Joseph Baker (captain)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Baker was an officer in the Royal Navy
, best known for his role in the mapping of the Pacific Northwest Coast of America during the Vancouver Expedition
of 1791-1795. Mt. Baker is named after him.
and then-Midshipman
Peter Puget
. Vancouver picked Baker as 3rd Lieutenant (and Puget as 2nd Lieutenant) of HMS Discovery
for a round-the-world survey, focusing on the American Pacific Northwest Coast. Baker proved a highly capable surveyor and chartmaker in addition to his other duties.
The voyage started with complications. Discovery put in at Tenerife
where Baker was seriously beaten trying to put down a sailor's brawl. The voyage proceeded more smoothly to Cape Town
, the south coast of Australia
and New Zealand
. In Tahiti
and Hawaii
, then called the Sandwich Islands
, he accompanied Archibald Menzies
in botanical explorations.
Most of the small-boat work in exploring the Northwest Coast of America was done by the more senior officers, while Baker specialized in converting their observations into nautical charts. When Discovery explored Admiralty Inlet
, Baker was the first European to see Mt. Baker, a prominent volcano
which Vancouver named after him.
In 1794, while Discovery wintered in Hawai'i, Baker accompanying Menzies, Midshipman George McKenzie and another man whose name is not recorded, on the first recorded ascent of Mauna Loa
. Lacking any particular equipment for snow or altitude, they summitted at 13,681 feet (4170m) and took careful observation to accurately measure the height within a few dozen feet.
Baker frequently commanded Discovery when the other officers were away. After Vancouver departed the ship in Shannon
, Baker brought her safely home to Long Reach on the Thames, completing her five-year mission on October 20, 1795.
Baker spent much of the next few years refining the expedition's charts for publication. After the Peace of Amiens caused the Admiralty to reduce the Navy, he lived at his family home in Presteigne
.
, which was escorting a convoy off the Naze
of Norway. She sighted a sloop and gave chase. After a chase of three hours, Tartar captured the sloop, which turned out to be the Danish privateer Naargske Gutten, of seven 6 and 4-pounders and 36 men. She was quite new and only one day out from Christiansand.
On 15 May 1809, Baker and Tartar chased a Danish privateer sloop on shore near Felixberg
on the coast of Courland
. She was armed with two 12-pounders and two long 4-pounders and carried a crew of 24. These, armed with muskets, took up positions behind the sandhills where some local civilians joined them. Baker sent in his boats. The British cutting out party boarded her, without loss, and turned the privateer's guns on the beach. One of the prize crew was lucky to discover a lighted candle set in a powder cartridge in the magazine and extinguished it when it had only a half an inch to burn. The magazine
contained about a hundredweight
of powder; had it exploded it would have killed boarding party. Baker considered this artifice a dishonourable mode of warfare. The prize crew brought the sloop off.
At the beginning of March 1811 Vice Admiral Sir James Saumarez received information that the Danes would attack the island of Anholt
, on which there was a garrison of British forces under Capt. Maurice
of the Royal Navy
. Tartar sailed from Yarmouth on the 20th and anchored off the north end of the island on the 26th. On the 27 March the garrison sighted the enemy off the south side of the island. Maurice marched to meet them with a battery of howitzers and 200 infantry, and signaled Tartar and Sheldrake
. The two vessels immediately weighed and, under a heavy press of sail made every endeavour to beat south but the shoals forced them to stand so far out that it took them many hours.
The Danes, who had eighteen heavy gunboats for support, landed some 1000 troops in the darkness and fog and attempted to outflank the British positions. Their attack was uncoordinated and poorly equipped. However the batteries at Fort Yorke (the British base) and Massareenes stopped the assault. Gunfire from Tartar and Sheldrake forced the gunboats to move off westwards. The gunboats made their escape over the reefs while the ships had to beat round the outside. Tartar chased three gunboats towards Læsø
but found herself in shoal water as night approached and gave up the chase. On the way back Tartar captured two Danish transports that it had passed while chasing the gunboats; one of them had 22 soldiers on board, with a considerable quantity of ammunition, shells and the like, while the other contained provisions.
Sheldrake managed to capture two gunboats. The Danes on the western side managed to embark on board fourteen gunboats and make their escape. The Battle of Anholt
cost the British only two killed and 30 wounded. The Danes lost their commander, three other officers, and 50 men killed. The British took, besides the wounded, five captains, nine lieutenants, and 504 rank and file as prisoners, as well as three pieces of artillery, 500 muskets, and 6,000 rounds of ammunition. In addition, Sheldrakes two captured gunboats resulted in another two Lieutenants of the Danish Navy, and 119 men falling prisoner.
