U.K.}}</ref>
to assist in its fitting out for an exploration of the South Pacific.  During the [[Nootka Crisis]], however, it was used as a [[Depot ship|depot vessel]]. When the crisis ended with the [[Nootka Convention|Treaty of Nootka Sound]], the mission changed; the first priority was to physically accept possession of the Sound from the Spanish. An accurate survey the North American [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] Coast, and other surveys, were important secondary missions.<ref name=naish>{{cite book
|author=Naish, John
|title=The Interwoven Lives of George Vancouver, Archibald Menzies, Joseph Whidbey and Peter Puget: The Vancouver Voyage of 1791–1795 
|publisher=The Edward Mellen Press, Ltd.
|year=1996|isbn=0-7734-8857-X}}</ref> Because the Admiralty, following the [[Mutiny on the Bounty|Mutiny on the ''Bounty'']] incident, had ordered, as a precaution against mutiny, that ships no longer make such long voyages alone, the armed tender [[HMS Chatham (1788)|HMS ''Chatham'']] was assigned to the expedition, and [[HMS Daedalus (1780)|HMS ''Daedalus'']] was to bring supplies a year later.

In 1791, ''Discovery'' and ''Chatham'' sailed to Cape Town, Australia, Tahiti and the [[Hawaiian Islands|Sandwich Isles]] before starting a detailed survey of the Pacific North American coast, from the [[Columbia River]] to Alaska. Many features were named after friends or persons of influence.  When it was hoped that the [[Strait of Georgia|Georgia Strait]] and [[Admiralty Inlet]] might lead to the [[Northwest Passage]], Vancouver anchored the ships near modern-day [[Seattle]], Washington and sent Puget in command of two rowing craft to survey south (20–27 May 1792). In recognition of Puget's work, Vancouver named the south end Puget Sound (what we now call the [[South Puget Sound]]); it is unlikely that either man realized this name would encompass the whole region over time. Puget was also involved in the exploration by small boat of the Columbia River under the command of Chatham's captain, William Robert Broughton; Puget's name was applied to the tiny [[Puget Island, Washington|Puget Island]] opposite the Indian village at [[Cathlamet, Washington|Cathlamet]].

Puget was given command of ''Chatham'' when her first captain, Broughton, was sent with dispatches back to England with instructions to request further clarified orders from Admiralty as regarded the Crown's position on territorial negotiations with the Spanish.