Editing James Cook (section)

===Canada===

During the [[Seven Years' War]], Cook served in North America as master aboard the [[fourth-rate]] Navy vessel {{HMS|Pembroke|1757|6}}.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=14-23}} With others in ''Pembroke''{{'}}s crew, he took part in the major amphibious assault that [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|captured]] the [[Fortress of Louisbourg]] from the French in 1758, and in the siege of [[Quebec City]] in 1759.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=16-21}}

The day after the fall of Louisbourg, Cook met an army officer, [[Samuel Holland (surveyor)|Samuel Holland]], who was using a [[plane table]] to survey the area.{{sfn|Hough|1994|p=18}} The two men had an immediate connection through their interest in [[surveying]], and Holland taught Cook the methods he was using. They collaborated on developing preliminary charts of the entrance to the [[Saint Lawrence River]], with Cook most likely the author of sailing directions for the river, written in 1758. The combination of Holland's land-surveying techniques{{efn|Cook later extended his land-surveying abilities with instruments such as the [[theodolite]].{{sfn|Collingridge|2003|p=86}}}} and Cook's hydrographic skills enabled the latter, from that time onwards, to produce nautical charts for coastal areas that substantially exceeded the accuracy of such Admiralty charts of the time.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=33, 40-41}}{{sfn|McLynn|2011|p=34}} As [[James Wolfe|General Wolfe]]'s advance on Quebec progressed in 1759, Cook and the other masters of ships in the English fleet worked to chart and mark the shoals of the river, particularly near to Quebec itself. The close approach by the ships of the Royal Navy through these shallow waters allowed [[James Wolfe|General Wolfe]] to make his successful stealth attack during the 1759 [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham]].{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=18-19}}{{sfn|McLynn|2011|p=37}}

[[File:Cooks Karte von Neufundland.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3| A 1775 chart of [[Newfoundland]], made from James Cook's [[Seven Years' War]] surveyings.]]
Cook's surveying ability was also put to use in mapping the jagged coast of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] in the 1760s, aboard {{HMS|Grenville|1754|6}}. He 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. At this time, Cook employed local pilots to point out the "rocks and hidden dangers" along the south and west coasts. During the 1765 season, local pilots were engaged to assist with mapping [[Fortune Bay]], Connaigre Bay, [[Hermitage Bay]], the [[Bay d'Espoir]] and the coast west of [[St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. Lawrence]].<ref name=pilots>{{cite web
 |url=http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/JamesCookInNewfoundland1762_1767.pdf
 |title=James Cook in Newfoundland 1762–1767
 |first=William
 |last=Whiteley
 |year=1975
 |page  = 11
 |access-date=27 August 2012
 |work=Newfoundland Historical Society Pamphlet Number 3
 |archive-date=13 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513194810/http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/cns/JamesCookInNewfoundland1762_1767.pdf
 |url-status=dead
}}</ref>{{efn|
The four pilots were: John Beck for the coast west of "[[St. Lawrence, Newfoundland and Labrador|Great St Lawrence]]", Morgan Snook for [[Fortune Bay]], John Dawson for Connaigre Bay and [[Hermitage Bay]], and John Peck for the "[[Bay d'Espoir|Bay of Despair]]".<ref name=pilots/>
}}

While in Newfoundland, Cook also conducted astronomical observations, in particular of the eclipse of the sun on 5 August 1766.{{sfn|Hough|1994|pp=32-35}} By obtaining an accurate estimate of the time of the start and finish of the eclipse, and comparing these with the timings at a known position in England, it was possible to calculate the longitude of the observation site in Newfoundland. This result was communicated to the Royal Society in 1767.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=James |last1=Cook |first2=J. |last2=Bevis |title=An Observation of an Eclipse of the Sun at the Island of New-Found-Land, August 5, 1766, by Mr. James Cook, with the Longitude of the Place of Observation Deduced from It 
|date=1 January 1767
 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 
|volume=57
 |pages=215–216 
|doi=10.1098/rstl.1767.0025
 |url=https://archive.org/details/philtrans04718464
 |doi-access=free 
|issn=0261-0523}}</ref>

Cook's [[Hydrography|hydrographic]] surveys in Newfoundland{{snd}}conducted over five seasons{{snd}}produced the first large-scale, accurate maps of the island's coasts. They were the first large-scale surveys to use precise [[triangulation]] to establish land outlines.<ref>{{cite web 
|url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Cook_Monument_Corner_Brook.jpg 
|work=Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada 
|title=Captain James Cook R. N.
 |last=Government of Canada
 |year=2012
 |access-date=2 November 2012
 |archive-date=8 January 2014
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108021300/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Cook_Monument_Corner_Brook.jpg
 |url-status=live
}}</ref> They also gave Cook his mastery of practical surveying, achieved under often adverse conditions, and brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society at a crucial moment both in his career and in the direction of British overseas discovery. Cook's charts were used for over 100 years.{{sfn|Hough|1994|p=33}}

At the end of the 1767 surveying season, while HMS ''Grenville'' was returning to her home port of [[Deptford Dockyard|Deptford]], Cook encountered a storm at the entrance to the Thames. He anchored ''Grenville'' off the [[Nore]] lighthouse and prepared the ship to ride out the weather. One anchor cable broke, and [[HMS Grenville (1754)#grounding|the ship went aground on a shoal]]. Despite efforts to improve the situation, Cook and his crew were obliged to abandon ship. They returned when the storm eventually abated, lightened and re-rigged the ship and continued into Deptford.{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|pp=93-94}}{{sfn|McLynn|2011|p=61}}