Tartar grounded on 18 August 1811 on Dagö Island
off the coast of Estonia and sprang a leak. Her crew refloated but she continued to fill with water. She was run ashore on 21 August at Kahar Islet, midway between Dagö Island and the Isle of Worms, and later burnt. Ethalion
rescued all her crew, who then were re-assigned to other ships on the Baltic station. A court martial on 23 October honorably acquitted Captain Baker, his officers and crew.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, best known for his role in the mapping of the Pacific Northwest Coast of America during the Vancouver Expedition
Vancouver Expedition
The Vancouver Expedition was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver. The expedition circumnavigated the globe, touched five continents and changed the course of history for the indigenous nations and several European empires and their...
of 1791-1795. Mt. Baker is named after him.
Voyaging with Vancouver
Baker is thought to have come from the Welsh border counties. From 1787 he served on where he met then-Lieutenant George VancouverGeorge Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
and then-Midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
Peter Puget
Peter Puget
Peter Puget was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound.-Mr. Midshipman Puget:Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the Huguenots. His father, John, was a successful merchant and banker, but died in 1767, leaving Puget's...
. Vancouver picked Baker as 3rd Lieutenant (and Puget as 2nd Lieutenant) of HMS Discovery
HMS Discovery (1789)
HMS Discovery was a Royal Navy ship launched in 1789 and best known as the lead ship in George Vancouver's exploration of the west coast of North America in his famous 1791-1795 expedition. She was converted to a bomb vessel in 1798 and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen. Thereafter she...
for a round-the-world survey, focusing on the American Pacific Northwest Coast. Baker proved a highly capable surveyor and chartmaker in addition to his other duties.
The voyage started with complications. Discovery put in at Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
where Baker was seriously beaten trying to put down a sailor's brawl. The voyage proceeded more smoothly to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, the south coast of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. In Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, then called the Sandwich Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, he accompanied Archibald Menzies
Archibald Menzies
Archibald Menzies was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist.- Life and career :Menzies was born at Easter Stix in the parish of Weem, in Perthshire. While working with his elder brother William at the Royal Botanic Gardens, he drew the attention of Dr John Hope, professor of botany at...
in botanical explorations.
Most of the small-boat work in exploring the Northwest Coast of America was done by the more senior officers, while Baker specialized in converting their observations into nautical charts. When Discovery explored Admiralty Inlet
Admiralty Inlet
Admiralty Inlet is a strait in the U.S. state of Washington connecting the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound. It lies between Whidbey Island and the northeastern part of the Olympic Peninsula....
, Baker was the first European to see Mt. Baker, a prominent volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
which Vancouver named after him.
In 1794, while Discovery wintered in Hawai'i, Baker accompanying Menzies, Midshipman George McKenzie and another man whose name is not recorded, on the first recorded ascent of Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, and the largest on Earth in terms of volume and area covered. It is an active shield volcano, with a volume estimated at approximately , although its peak is about lower than that...
. Lacking any particular equipment for snow or altitude, they summitted at 13,681 feet (4170m) and took careful observation to accurately measure the height within a few dozen feet.
Baker frequently commanded Discovery when the other officers were away. After Vancouver departed the ship in Shannon
River Shannon
The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland at . It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
, Baker brought her safely home to Long Reach on the Thames, completing her five-year mission on October 20, 1795.
Baker spent much of the next few years refining the expedition's charts for publication. After the Peace of Amiens caused the Admiralty to reduce the Navy, he lived at his family home in Presteigne
Presteigne
Presteigne is a town and community in Powys, Wales. It was the county town of the historic county of Radnorshire, and is in the Diocese of Hereford...
.
Baltic service
Baker was recalled to service and, in 1808, made post captain. On 3 November 1808, he was captain of TartarHMS Tartar (1801)
HMS Tartar was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, built at Frindsbury and launched in 1801. She captured privateers on the Jamaica station and fought in the Gunboat War and elsewhere in the Baltic before being lost to grounding off Estonia in 1811.-Jamaica station:Captain James Walker...
, which was escorting a convoy off the Naze
Lindesnes
Lindesnes is a municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. Lindesnes was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the older municipalities of Spangereid, Sør-Audnedal, and Vigmostad....
of Norway. She sighted a sloop and gave chase. After a chase of three hours, Tartar captured the sloop, which turned out to be the Danish privateer Naargske Gutten, of seven 6 and 4-pounders and 36 men. She was quite new and only one day out from Christiansand.
