Edward Edwards (Royal Navy officer)
Edward Edwards ( * 1741, † April 13, 1815 in Water Newton ) was a British naval officer and explorer. He was sent by the Admiralty to capture the Bounty mutineers. He orbited the Earth once and discovered several islands in the South Pacific for Europe.
Early years
Edward Edwards was born in 1741 as the third son of Richard and Mary Edwards. The exact dates of birth are not known, he was baptized on September 1, 1741 in Water Newton, Cambridgeshire, England.
Little is known about his early years. He was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Navy appointed on 7 September 1759 and on 25 April 1781 captain. He commanded the frigate HMS Narcissus, on which a mutiny occurred in 1782, Edwards was able to successfully knock down six of the mutineers were later hanged.
Capture the mutineers
Edwards now chose a northwesterly course to the Tuamotu Archipelago and missed it which is only 300 miles from Ducie remote Pitcairn Island, to which Fletcher Christian had fled with the Bounty mutineers -.
On March 16, 1791 Edwards passed the island Marutea Sud, which he called " Lord Hood ," after Admiral Samuel Hood. Two days later he discovered in Europe as yet unknown island Tureia, which he christened " Carysfort ," and then sailed over to the island of Tahiti Mehetia. On March 23, 1791, the Pandora anchored in the Matavai Bay. Edwards still made on the same day using the local chiefs to hunt down the mutineers of the Bounty. Of the sixteen mutineers, who had remained on Tahiti, had been murdered two [Note 1], ten arrested and four presented themselves Some of them had just been built only on Tahiti quick saver, with whom she wanted to flee to America. Edwards seized the ship, which he called Matavi tender, it fitted out and placed it under the command of the midshipman's David Renouard. For the captured mutineers, he had built a cage on the deck of Pandora, from the team, " Pandora's Box" called in accordance with the Pandora's box.
Search the Bounty
Now Edwards went in search of the Bounty mutineers with the other, which he guessed on one of the islands in the western Pacific. On 9 May 1791, the Pandora and the schooner sailed on Tahaa and Bora Bora at the northern Cook Islands Aitutaki and Palmerston and further to the Tokelau Island Atafu. The Palmerston Islands an occupied with a midshipman and multi-crew dinghy was driven out to sea, the men were never seen again.
On June 12, 1791 Edwards discovered the atoll Nukunonu, which he called " Duke of Clarence 's Iceland ." In the Samoan archipelago, the two ships were separated and the Pandora ran on Rotuma, an additional initial discovery, the baptized Edwards " Grenville Iceland ".
About Savaii and Upolu, it then went to the belonging to Haapai Tonga Islands, which Edwards gave the name "The Happy Islands ". Two other new discoveries, the islands were " Mitre " ( Fatutaka ) and "Cherry" ( Anuta ) west of the Santa Cruz Islands. On all these islands no trace of the Bounty was to discover.
Accident and return
After the Pandora had passed the Santa Cruz Islands, without landing there, Edwards left the Endeavour road drive, the strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea to return to England. On the evening of August 29 1791, the Pandora ran on the Great Barrier Reef on a coral rock and took as fast water that the team with the pumps could achieve little. Therefore, Edwards left the boats deploy. The Bounty mutineers Coleman, Mc Intosh and Norman, the captain Bligh had designated as innocent were freed from their prison, the others remained tied up in Pandora's Box.
Towards morning the ship had sunk so low that the upper deck was only partially over water. Ten prisoners were, contrary to the command of Edwards, are exempt from the crew of the Pandora in the last minute. Skinner, Sumner, Stewart and Hill Brant drowned.
From the ship's crew 31 sailors were drowned and 89, including Captain Edwards, saved. With the four open lifeboats of Pandora, they crossed the barrier reef and reached the uninhabited peninsula York. Then they made their way to the Dutch colony of Timor, where they arrived after over 1000 miles long, adventurous journey on 16 September 1791. As passengers of a Dutch East Indiaman and the HMS Gorgon returned Captain Edwards, healthy its crew members and the ten surviving Bounty mutineer via intermediate stations in Batavia and Cape Town back to England. Edwards had with it, if not, circumnavigated the earth with the same ship.
The surviving Bounty mutineers was made in London in the process. Because of the loss of the Pandora a court-martial against Edwards was held on September 10, 1792 on HMS Hector in Portsmouth instead. Negotiators was Lord Hood. Edwards and the officers of the Pandora were acquitted honorably
More career
About another command is not known. Edwards, however, was appointed on 14 February 1799 "Rear Admiral of the Blue" (Vice Admiral ) and on July 31, 1810 " Admiral of the White " ( Admiral ) then the third highest rank in the Royal Navy.
Edward Edwards died unmarried on 13 April 1815. His grave is still on the St. Remigius Church Yard in Water Newton, Cambridgeshire, England.