On 15 May 1809, Baker and Tartar chased a Danish privateer sloop on shore near Felixberg
Jurkalne
Jūrkalne is a village in Latvia. Its former German name was Feliksberg .Jūrkalne was the birthplace of Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, the Jewish ethnologist and musicologist....
on the coast of Courland
Courland
Courland is one of the historical and cultural regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland.- Geography and climate :...
. She was armed with two 12-pounders and two long 4-pounders and carried a crew of 24. These, armed with muskets, took up positions behind the sandhills where some local civilians joined them. Baker sent in his boats. The British cutting out party boarded her, without loss, and turned the privateer's guns on the beach. One of the prize crew was lucky to discover a lighted candle set in a powder cartridge in the magazine and extinguished it when it had only a half an inch to burn. The magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
contained about a hundredweight
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
of powder; had it exploded it would have killed boarding party. Baker considered this artifice a dishonourable mode of warfare. The prize crew brought the sloop off.
At the beginning of March 1811 Vice Admiral Sir James Saumarez received information that the Danes would attack the island of Anholt
Anholt (Denmark)
Anholt is a Danish island in the Kattegat, midway between Jutland and Sweden, with 171 permanent residents as of 1 January 2010. It is seven miles long and about four miles wide at its widest and covers an area of 21,75 km². Anholt is part of Norddjurs municipality in Region Midtjylland...
, on which there was a garrison of British forces under Capt. Maurice
James Wilkes Maurice
Vice-Admiral James Wilkes Maurice was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Tartar sailed from Yarmouth on the 20th and anchored off the north end of the island on the 26th. On the 27 March the garrison sighted the enemy off the south side of the island. Maurice marched to meet them with a battery of howitzers and 200 infantry, and signaled Tartar and Sheldrake
HMS Sheldrake (1806)
HMS Sheldrake was a Royal Navy 16-gun Seagull-class brig-sloop. She was built in Hythe and launched in 1806. She fought in the Napoleonic Wars and at the Battle of Anholt during the Gunboat War. She was stationed in the mouth of the River Loire in 1814 after Napoleon's abdication to prevent his...
. The two vessels immediately weighed and, under a heavy press of sail made every endeavour to beat south but the shoals forced them to stand so far out that it took them many hours.
The Danes, who had eighteen heavy gunboats for support, landed some 1000 troops in the darkness and fog and attempted to outflank the British positions. Their attack was uncoordinated and poorly equipped. However the batteries at Fort Yorke (the British base) and Massareenes stopped the assault. Gunfire from Tartar and Sheldrake forced the gunboats to move off westwards. The gunboats made their escape over the reefs while the ships had to beat round the outside. Tartar chased three gunboats towards Læsø
Læsø
Læsø is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality on that island...
but found herself in shoal water as night approached and gave up the chase. On the way back Tartar captured two Danish transports that it had passed while chasing the gunboats; one of them had 22 soldiers on board, with a considerable quantity of ammunition, shells and the like, while the other contained provisions.
Sheldrake managed to capture two gunboats. The Danes on the western side managed to embark on board fourteen gunboats and make their escape. The Battle of Anholt
Battle of Anholt
The Battle of Anholt occurred during the Gunboat War, a war between the United Kingdom and Denmark-Norway. It was an attempt by the Danes to recapture Anholt, a small Danish island off the coast of Jutland, which the British had captured in 1809...
cost the British only two killed and 30 wounded. The Danes lost their commander, three other officers, and 50 men killed. The British took, besides the wounded, five captains, nine lieutenants, and 504 rank and file as prisoners, as well as three pieces of artillery, 500 muskets, and 6,000 rounds of ammunition. In addition, Sheldrakes two captured gunboats resulted in another two Lieutenants of the Danish Navy, and 119 men falling prisoner.
Tartar grounded on 18 August 1811 on Dagö Island
Hiiumaa
Hiiumaa is the second largest island belonging to Estonia. It is located in the Baltic Sea, north of the island of Saaremaa, a part of the West Estonian archipelago. Its largest town is Kärdla.-Name:...
off the coast of Estonia and sprang a leak. Her crew refloated but she continued to fill with water. She was run ashore on 21 August at Kahar Islet, midway between Dagö Island and the Isle of Worms, and later burnt. Ethalion
HMS Ethalion (1802)
HMS Ethalion was a Royal Navy 36-gun frigate, launched in 1802 at Woolwich Dockyard.-Service:Ethalion entered service in 1807 under Captain Charles Stuart, operating in the North Sea. In May 1804 she captured the 16-gun Dutch brig Union off Bergen...
rescued all her crew, who then were re-assigned to other ships on the Baltic station. A court martial on 23 October honorably acquitted Captain Baker, his officers and crew.